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Polk County School Board District 3 runoff
A nonpartisan election that became markedly political was decided by 15,476 votes. With 53.4% of the vote, incumbent Kate Wallace defeated Victor Sims, who received 46.6%.
Wallace, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in November 2025 to fill the vacancy left by the death of former board member Rick Nolte, told supporters she was grateful for the opportunity to continue serving the county.
“A year ago, I raised my hand and took an oath to serve the students, families, and teachers of Polk County. Tonight, Polk County asked me to keep going,” Wallace said during her victory speech.
Wallace said that her top priorities remain unchanged: improving academic performance, helping students reach grade-level proficiency in math, and ensuring graduates’ are prepared for college; fairly compensating and offering them adequate benefits for employees; and prioritizing school choice by maintaining partnerships with charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling families and ensuring Polk County’s traditional public schools become the first choice for families.
“My job isn’t to protect the public school monopoly,” Wallace said Tuesday night. “It’s to operate the public schools that the public has entrusted me with as well as I humanly possibly can.”
U.S. House District 18
Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., defeated two challengers to secure another term representing Florida’s 18th Congressional District. Franklin’s victory marks the beginning of his fourth term in Congress since first being elected in 2020.
Franklin earned 49.7% of the vote, narrowly defeating Democratic opponent Curtis Gibson, who received 47.3% and held a slim lead as early results began to come in. Deva Simmons, No Party Affiliation, took 3% of the vote.
Franklin won Florida’s 15th Congressional District in 2020. Following redistricting in 2022, Franklin saw his victory margin peak at 74.7% then decline slightly to 65.3% in 2024 — a stark contrast to his 2.4-percentage-point lead in the 2026 election.
After redistricting again in 2026, the 18th Congressional District includes the city of Lakeland and most of Polk County, as well as a small portion of Osceola County. Both counties saw a shift of at least 13 percentage points toward the Democratic Party compared with the 2024 presidential election, according to The Associated Press.
Franklin, who positioned himself as a businessman throughout his campaign, emphasized issues such as federal spending, national security, and lower taxes.
County ballot referendum: “Millage for School Safety, Teachers, and Career Education”
Of Polk County voters, 60.61%, or 149,358, voted in favor of the referendum, which aims to increase compensation for school employees and address staffing shortages, according to Polk County Public Schools.
Statewide amendments
In Florida, statewide ballot amendments must receive at least 60% of yes votes to pass.
Amendment 3
Amendment 3, the most controversial of the election’s three ballot measures, passed with 62% of voters voting in favor. The amendment raises homestead property tax exemptions. In the lead-up to the vote, local officials across Florida, including Lakeland commissioners, have voiced concerns about the budget implications of this change.
Amendment 1
Amendment 1 did not pass, receiving only 41.39% of the vote. The measure would have increased the cap for Florida’s budget stabilization fund, also called a rainy day fund, to 25% of the previous year’s general revenue collections.
Amendment 2
Amendment 2 failed, receiving only 58.2% of yes votes in a race that required 60% to pass. The amendment would have exempted agricultural equipment and other ‘tangible personal property’ used for farming or agritourism from property taxes if the property was typically kept on land owned or leased by farmers.
Other races
Lakeland’s representatives in the Florida Legislature
Despite large disparities in funding and spending, incumbents faced surprisingly competitive races for once easily held seats.
With the most comfortable margin at 59.5% of the vote, incumbent Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, R-Fla., won District 49, beating Democrat Robert Anzalone by 11,279 votes.
In District 51, Democrat Octavio E. Hernandez, who also ran for the seat in 2024, beat Republican incumbent Hilary Holley. Hernandez outperformed expectations, receiving 52.2% of the vote and winning by a margin of 3,003 votes.
Incumbent Jennifer Canady, R-Fla., will continue to represent District 50. Canady received 54.3% of the vote, defeating Democrat Ricky Santiago, who received 43.7%, and no-party-affiliation candidate Jarvis Washington, who received 2%. Canady won by 5,133 votes.”
In the closest race, incumbent Colleen Burton, R-Fla., retained her District 12 state Senate seat by 1,319 votes, receiving 50.4% of the vote to challenger Alfred Reynolds’ 49.6%.
Polk County Board of Commissioners District 4
In the only runaway race of the night, former Haines City Mayor Omar Arroyo defeated write-in candidate Elisha Gresham, receiving 88% of the vote to Gresham’s 12%.
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