Former Brevard County Democratic school board member Jennifer Jenkins, at one time a candidate for U.S. Senate, is dropping her bid against Republican Randy Fine in Florida’s Sixth Congressional District and will run instead in Florida’s Eight District, now held by Republican Mike Haridopolos.
Several Democratic and Republican challengers are expected to switch their races for Congress now that the congressional map has been significantly altered by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature.
That map keeps Brevard County whole while adding a portion of eastern Orange County, incorporating the University of Central Florida and surrounding areas.
“Once the Legislature passed these maps, I received several calls from around Brevard and Orange counties asking me to run here,” Jenkins said Tuesday in a written statement. “District 8 voters have pain at the pump, a struggle to afford adequate health care, and a representative who dodges town halls and real conversations with the people he’s supposed to serve.”
Haridopolos served in the Legislature from 2000 through 2012, including his last two years as Senate president. He was elected to serve in CD 8 in 2024, jumping into the race on the last day of qualifying, on the same day then-GOP incumbent Bill Posey announced his retirement from Congress.
The Republican Party of Florida in a statement noted that Jenkins has now twice switched races this year.
“Jennifer ‘Jumpin’ Jenkins keep jumping — race to race, district to district — chasing whatever might stick,” said RPOF Chairman Evan Power. “Floridians want a leader who fights for them and their community, not someone shopping for a seat.”
Jenkins’ chances of election this year may have improved with her switch. Fine won the CD 6 seat over Democrat Josh Weil in a special election last year by 14 points. That margin was more than half of what took place in 2024, when then-GOP-incumbent Mike Waltz won the seat by 30 points.
Haridopolos’ CD 8 seat, on the other hand, is a little less Republican-leaning than it was before the new map was approved last week. Donald Trump won it by more than 22 points in 2024 but, according to data analyst Matt Isbell, CD 8 is now a +16.1% Trump seat.
Independent Journalism for All
As a nonprofit newsroom, our articles are free for everyone to access. Readers like you make that possible. Can you help sustain our watchdog reporting today?
