The Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Tampa voter against Gov. Ron DeSantis over his failure to call a Special Election for Senate District 14.
The Hillsborough County-based seat is open after DeSantis appointed former Sen. Jay Collins as Lieutenant Governor on Aug. 12. A month and a half later, a Special Election to replace him has still not been called.
The suit[1] seeks to compel DeSantis to schedule one.
“Tampa deserves full representation in the Legislature. By refusing to call a special election, the governor is denying us that right and ignoring decades of established precedent. It’s illegal and wrong,” said Cort Lippe, the Tampa resident behind the legal complaint.
The lawsuit argues DeSantis’ inaction leaves constituents in SD 14 without representation at a particularly inopportune time — lawmakers are set to begin committee weeks Oct. 6 ahead of the 2026 Legislative Session, which begins Jan. 13.
Filed in Leon County Circuit Court, the lawsuit alleges DeSantis has violated his duty under the Florida Constitution and state law by failing to call a Special Election. The ACLU notes that Governors typically act within a week when a vacancy is created.
The lawsuit includes historical data about vacancies requiring a Special Election, including 80 congressional and legislative offices since 1999. It adds that “for the 65 vacancies arising between 1999 and 2020, it took, on average, 7.6 days for the governor to call a special election after the vacancy arose.” Further, the lawsuit says that in 25 instances, “the governor took fewer than five days to call the election.”
The lawsuit goes further, accusing DeSantis of only being prompt in his calls for a Special Election “if it suits him.” The suit points to former state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s resignation on July 18, which was effective three days later, when DeSantis then “took just four days to call a special election.”
But this isn’t the first time DeSantis has delayed calling a Special Election following a vacancy. The ACLU sued DeSantis in 2023 and 2024 over similar delays in Northwest Florida, where former Rep. Joel Rudman vacated House District 3; Brevard County, where former Sen. Randy Fine resigned from Senate District 19 following his election to Congress; and Miami-Dade County, where former Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin vacated House District 118.
In each example, DeSantis called Special Elections after suits were filed.
“I’m not sure why the governor proves himself repeatedly unwilling to call timely special elections,” ACLU of Florida Staff Attorney Nicholas Warren said in a statement. “His predecessors like Jeb Bush and Rick Scott always acted swiftly to ensure citizens retained their voice in government. Governor DeSantis’s refusal to follow their example is not just concerning, it’s also against the law.”
The ACLU contends that the delay in calling a Special Election for Collins’ former seat disenfranchises voters in SD 14 by leaving them without representation at a time when lawmakers are preparing to propose, debate and vote on policy affecting the state and its constituents.
“The Legislature must enact mandatory deadlines for calling and holding special elections so that no Floridian is deprived of representation longer than necessary,” said Kara Gross, Legislative Director and Senior Policy Council for the ACLU of Florida. “Earlier this year, a bill to do exactly that (SB 1556[2]) did not even get a hearing. Lawmakers should take up this measure in their upcoming session.”
SD 14 includes South Tampa, West Tampa, Town ’n’ Country and Lutz. A Republican is favored to win the district once a Special Election is called. SD 14 has a GOP voter registration advantage, with 36% of the electorate registered to the Republican Party, compared to just under 32% for Democrats, according to the most recent L2 voter data[3].
It’s been a swing district in the past, however. Collins defeated[4] former Sen. Janet Cruz, a Democrat, in 2022, after she had won the district from former Republican Sen. Dana Young in 2018.
That may give Democrats hope of flipping another seat, particularly as campaigns gear up for the 2026 cycle. The cycle is expected to favor Democrats as the party out of power in Washington, and amid economic woes that Democrats are seeking to pin on Republican policies.
While no Special Election has yet been called for the seat, one Democrat has filed for the 2026 race. Brian Nathan[5] hasn’t posted any financial activity yet officially, but told Florida Politics in August he had already raised more than $10,000[6] for the race within just 48 hours of announcing his candidacy, which he did only days after Collins’ appointment as LG.
References
- ^ The suit (www.aclufl.org)
- ^ SB 1556 (www.flsenate.gov)
- ^ most recent L2 voter data (L2datamapping.com)
- ^ defeated (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Brian Nathan (dos.elections.myflorida.com)
- ^ raised more than $10,000 (floridapolitics.com)