More than half of the candidates running for Florida statehouse seats this year across Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties are self-reported millionaires.
With careers in insurance, law, real estate, farming, and even restaurant operations, their financial interests vary — but almost all could be impacted by decisions made in Tallahassee.
As part of the campaign process in Florida, all candidates are required to file a public disclosure of their financial interests. An in-depth look at the forms can provide insight into where a candidate’s loyalties lie and the choices incumbent candidates have already made.
Financial disclosures were due July 1, in advance of Florida’s primary election on Aug. 18.
The details in the reports, like net worth, are listed as of Dec. 31, or a later date that the candidate chose.
Suncoast Searchlight analyzed the disclosures for all Senate and House candidates in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Reporters also reviewed legislative proposals from the past few years to identify potential overlaps between candidates' financial interests and issues considered by the Florida Legislature. The review was intended to highlight areas where state policy could affect a candidate's reported financial interests, not to suggest wrongdoing or an actual conflict of interest. It is not a comprehensive list of all possible financial crossovers.
The review found:
While most candidates have careers that could be impacted by state policies, there are incumbents whose actions in office stand out — having already voted on, and even sponsored, bills that could benefit their own incomes. For example, Boyd is the Chairman for Boyd Insurance, which offers property insurance. He represents Senate District 20 and sponsored a property insurance reform bill in 2022. Additionally, House Republicans James Buchanan and Danny Nix Jr. cosponsored House Bill 1389 which passed this year and updated 2023’s Live Local Act. Both men work as real estate executives.
Here are the details of each candidate’s financial disclosure.
Senate Race 20
Senate District 20 covers most of Manatee and a portion of Hillsborough counties. It is represented by Republican Jim Boyd, who serves as the Senate’s majority leader and has been in the seat since 2020 after an eight-year run in the House of Representatives. He will face off in November against one of two Democrats running in the primary this month: Gerald Baldi and John Houman.
Jim Boyd
Assets: Boyd reported a net worth of $21.7 million as of Dec. 31.
He is the chairman of Boyd Insurance and Investments, where most of his financial assets — $16 million — are held. He also owns the commercial property that houses Boyd Insurance, which is worth almost $2 million, a $2.5 million home, almost $2 million in retirement funds, and several lower-value assets, according to his disclosure. He reported more than $1 million in liabilities.
Income: He reported earning almost $1.6 million from Boyd Insurance in 2025. He is also on the board of directors of Sunz Insurance — another Manatee County insurance company — from which he reported $10,000 last year. He also reported almost $30,000 earned from the state of Florida.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Boyd Insurance offers business and personal insurance, including homeowners and flood insurance. In 2022 and 2023, two property insurance reform bills were passed that prevent attorneys representing policyholders from recovering attorney fees from insurance companies in response to lawsuits. Boyd sponsored one of the bills, and voted in favor of both.
Gerald Baldi
Assets: Baldi reported a net worth of $250,322 as of June 9.
He did not report any assets individually valued over $1,000. The aggregate value of his household goods is listed as $12,370.
Income: He reported earning more than $30,000 from Social Security in 2025. He has worked in real estate, financial services and banking, according to reporting from the Bradenton Times.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent crossover, as the Legislature does not have authority to make changes to federal Social Security payments that would affect Baldi’s current income.
John Houman
Assets: Houman reported a net worth of $12,250 as of Dec. 31.
The only assets he reported worth more than $1,000 are a checking and a savings account, both of which he noted contain less than $5,000. He did not list the name of the bank as required, according to online instructions about how to file the disclosure.
Income: Houman is retired and reported earning $17,400 from Social Security in 2025. He previously worked as an electrician and businessman, according to reporting from the Bradenton Times.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Just like Baldi, the Senate cannot make changes that would impact his federal Social Security benefits, so Houman has no apparent overlap.
Senate Race 22
Senate District 22 covers all of Sarasota County and southern Manatee County. Republican Joe Gruters has occupied the office since 2018, but he’s not seeking reelection this year, creating an open contest for four candidates. Among them are current state Rep. James Buchanan, R-Sarasota, and former New York City Police lieutenant Vic Rohe, who will face off in the Republican primary this month. The winner of that contest will go up against Democrat Lew Wasserman and independent Martin Hyde in the November general election.
James Buchanan
Assets: Buchanan reported a net worth of $2.4 million as of Dec. 31.
He reported owning a $1.5 million home and more than $1 million in stocks, trading funds, and corporate interests. He also owes more than $800,000 in liabilities.
