John Strand
John Strand (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 19th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on August 18, 2026.[source]
Strand completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
John Strand earned a high school diploma from through homeschooling with the Shema Christian Academy and attended Aim Community College. His career experience includes working as an actor.[1]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the August 18 Republican primary for Florida's 19th Congressional District as a battleground primary. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Madison Cawthorn (R), Chris Collins (R), Ola Hawatmeh (R), Catalina Lauf (R), Jim Oberweis (R), Jim Schwartzel (R), John Strand (R), and three other candidates are running in the Republican primary for Florida's 19th Congressional District on August 18, 2026. As of July 2026, Cawthorn, Collins, Hawatmeh, Lauf, Oberweis, Schwartzel, and Strand led in fundraising, endorsements, and local media attention.[2][3]
Incumbent Byron Donalds (R) is running for governor rather than seeking re-election. Florida Politics' Jacob Ogles said, "The winner of the Republican Primary in August will be a heavy favorite to win the Republican-heavy district. More than 69% of voters in the district, under a new map enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis, voted for Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election while just 34% backed Democrat Kamala Harris."[2] Ogles quoted Victory Insights pollster Ben Galbraith as saying in June 2026, "Schwartzel and Oberweis currently lead the pack, just barely breaking into the double digits. No other candidates scored higher than the mid-single digits. 54% of voters are undecided. I’ll spare you further details — this race is wide open."[4]
Cawthorn was elected to represent North Carolina's 11th Congressional District in 2020. He lost the 2022 Republican primary to Chuck Edwards (R). In a campaign ad, Cawthorn said, "When I was in Washington, I warned you about a deep culture of corruption. People laughed. They mocked me. They said I was wrong. ... But today, I stand completely vindicated. I've never asked the establishment permission to tell the truth. I work only for you."[5]
Collins served as Erie County Executive in New York from 2007 to 2011 and represented New York's 27th Congressional District from 2013 until his resignation in October 2019 after being charged with insider trading. President Donald Trump (R) pardoned Collins in December 2020. Collins' campaign website said, "In 2016, Chris Collins was the first Member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for President ... Chris Collins helped President Trump start the fight in 2016. Now he's running to help him finish it."[6]
Hawatmeh is a businesswoman and former senior policy advisor to Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.). Hawatmeh unsuccessfully ran to represent New York's 19th Congressional District in 2020. Hawatmeh's campaign website says she is "running to be a conservative fighter who gets things done for FL-19. Ola will stay focused on Florida first, hold Washington accountable, and keep the mission simple: deliver for Southwest Florida and protect taxpayers."[7]
Lauf is the founder of the Defense of Freedom PAC and co-founder of Begin Health. She ran unsuccessfully for Illinois' 14th Congressional District in 2020 and for Illinois' 11th Congressional District in 2022. Her campaign website said, "She is running to bring a new generation of servant leadership to Congress ... Unlike career politicians and recycled candidates, Catalina’s campaign is built on service, not self-interest."[8]
Oberweis is the founder of Oberweis Asset Management. He served in the Illinois Senate from 2013 to 2021 and ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2002, 2004, and 2014, for governor of Illinois in 2006, and for Illinois' 14th Congressional District in 2008 and 2020. Oberweis' campaign website said, "[M]y background in economics, finance and money management makes me highly qualified to help in the effort to root out waste, fraud and abuse and to bring fiscal sanity back to our federal budget."[9]
Schwartzel is the owner and operator of 92.5 FOX News, a conservative talk radio station. Schwartzel's campaign website says he is "not a career politician with ambitions for higher office—like President Trump, he’s a straight-talking outsider who’s fed up with the D.C. swamp ignoring real Americans."[10]
Strand is an actor and political organizer who was present at the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.[11] Strand's campaign website says he is "running to restore courage, common sense, and Christian values to government — to finally end the fraud, waste, and abuse that is bankrupting this nation morally and financially."[12]
Also running in the primary are Greg Bukowski (R), Mike Pedersen (R), and Linda Sawyer (R).
As of July 2026, major election forecasters rated the general election Solid/Safe Republican.
