Democrat Brian Nathan has won re-election to Florida's Senate District 14, topping more than 52% of the vote in unofficial results with all precincts reporting. The win came in a rematch against Republican Josie Tomkow, whom Nathan had defeated by just over 400 votes in a special election earlier this year.
According to Creative Loafing Tampa, the Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections' unofficial tally put Nathan above the halfway mark once every precinct had reported. Nathan, a Navy veteran and union member, pulled off that first victory in March despite being out-fundraised 10-to-1, the outlet reported. The Florida Department of State's Division of Elections listed the earlier contest as the 2026 State Senate District 14 Special Election on its results page.
A Seat Left Empty Since August
The district, which covers parts of Hillsborough County, had gone without a sitting senator since August, when then-Senator Jay Collins was appointed lieutenant governor, according to WTSP. That vacancy set up the March special election that first put Nathan in office, and the rematch against Tomkow that followed this fall. WTSP describes Nathan as a Navy veteran and union leader who belongs to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, while Tomkow had served in the Florida House since 2018 and resigned her Polk County House seat to run for the Senate.
Exactly how close that March special election was depends on which account you read. The Tampa Bay Times reported Nathan won by 405 votes, while Florida Politics put the margin at 409 votes, describing it as a 0.51-percentage-point win. Creative Loafing Tampa characterized it more loosely as a victory of just over 400 votes. Hillsborough County's election office, in a public notice, said no recount had been triggered in that race and attributed the appearance of a tighter half-percentage-point margin on an election-watch site to rounded percentages, putting the vote difference at 405.
A Money Gap That Didn't Close
Tomkow entered the rematch with a substantial war chest. Heading into October, she had nearly $163,000 on hand in her campaign account plus another $332,000 in her affiliated political committee, Friends of Josie Tomkow, according to Florida Politics. Nathan, by contrast, had a little over $27,000 left in his own campaign account and about $44,000 in his committee, Friends of Brian Nathan, as of October 2.
Nathan made up some of that gap through outside support rather than direct cash. The same Florida Politics report noted he drew nearly $97,000 in in-kind contributions from the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and the Florida Democratic Party, covering campaign staffing costs rather than appearing as cash on hand. The outlet also noted that registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district by a wide margin, with nearly 117,000 GOP voters compared with fewer than 93,000 Democratic voters and close to 78,000 voters unaffiliated with either party.
Why the March Result Drew National Attention
The Tampa Bay Times had flagged the March special election as a closely watched race that could serve as a bellwether for the November midterms, given the lopsided voter registration numbers favoring Republicans in the district. Nathan's ability to repeat that win in the rematch, against a better-funded opponent and in a district where Republicans hold a substantial registration edge, gives that bellwether framing another data point heading into the broader election cycle.
A photo accompanying Creative Loafing Tampa's report shows Nathan at the Westshore Grand Hotel in Tampa on August 8, credited to Dave Decker of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. The outlet's unofficial results, drawn from the Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections with all precincts reporting, mark the clearest public accounting so far of Nathan's second win over Tomkow in the span of less than a year.