Income: He owns a real estate agency called Amerestate Global, from which he reported earning more than $200,000 in 2025. He also earned more than $27,000 from the state of Florida.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: In 2023 and 2024, Buchanan voted in favor of Senate Bill 102, known as the Live Local Act, and Senate Bill 328, which amended the previous bill. The act requires local governments to allow residential housing in any area zoned for commercial use, if at least 40% of the units are considered affordable housing.
This year, he cosponsored House Bill 1389, which passed. It amended the Live Local Act again by updating zoning rules and tax exemptions.
Vic Rohe
Assets: Rohe reported a net worth of $500,000 as of Dec. 31, most of which is held in a home valued at $459,600.
He failed to list the address of his home, which is required in filing instructions.
Income: He reported earning more than $27,000 from Social Security last year. He also reported more than $55,000 in police pension payments from his time at the New York City Police Department, where in addition to serving as a lieutenant, he held the position of operations coordinator, according to his bio on his campaign website. He also reported that he worked as a stockbroker, financial consultant and a mortgage originator.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent overlap. Rohe’s New York City police pension and Social Security payments can’t be affected by any decisions made at the Florida state level.
Lew Wasserman
Assets: Wasserman reported a net worth of $2.8 million as of May 7.
He reported owning a home worth $1.15 million, and more than $1 million in stocks, IRAs and other savings and investment accounts. He failed to list the address of his home, as required by the disclosure rules.
Income: He reported earning more than $40,000 from Social Security and almost $55,000 from various pensions last year. Wasserman used to be a law professor and an assistant superintendent of schools, according to his campaign website. He also worked as an attorney for more than 30 years.
He also reported more than $40,000 of distributions and dividends from savings accounts and investments in 2025.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent crossover. None of the pensions or accounts that Wasserman received distributions from last year are in Florida.
Martin Hyde
Assets: Hyde reported a net worth of $9.4 million as of Dec. 31.
His reported assets include a $2.2 million home, an almost $7 million mutual fund, $320,000 in cash, and an $80,000 car. He failed to report the address of his home, or the details of the bank or entity where his mutual fund is stored, both of which are required per filing instructions.
Income: Hyde reported no income exceeding $1,000 in 2025. In a candidate questionnaire he filled out for The Observer in 2017 — when he was running for Sarasota City Commission — he stated he had been the President of Gulf Business Systems since 1999 and previously worked as the director of Copyforce Ltd. in the U.K.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent crossover, as Hyde has claimed no income.
House Race 71
House District 71 covers western Manatee County and is represented by Republican Will Robinson Jr. He has been in the seat since 2018, but is not running again this year. Three Republicans — Melton Little, Dylan Modarelli and Jordan Varnadore — are vying to replace him, along with Ocean Fitts, a Democrat, and Joseph Hoolihan, who is running as an independent.
Melton Little
Assets: Little reported a net worth of $4 million as of Dec. 31.
He reported a $900,000 home and more than $1.6 million in stocks. He also reported more than $1 million in an IRA account, almost $500,000 in an investment account and almost $300,000 of real estate in Argentina. He owes more than $300,000 in a mortgage and other liabilities, he disclosed.
Income: Little is an attorney who specializes in marital and family law and personal injury cases, according to his bio on the website for his law firm, Kallins, Little & Brosious. He earned more than $200,000 from working for the law firm in 2025. He also earned almost $500,000 from other investments, like real estate and corporations.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Two bills passed in 2022 and 2023 preventing personal injury attorneys, like Little, from recovering attorney fees from insurance company payments in response to lawsuits. Other bills have been proposed in the years since that would reverse or reform those laws. They have not passed, but the issue may resurface.
Dylan Modarelli
Assets: Modarelli reported a net worth of $25,000 as of May 22.
He listed all $25,000 as inventory, and told a reporter over the phone that it is all jewelry, which he sells. He said he does not keep cash or bank accounts.
Income: Modarelli reported an income of $35,000 in 2025 but gave little information about the source of his income in his financial disclosure. He told Suncoast Searchlight that he earned the money by selling jewelry through an operation called Empire Gemstones, which employs six or seven other people. Empire Gemstones is not a licensed Florida business.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Suncoast Searchlight was unable to find any recent proposed bills that would have had a direct impact on jewelry sales. Two bills were proposed this year related to solicitation, but Modarelli didn’t give specifics about how he finds customers for his jewelry sales.
