2026 Voter Guide: Hillsborough County

Elections

Oct 10

Part of our Tampa Bay Voter Guide 2026. Your county Supervisor of Elections is the official source; when in doubt, check with them. Information current as of Oct. 11, 2026.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and anyone in line at 7 p.m. can vote. On Election Day you must vote at your assigned precinct; during early voting you can use any early voting site in your county. Bring a current photo ID with a signature.

Your elections office

Supervisor of Elections: Craig Latimer
Website: votehillsborough.gov
Phone: 813-744-5900
Office: 2514 N. Falkenburg Road, Tampa

Early voting

Mon., Oct. 19 through Sun., Nov. 1, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The county is using every optional early voting day. It planned 27 early voting sites; see the list at votehillsborough.gov.

Voting by mail

The deadline to request a mail ballot is 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Requests from 2024 have expired, so if you haven't asked for a 2026 ballot, you need to. Your ballot must reach the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. Nov. 3. A postmark is not enough, and mail ballots cannot be dropped off at Election Day polling places. If your signature is missing or doesn't match, you have until 5 p.m. Nov. 5 to fix it with a cure affidavit.

Request a ballot or check its status with the Voter Information Lookup at votehillsborough.gov. Return postage is not needed. You can also drop your ballot at a secure ballot intake station at any early voting site.

Your sample ballot

Use the Voter Information Lookup at votehillsborough.gov for your sample ballot and precinct.

On every Florida ballot

Governor: Byron Donalds (R), with running mate Bryan Avila, vs. David Jolly (D), with running mate Gwen Graham, plus several no-party and Libertarian candidates. Gov. Ron DeSantis is term-limited.
U.S. Senate (special election): Sen. Ashley Moody (R) vs. state Rep. Angie Nixon (D), plus no-party candidates. The winner serves the last two years of Marco Rubio's term.
Attorney General: James Uthmeier (R, incumbent) vs. José Javier Rodríguez (D).
Chief Financial Officer: Blaise Ingoglia (R, incumbent) vs. Annette Taddeo (D).
Agriculture Commissioner: Wilton Simpson (R, incumbent) vs. Joey Mendoza Atkins (D).
Amendments 1, 2 and 3, all placed on the ballot by the Legislature. Each needs 60% yes to pass. What each amendment does.
Merit retention: Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz, plus appeals court judges for your district.

Local races and questions in Hillsborough County

U.S. House

District 12: Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) vs. Kimberly Overman (D), plus Branden Scrivener (no party).
District 14: Rep. Kathy Castor (D) vs. Mike Beltran (R), plus Brian Lambert (Libertarian) and write-ins.
District 15: Rep. Laurel Lee (R) vs. Robert People (D).

Florida redrew its congressional map in 2026, so your district number may have changed. Check your sample ballot.

County Commission

District 3: Commissioner Gwen Myers vs. Luiz Garcia.
District 5 (countywide): Stacy Hahn (R) vs. Neil Manimala (D). Hahn beat Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda in the August primary.
District 7 (countywide): Aileen Rodriguez (D) vs. Joshua Wostal.

School Board (runoffs)

District 2: Daniela Simic vs. Brittany Lyssy.
District 6: Board member Karen Perez vs. Kenneth Gay.

Ballot questions

County Referendum 1, elect the school superintendent: whether Hillsborough's superintendent becomes an elected, partisan office. The School Board unanimously opposes it.
Bigger County Commission: whether to grow the commission from seven to nine members and eliminate the countywide seats.
Schools' half-penny sales tax: whether to renew it for 10 more years, about $121 million to $131 million a year for schools.

Check your sample ballot for the final wording of each question.

Sources

How we reported this: compiled Oct. 10, 2026, from the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, the Florida Division of Elections and the news reports linked above, with AI research help. Candidate lists from primary results can change; your sample ballot is final. Spot an error? Tell us.

Joseph Jackson