Merritt Island businessman Marcus Herman has filed to run for House District 31 in 2026.
Herman, a Republican, is seeking to succeed House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, who is unable to run for re-election due to term limits. The seat covers a stretch of central Brevard County including several coastal communities.
“Over the past few months friends, family and community leaders have urged me to step up and run for the Florida House. I feel fortunate that I have the time to dedicate to this important job,” Herman said in a news release.
“I am definitely not a politician but a family man who grew three successful businesses in our community. I’ll bring a good dose of common sense and conservative backbone to Tallahassee to back the Trump-DeSantis agenda.”
Herman is a longtime Brevard County resident who graduated from Merritt Island High School before earning a business management degree from Carson-Newman College, where he also played football. He has operated three local businesses over the past 30 years.
The small-business man has also served as President of the Central Brevard Soccer Club and chaired the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency, where he remains a member.
Herman and his wife, Tina, have been married for more than three decades and have three adult children. Tina helped found Back Brevard Heroes, a nonprofit that supports first responders, and serves on the board of I Love My Island, which coordinates community outreach programs.
HD 31 includes Merritt Island, Cocoa and nearby beach areas, along with Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, Patrick Space Force Base and Port Canaveral.
HD 31 is considered a safe Republican district. The electorate is 48% Republican, 24% Democrat and 28% third- or no-party voters.
Sirois, also a Republican, secured his current term with a 64%-36% rout of 2024 Democratic nominee Joanne Terry. In the same cycle, President Donald Trump carried HD 31 with 62% of the vote.
Herman joins fellow Republicans Mindy Gibson, Robyn Hattaway and Marina Ann Vitale in running for the seat. Hattaway, who first opened a campaign account in 2023, leads in fundraising with about $86,000 collected and $62,500 banked. Notably, the registered agent on her campaign account is Stafford Jones, an influential Gainesville-based Republican strategist.
Gibson has about $20,000 banked, including $10,000 in candidate loans; Vitale, who joined the fracas in mid-July, has not yet filed her first finance report.
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