Jordan Varnadore
Assets: Varnadore reported a net worth of $822,768 as of Dec. 31, including an $800,000 home.
He also listed almost $300,000 worth of stocks. In liabilities, he listed a home equity line of credit worth almost $263,000. Liabilities worth less than $1,000 are not required to be listed on the form, but could affect the total net worth.
Income: He is the vice president of marketing at GarrettRichard, a family business he co-founded with his father, according to his campaign website. The business is an insurance agency that specializes in workers compensation coverage. In 2025, he reported earning almost $78,000 in that position and almost $26,000 of business income.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: A number of bills were proposed during the 2026 legislative session related to workers compensation, including one that would have extended workers benefits for mental health injuries to 911 operators, and one that would have allowed workers compensation insurers to use AI to process claims. Neither passed this year, but similar bills could be introduced in the future.
Ocean Fitts
Assets: Fitts reported a net worth of $425,000 as of Dec. 31, including investments accounts through Fidelity and Robin Hood worth more than $400,000, and a bank account with $2,400.
Income: Fitts is a student at St. Petersburg College studying Public Policy and Administration, according to his campaign website. He earned $21,679 in 2025 from National Financial Services, a subsidiary of Fidelity. He told a reporter the money was an inheritance from a family member.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent overlap, as the Florida Legislature has little authority over national investment trading policies.
Joseph Hoolihan
Assets: Hoolihan reported a net worth of $138,923 as of Dec. 31.
His reported assets include a $400,000 condo and almost $100,000 in retirement and index funds. He also reported liabilities worth more than $300,000. He failed to list the address of his condo, or the banks that hold his retirement fund and other accounts, which are all required per instructions from the commission on ethics.
Income: Hoolihan is a real estate agent, who earned almost $35,000 last year working for the builder Pulte Homes. He also withdrew $100,000 from a Fidelity IRA account in 2025.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Bills proposed in the Florida Legislature in 2026 that relate to real estate sales include one that would have required property listings to include estimated taxes for a home, and one that would have banned the value of a property from increasing as a result of updates to improve resistance to wind damage. Neither bill passed.
House Race 72
House District 72 covers eastern Manatee County, and is represented by Republican Bill Conerly. Conerly was elected to the seat in 2024 and is running for reelection this year against Republican John Phillips and Democrat Harvey Shifrin.
Bill Conerly
Assets: Conerly reported a net worth of $4 million as of Dec. 31.
He reported a home worth more than $500,000 and almost $2 million in stocks. He also has over $1 million in a 401k account.
Income: Conerly is the vice president of Kimley-Horn and Associates, an engineering and planning consultant firm that was hired in 2023 to consult on Manatee County’s comprehensive plan, according to reporting from the Observer. In 2025, Conerly earned almost $550,000 from the firm. He also earned almost $30,000 from the state of Florida.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Kimley-Horn provides consultation, engineering and design services for private and government markets. This year, a law was passed that requires counties and municipalities to create registries of qualified contractors who can conduct preapplication reviews for development applications. Conerly voted for the bill to pass.
Conerly also proposed a bill this year that would have required a specific standard of care for all contracts with design professionals.
John Phillips III
Assets: Phillips reported a net worth of $307,269 as of Dec. 31.
He reported a home valued at almost $600,000 but listed a mortgage of $460,945 in his liabilities. He also reported two 2021 Teslas and a 2021 GMC Sierra worth a total of $95,000 but has two auto loans worth almost $60,000. The rest of his financial assets are in savings and investment accounts. He also owns a $1,500 golf cart.
Income: Phillips is a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served for 31 years, according to his campaign website. He reported earning almost $118,000 from the U.S. Coast Guard retirement pay in 2025.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent overlap, as the state legislature does not have authority over federal veteran benefits.
Harvey Shifrin
Assets: Shifrin reported a net worth of $1.5 million as of Dec. 31.
He reported owning a home valued at more than $600,000 with a more than $350,000 mortgage. He also reported a $31,500 Honda CRV and almost $400,000 in stocks. The rest of his money is mostly in savings accounts.
Income: Shifrin reported earning more than $147,000 last year from Loren D. Stark Co., where he works as a retirement attorney. He also collected almost $42,000 from Social Security.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent overlap. Loren D. Stark Co. operates out of Houston, and Shifrin works remotely, so Florida state policies shouldn’t have an impact on his income.\
House Race 73
House District 73 covers northwest Sarasota County and is represented by Republican Fiona McFarland, who was elected in 2020. McFarland is running for reelection and is unopposed in the primary. She will face off against Democrat Lisa Klein in the general election.
