With the primary elections behind us, it’s not too soon to begin looking ahead to November.
This post provides an overview of what will be on the November ballot for Collier County voters. Over the next few weeks, I’ll dive into the candidates and referendums and summarize what I find in my research in my 2026 Collier County Elections Guide (sparkers-soapbox.com/2026-collier-county-general-election-voter-guide). Bookmark the page now and come back when you’re ready to take a closer look.
Partisan Races
Federal Offices
All Florida voters will elect one of the state’s two U.S. Senators and and a U.S. Representative from their congressional district.
- U.S. Senate: Incumbent Ashley Moody (R) vs. Angie Nixon (D).
- U.S. House District 19: Jim Schwartzel (R) vs. Victor Arias (D).
- U.S. House District 22: Casey Askar (R) vs. Pia Dandiya (D)
State Offices
- Governor: Byron Donalds (R) vs. David Jolly (D)
- Attorney General: Incumbent James Uthmeier (R) vs. Jose Javier Rodriguez (D)
- Chief Financial Officer: Incumbent Blaise Ingoglia (R) vs. Annette Taddeo (D)
- Commissioner of Agriculture: Incumbent Wilton Simpson (R) vs. Joey Mendoza Atkins (D)
- FL Senate District 28: Lauren Melo (R) vs. David Silverberg (D).
- FL House District 80: Incumbent Adam Botana (R) vs. William Moskal (D)
- FL House District 81: Incumbent Yvette Benarroch (R ) vs. Kim Finer (D)
- FL House District 82: Liesa Priddy (R) vs. Arthur Boyer (D)
Local Offices
- Board of County Commissioners District 2: Incumbent Chris Hall (R) vs. Cody Davis (JEF)
Non-Partisan Races
- Naples Airport Authority Seat 4: John Goede vs. Rick Mellon
- Naples Airport Authority Seat 5: Don Antonacchio vs. Jason Brooke vs. David MacGregor vs. Jason Schappert vs. Keith West
- Collier Mosquito Control District Seat 2: Incumbent Sandra Lee Buxton vs. Bebe Kanter
- Collier Mosquito Control District Seat 3: Incumbent Ed Brandt vs. Jay Kohlhagen
- Greater Naples Fire District Seat 3: Connie Bettinger vs. incumbent Brian Cross
- Greater Naples Fire District Seat 4: Incumbent Patrick Dearborn vs. Elizabeth Flores
- North Collier Fire District Seat 4: Matthew Boggan vs. incumbent Chris Lombardo
- Marco Island City Council: Six people are running for three seats. They are Jason Bailey, Dennis Bartolucci, Darrin Palumbo (incumbent; seeking a second term), Chris Ricci, Teri Sommerfeld, and Rick Woodworth. The top three vote-getters will win.
Other Ballot Items
- Supreme Court Merit Retention: All Florida voters will vote on whether or not Florida Supreme Court Justice Carlos Muniz should continue to serve for another six-year term. The majority of voters decides.
- Constitutional Amendments: All Florida voters will also vote on three proposed amendments to the state constitution. They are:
- Amendment 1 – Florida Budget Stabilization Fund Amendment
- Amendment 2 – Florida Amendment to Exempt Tangible Personal Property of Agricultural Land from Taxation
- Amendment 3 – Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments
- Collier County Tourist Development Tax Referendum: All Collier County voters will decide whether to raise the county’s Tourist Development Tax from 5% to 6%, adding a sixth cent to the tax charged on short-term rentals of six months or less. A simple majority of votes cast is required to pass.
Key Dates
Note these dates on your calendar so you won’t miss one of these key dates:
- Sept. 24: Vote-by-mail ballots mailed out by Collier Supervisor of Elections
- Oct. 5: Deadline to register to vote
- Oct. 22: Deadline to request that ballot be mailed
- Oct. 22-31: Early voting
- Nov. 3: Election Day
Next Steps
I’ll be keeping Sparker’s Soapbox subscribers informed as I complete research on the various offices and referendums on the ballot via a weekly email with the subject line “Last Week in Sparker’s Research”, usually on Monday mornings.
Bookmark my 2026 Collier County Elections Guide at sparkers-soapbox.com/2026-collier-county-general-election-voter-guide so you can find my work at any time.
