Kelly Kirschner

Kelly Kirschner (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 16th Congressional District. Kirschner is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. Kirschner advanced from the Democratic primary on August 18, 2026.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a third-generation Floridian, Peace Corps volunteer, former Mayor of Sarasota, and a single father who built a non-profit lifting first-generation students into the country's top universities — debt-free. As Commissioner and Mayor, I took on the heavyweights. I led the passage of Florida's strongest local campaign finance reforms (approved by more than 80% of the electorate), pushed FPL for unprecedented resident concessions, and clawed back millions for taxpayers by exposing a sweetheart lease at Marina Jacks. Now I'm running for Congress to fix our broken system.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

When oil companies post record profits while we’re struggling to pay for gas, that’s not the market — it’s a rigged game. When insurance companies raise your premiums while lobbying Congress to leave them alone, that’s not business; that’s corruption with a business license. When tariff chaos hammers Florida small and medium-sized businesses, farmers, and fishermen while Wall Street hedges its bets and becomes a casino, that’s Washington gambling with someone else’s livelihood. I'm running to end price gouging by oil, electric utility, and grocery giants, hold insurance companies accountable, invest in affordable energy that lowers your bills, and tear up the tax breaks that let billionaires pay less than you do.There is no higher responsibility for a Member of Congress than the power to send our sons and daughters into harm’s way. Yet, for too long, Washington has treated this solemn duty as a secondary concern. Under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war.

It is a moral outrage that when we face the prospect of “wars of choice,” leadership in Washington often ducks the debate, choosing to take vacations before even beginning a serious deliberation on “excursions” that cost American lives and billions of taxpayer dollars. These poorly planned conflicts, funded with blank taxpayer checks and met with a Congressional blind eye, are eroding decades of trust throughout the world and putting our children’s future in peril.One in three people in this district depend on Medicaid or Medicare. These aren’t handouts — they are promises made to seniors who worked their whole lives, to families doing their best, to veterans who gave their bodies and minds in service. Congress just broke that promise, stripping healthcare from nearly 280,000 of your neighbors in this district alone. I am running to restore every cut, protect every patient with a pre-existing condition, and make crystal clear to every hospital along the Gulf Coast: we are not abandoning you.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about finding ways to lower costs for the average American, pushing for a fully funded FEMA to help protect our region when hurricanes strike, providing affordable home and flood insurance and stopping premiums from skyrocketing. I'm also passionate about fixing the loopholes that allow corporations and billionaires to pay 0 in taxes while our costs continue to go up, and fixing the corruption that we see in Washington.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

● Hon. Rick Kriseman, Former St. Petersburg Mayor, State Representative

● Former US Senator Kent Conrad (D)

● Former US Congressman Dave Trott (R)

● Dr. Henry David Abraham, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

● James Story, Former US Ambassador to Venezuela

● Douglas McElhaney, Former US Ambassador to Bosnia

● Hon. Jennifer Webb, Gulfport City Council Member, Former State Representative in Pinellas

● Hon. Keith Fitzgerald, Former State Representative (Sarasota/Manatee)

● Charlie Kennedy, Manatee County School Board Member

● Liz Barker, Sarasota County School Board Member

● Tom Edwards, Sarasota County School Board Member

● Current/Former Sarasota Mayors and City Commissioners

○ Jennifer Ahearn-Koch

○ Fredd Atkins

○ Suzanne Atwell

○ Ken Shelin