Fiona McFarland
Assets: McFarland reported a net worth of $5.3 million as of Dec. 31.
She owns two houses worth more than $700,000 each and has an almost $3 million interest in a property holding company. She also owns more than $2 million in trust funds, savings and retirement accounts, and brokerage accounts. She owes more than $1 million in loans and other liabilities.
Income: McFarland reported earning $11,000 last year from rental property income connected to one of the two homes. She also earned more than $26,000 from the state for her role in the House of Representatives.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Bills impacting landlord and tenant relations are common. In 2026, a bill was proposed requiring landlords to give a five-day notice before starting an eviction for unpaid rent, an increase from the current requirement. The bill died before a vote. Another bill was passed this year that makes it easier for landlords to remove someone who took possession of a dwelling by faking their identity or forging documents. McFarland voted in favor of the law.
Lisa Klein
Assets: Klein reported a net worth of $84,455 as of Dec. 31.
She reported a $340,000 home, but listed almost $250,000 worth of liabilities, including $72,000 in student loans.
Income: Klein is a licensed mental health counselor, according to her campaign website. She reported earning $23,008 from Mindful Therapy Studios and $6,708 from SMH Health Care in 2025.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Bills related to mental health counseling are common in the Florida Legislature. One bill proposed this year, which died, would have prohibited the use of artificial intelligence in mental health counseling.
House Race 74
House District 74 covers eastern Sarasota County and is represented by Republican James Buchanan, who is running for Senate District 22. Four Republicans are vying to replace him — Les Nichols, Nick Pachota, Jennifer Peeples Winkler and Kelly Ann Walker. Whoever wins in the primary will face Democrat Ryan Neill in the general election.
Les Nichols
Assets: Nichols reported a net worth of $1.6 million as of Dec. 31.
He reported owning a $1.5 million home, and owing a $435,000 mortgage. He failed to list the address of his home. He also listed an $80,000 truck, along with a $15,000 bank account and a $17,000 401K account.
Income: He’s the West Coast Florida division president for RealManage, which provides community management services for condominiums and home owners associations. He reported earning $150,000 in 2025.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: A number of bills have been passed during the last few years related to community management, especially focused on condominium safety after a condo building in Surfside collapsed in 2021, killing 98 people.
Nick Pachota
Assets: Pachota reported a net worth of $6 million as of Dec. 31.
Three assets, worth a total of $1.9 million, are listed on his financial disclosure as redacted. He reported partial ownership, worth $2.4 million, in Venice Pier Group Inc., a family restaurant business in Venice. He also has partial ownership in a number of other companies, worth a combined $2.3 million, along with almost $70,000 in stocks and bonds. He owes $1.4 million worth of liabilities to three different lenders.
Income: Pachota is the mayor of Venice, a role for which he earned more than $23,000 in 2025. He also earned $1,200 from the Sarasota County Public Schools, where he works as an adjunct instructor in the Emergency Medical Services education program, according to his campaign website. Most of his earnings in 2025 came from Venice Pier Group, with a salary of almost $100,000 and an owner’s share of more than $300,000. He also earned almost $30,000 from other businesses and more than $6,000 from banking dividends.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: In 2025, a law was passed requiring restaurants to disclose in advance all operations charges, like automatic gratuities, credit card surcharges and delivery fees.
Jennifer Peeples Winkler
Assets: Peeples Winkler reported a net worth of $8.7 million as of Dec. 31.
She reported a $1.4 million Sarasota home and multiple other properties, including one worth $982,000 and one worth $585,000, also both in Sarasota. She also reported property in Maine worth $100,000. She owns The Peeples Insurance Agency, which she founded in 2014, according to her campaign website. The company is worth $6.8 million.
Income: Peeples Winkler reported earning $300,000 in 2025 as the owner of The Peeples Insurance Agency.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: The Peeples Insurance Agency offers property, vehicle, commercial, personal and animal insurance. In 2022 and 2023, two property insurance reform bills were passed that prevent attorneys representing policyholders from recovering attorney fees from insurance company payments in response to lawsuits.
Kelly Ann Walker
Assets: Walker reported a net worth of $917,969 as of Dec. 31, including a $100,000 campaign loan. She owns almost $700,000 in various stocks and bond exchange accounts.
Income: She earned $25,000 in 2025 from Kel-Mar Realty Holdings LLC, a real estate company.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Bills related to real estate and development are common, including 2023’s Live Local Act and subsequent updates.
