The Florida Congressional District 16 Democratic primary features four well-matched candidates—Glenn Pearson, Jan Schneider, Jon Harris, and Kelly Kirschner—vying for the nomination to fill a seat that is being vacated by incumbent Republican Vern Buchanan’s retirement.
It should be noted that there is little separating the four candidates in terms of policy. Each favors immigration reform, an end to the war in Iran, universal healthcare, and a progressive tax system that delivers for middle-class workers. However, there are significant differences in terms of their backgrounds and experience.
Jan Schneider
Schneider is the OG of Gulf Coast Congressional Democrats, having been something of a perennial candidate since first running for the seat (formerly Florida’s 13th Congressional District) in 2002.
Schneider has, by far, the deepest understanding of the broad array of subjects a member of Congress must become familiar with and would undoubtedly be most ready to serve on day one. A Yale Law School grad, Schneider also has a PhD in Political Science and International Relations. As an attorney, she has appeared before the World Court and other international tribunals, while the bulk of her practice has involved advising the Canadian government on U.S. law.
At 79, Schneider would be well above the nearly 62-year-old average age of members of Congress, an institution that we already believe is far too old to remain in step with the majority of Americans. However, we find her broad-based experience and dogged enthusiasm to be plusses large enough to offset this dynamic. Schneider has raised a little under $33,000 for the race.
Glenn Pearson
Glenn Pearson is a retired broadcast journalist who has been an active community organizer in Manatee County. Glenn has focused on recruiting potential Democratic candidates, registering new voters, and activating disenfranchised voters in the community. When no one on the Democratic side was willing to run for his Manatee County Commission district in 2024, Glenn threw his hat in the ring and proved himself a hard-working grassroots candidate who knew the issues.
Glenn has brought that same approach to his Congressional campaign. We found Glenn to be a man of honor and integrity who is in the race for all of the right reasons. Pearson raised a little over $37,000, impressive for a grassroots candidate who doesn’t have Schneider’s years of political network building. We initially reported that Glenn was only going to serve one term if elected; however, he's clarified that we had misunderstood his statement.
Jonathan Harris
The youngest candidate in the race, Harris is a U.S. Army veteran who served as an infantry soldier before transitioning to IT and the Army Reserve, where he still serves, having accumulated 20 years of active and reserve service. Harris currently works as a cybersecurity analyst for the Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, which would certainly give him a unique skill set to bring to the seat.
We found Harris to be the most polished communicator in the field and feel that skill would render him most capable of reaching younger voters who are increasingly suspicious of institutions and electoral politics. A family man with two young children, Harris is putting his money where his mouth is by “being the change” he wants to see.
The only first-time candidate in the race, Harris entered with the least name recognition and is running a grassroots campaign that will struggle to overcome that dynamic. However, we found his campaign organization and his volunteers' enthusiasm inspiring. He also managed to raise almost $35,000, which is quite impressive for a first-time grassroots campaign. Harris also loaned his campaign $46,000, giving him the second largest campaign budget in the race.
Kelly Kirschner
Kelly Kirschner was late to enter the contest but immediately became the financial fundraising frontrunner, having raised nearly a quarter million dollars, far more than all other candidates in the race combined.
Kirschner, 51, was elected to Sarasota City Commission in 2007, when he was just 32. He was named mayor (which is rotated rather than elected in Sarasota) in 2010, an office his father had previously held. Kirschner went on to work at Eckerd College as vice president and a dean. He continues to work as a consultant for the school.
Kirschner was also the founding director of UnidosNow and remains Board Chair for the organization, a nonprofit whose mission is "to elevate the quality of life of the growing Hispanic/Latinx community through education, integration, and civic engagement. UnidosNow has established itself as a leader in the field of postsecondary education attainment."
He has taken the fight to many powerful institutions, including Florida Power & Light, Walmart, and Gulf Coast developers. In 2009, he led the effort to pass the strongest municipal campaign finance reform legislation in Florida's history.
Bottom Line
We found each of these candidates to be qualified, well-intentioned, honest brokers with varying levels and combinations of experience, skill sets, and electability intangibles. Democratic voters in the district should base their vote on issues that align with their priorities while weighing which candidate is best positioned to compete in a general election, where there is a rare absence of an incumbent in this red-leaning district.
For more information on local elections, visit our Voter Guide.
4 comments on this item
Only paid subscribers can comment
Please log in to comment by clicking here.
Charles
Good to see all of these good folks to choose from in this primary. I prefer Kirschner for several reasons, but most importantly because of his long career of service to communities and his interest in an important federal position that requires time to establish seniority and appointments that will be so important to our county. So I discourage voting for Pearson (the next best in my mind) because of his avowed "one term" commitment. We need a representative who will commit to establishing the type of representation that only comes with the intention to devote oneself to advancing the interests of those represented in congress. Examine the career of Vern Buchanan and you will realize how important that length of service became to his effectiveness. I may not always have agreed with how he applied this, but you should get the point, we should elect a committed person for this office. Kirschner clearly has demonstrated his commitment to advance his community in each job, volunteer work, or office he has held and he is young enough to be able to use that advantage to benefit all of us even better than Buchanan did. In all aspects Kirschner is my first choice — for this primary and especially, in the general election against the offerings of the other party.
Sunday, July 19 Report this
oracle_of_experience
How refreshing to read the background on the Democratic slate versus the Republicans (who seem to be having a contest on who is the "most conservative" - whatever that means!). I think Florida and the nation has had enough pandering and slandering by the so-called conservatives and there appears to be a justifiable ground swell for newer and less traditional approaches to actual issues. Here's the quick pick. Snider - has had many opportunities and unsuccessful - pass. Glenn Pearson - keep doing what your doing :-) but - pass. Harris - great to see this but will pass only based on experience. Kelly Kirschner - good combo of actual job experience and fresher attitude and less baggage of accumulated political debt - go for it! I hope some of my Republican friends will look beyond Party on this round and help stabilize and normalize governing. Look at it this way, there will always be another crop of Republicans in upcoming rounds. Send the party a message "we want more centrist and collaborative candidates who can challenge the status quo."
Sunday, July 19 Report this
brettski1313
These 4 candidates are eminently qualified and would provide a refreshing change from MAGA doormat Vern Buchannan. My ballot lists 5 candidate in the Democratic primary. Why has Tamika Lyles not been included in this analysis?
Thursday, August 6 Report this
di4blues
Please read the clarification provided by Glenn Pearson, link in the article under his name, regarding the one term comment. He stated he would not compromise his principles to retain power even if it meant he would only serve one term and would serve as long as voters wanted.
Wednesday, August 12 Report this