Elections
2026
See also: Florida's 19th Congressional District election, 2026
Florida's 19th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 18 Democratic primary)
Florida's 19th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 18 Republican primary)
General election
The primary will occur on August 18, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for U.S. House Florida District 19
Seth Haskin (No Party Affiliation) and Alexandra Zakhvatayev (No Party Affiliation) are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 19 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Seth Haskin (No Party Affiliation)  | |
| Alexandra Zakhvatayev (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 19
Victor Arias (D), Robert Neeld (D), and Howard Sapp (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 19 on August 18, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Victor Arias | |
 | Robert Neeld | |
 | Howard Sapp | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jared Kane (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 19
The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 19 on August 18, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Greg Bukowski | |
 | Madison Cawthorn | |
 | Chris Collins | |
 | Ola Hawatmeh | |
 | Catalina Lauf | |
 | Jim Oberweis | |
 | Mike Pedersen | |
 | Linda Sawyer | |
 | Jim Schwartzel | |
 | John Strand | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Byron Donalds (R)
- Stephen Elliott (R)
- John Fratto (R)
- Dylan Modarelli (R)
- Louis Shenker (R)
- Richard Youschak (R)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[13] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[14] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Cawthorn | Collins | Lauf | Oberweis | Pedersen | Schwartzel | Strand | Other | Undecided | Sample size | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | 5 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 54 | 350 LV | ± 5.2% | |
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | ||||||||||||
Candidate spending
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Bukowski | Republican Party | $20,851 | $11,375 | $9,476 | As of June 30, 2026 |
| Madison Cawthorn | Republican Party | $874,630 | $728,436 | $146,194 | As of July 29, 2026 |
| Chris Collins | Republican Party | $3,410,000 | $2,462,420 | $947,580 | As of July 29, 2026 |
| Ola Hawatmeh | Republican Party | $391,537 | $291,862 | $99,676 | As of July 29, 2026 |
| Catalina Lauf | Republican Party | $1,674,013 | $1,571,183 | $102,830 | As of July 29, 2026 |
| Jim Oberweis | Republican Party | $5,326,140 | $3,081,609 | $2,244,531 | As of July 29, 2026 |
| Mike Pedersen | Republican Party | $70,548 | $58,746 | $11,802 | As of June 30, 2026 |
| Linda Sawyer | Republican Party | $10,550 | $10,498 | $52 | As of June 30, 2026 |
| Jim Schwartzel | Republican Party | $2,065,485 | $1,883,586 | $181,899 | As of July 29, 2026 |
| John Strand | Republican Party | $135,297 | $131,845 | $3,452 | As of July 29, 2026 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[15][16][17]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Note: As of June 17, 2026, Louis Shenker (R) had not registered as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission.
Endorsements
To view Strand's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Ratings
Strand received ratings or grades from the following organizations. To send us additional ratings, click here.
2024
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 76
Vanessa Oliver defeated Jim Blue in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 76 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Vanessa Oliver (R) | 70.5 | 70,510 |
 | Jim Blue (D) | 29.5 | 29,492 | |
| Total votes: 100,002 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Jim Blue advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 76.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 76
Vanessa Oliver defeated Steven Ceracche in the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 76 on August 20, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanessa Oliver | 71.7 | 13,345 |
 | Steven Ceracche | 28.3 | 5,261 | |
| Total votes: 18,606 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Spencer Roach (R)
- John Strand (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Strand in this election.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Strand completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Strand's responses.
| Collapse all
- The mission of John Strand Patriot for Congress is clear and uncompromising: get the government out of your life and out of your wallet. I'll fight for an immigration moratorium and accelerated deportations that will drastically reduce fraud and abuse of your tax dollars, grow the economy, improve affordability, and protect your American culture from radical Islam and woke Marxism. I'll work to abolish the income tax and IRS, replaced with a simple consumption tax until we shrink Washington further. We'll cut spending, achieve energy dominance, and ensure true election integrity. Florida families need a fighter who puts America First, delivers results, and restores our Judeo-Christian heritage. Join the movement to Reclaim the Republic.
- The truth is our foundation: life is sacred, liberty is God's design for all men. I am a Christian constitutionalist who believes the Bible provides the moral foundation and the Constitution is a fixed guardrail against tyranny. Government’s role is to protect our rights, secure national sovereignty, defend the innocent, enforce justice, and stay out of the way. I will fight to repeal the 16th and 17th Amendments, shrink DC, restore states' rights, defend the entire Bill of Rights, expand and protect school choice, and end the barbaric mutilation of minors. End uniparty overreach, DEI racism, and weaponized agencies. We restore the Founders' design and reclaim the Republic through truth, courage, and Judeo-Christian values.
- I'm a Maverick Conservative, not a career politician—or a RINO businessman. My father served in the Navy, my mother homeschooled me with moral clarity. I built a career as an actor until COVID; I organized a freedom rally that President Trump supported online. As Creative Director of America's Frontline Doctors, I helped save lives and set people free from fear and propaganda. Standing peacefully on J6, I refused a false confession plea deal, endured a year as a political hostage—with brutal solitary abuse—and was fully exonerated by the Supreme Court and DOJ. With unwavering courage and integrity, I'm the only Republican who qualified for FL-19 with voter petitions, earning Charlie Kirk's Turning Point endorsement.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2024
John Strand did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Florida District 19 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 17, 2026
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Florida Politics, "Massive field qualifies in race to succeed Byron Donalds in Congress," June 12, 2026
- ↑ Floridian Press, "Rep. Chris Collins Says His Primary Opponents 'Only Know how to Lose,' He Knows How to Win," June 3, 2026
- ↑ Florida Politics, "‘The race is wide open’: Poll shows Jim Schwartzel, Jim Oberweis leading crowded CD 19 field," June 23, 2026
- ↑ YouTube, "VINDICATED - Madison Cawthorn," June 8, 2026
- ↑ Chris Collins 2026 campaign website, "About," accessed June 22, 2026
- ↑ Ola Hawatmeh 2026 campaign website, "Issues," accessed June 22, 2026
- ↑ Catalina Lauf 2026 campaign website, "About Catalina," accessed June 22, 2026
- ↑ Jim Oberweis 2026 campaign website, "Home page," accessed June 22, 2026
- ↑ Jim Schwartzel 2026 campaign website, "Meet Jim," accessed June 22, 2026
- ↑ John Strand 2026 campaign website, "About John Strand," accessed July 28, 2026
- ↑ John Strand 2026 campaign website, "Home page," accessed July 28, 2026
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