Ryan Neill
Assets: Neill reported a net worth of $90,894 as of Dec. 31.
His only listed asset is a $500,000 home. He told a reporter over the phone that he inherited the house, and he only included liquidated funds that he possesses in his net worth, though he did not list any bank accounts or other funds in his assets.
According to online instructions about how to file the disclosure, net worth should be calculated by totaling the value of all assets and subtracting the value of all liabilities.
Income: Neill has worked in grocery store retail for more than 30 years, according to his campaign website. He earned almost $52,000 from Publix Super Markets in 2025, and $22,692 from mutual funds and IRAs through Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., a wealth management company.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Suncoast Searchlight was unable to find any recent proposed bills that would have had a direct impact on grocery store employees.
House Race 75
House District 75 covers southern Sarasota County and western Charlotte County. It is represented by Republican Danny Nix Jr., who was elected in 2024 and is running for reelection against Democrat Cynthia Butler.
Danny Nix Jr.
Assets: Nix reported a net worth of $2 million as of Dec. 31.
He reported owning a $400,000 home in Port Charlotte and a $330,000 condo in Tallahassee. Other money is held in business interests and retirement and investment accounts.
Income: He runs a commercial real estate business — the Nix Team — with his wife, according to his campaign website. In 2025, he earned more than $100,000 from The Nix Team Companies LLC and Nix Commercial Group LLC. He also earned more than $31,000 from a company listed as PG Hex LLC, and more than $27,000 from the state of Florida.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Nix cosponsored HB 1389, which passed this year and updated 2023’s Live Local Act by expanding where local governments must authorize residential housing, preventing municipalities from restricting the height of those developments and revising definitions of terms used in the act.
Cynthia Butler
Assets: Butler reported a net worth of $960,000 as of May 14.
She reported a $240,000 house and a $120,000 condo, and most of the rest of her funds are held in savings and retirement accounts.
Income: She reported earning $30,071 from Social Security last year. She also earned $2,181 from the HCA Fawcett hospital and $2,755 from Suncoast Credit Union. Her career experience is as a nurse, according to her campaign website.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent overlap, as Butler’s retirement income can’t be impacted by any state-level policies.
House Race 76
House District 76 covers all of DeSoto County western Charlotte County, and northern Lee County. It is represented by Republican Vanessa Oliver. She was elected in 2024 and will face Republican Julie McCormack in the primary. The winner will face Democrat Phillip Carter in the general election.
Vanessa Oliver:
Assets: Oliver reported a net worth of $805,912 as of Dec. 31.
She owns a home worth more than $600,000, on which she owes a more than $300,000 mortgage. She has more than $200,000 in retirement and investment funds. She also has a $14,000 business interest in a company called Evac Consultants LLC, which operates at the same address as her husband’s law firm: Oliver Law.
Income: Oliver is a healthcare attorney and CEO of Ambitrans Ambulance Service, according to reporting by the News-Press. She earned almost $200,000 in 2025 in that role, and more than $19,000 from Evac Consultants. She also earned more than $27,000 from the state of Florida.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: Last year, a bill was proposed that would have established specific rates at which insurers are required to reimburse out-of-network ambulance service providers. It died before it was voted on.
Julie McCormack
Assets: McCormack reported a net worth of $5.1 million as of Dec. 31.
She listed no assets in her financial disclosure that are individually worth more than $1,000, but listed the aggregate value of her household goods and personal effect as $5.1 million. She told a reporter over the phone that the money included in her net worth is split mostly between the farm she owns and operates with her family and an assortment of family heirlooms.
Income: She listed no income exceeding $1,000 for 2025. Her campaign website states she is a conservationist, mother, entrepreneur and community activist. She told a reporter she owns and operates a farm with her family, which sells goods in farmer’s markets.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: A bill that passed this year, called the Florida Farm Bill, promised to support farmers by preventing local governments from banning gas- and diesel-powered equipment, limiting high-density development in agricultural areas, and investing in agricultural programs.
Phillip Carter
Assets: Carter reported a net worth of $32,800, as of Dec. 31.
He listed no assets in his financial disclosure, and listed no aggregate value of household goods.
Income: He also listed no income. According to his campaign website, he is an Air Force veteran. His Linkedin account states he is the owner and operator of Phil’s Premier Painting LLC in Fort Meyers, but public business records show the LLC has been inactive since 2018.
Legislative overlap with financial interests: No apparent crossover, as Carter claimed no income.
This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
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