Two open Florida House seats: Joe Strada vs. James Pericola in CD 11, Austin Rogers vs. Amanda Marie Green in CD 2

Two Florida congressional seats held by retiring Republicans will get new representatives after Tuesday's election, and both races pit a well-funded Republican against a Democrat hoping a difficult national climate for President Donald Trump narrows the gap. In Central Florida's 11th Congressional District, air conditioning and plumbing executive Joe Strada faces former congressional staffer James Pericola to succeed U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster. In North Florida's 2nd District, former Senate counsel Austin Rogers faces former foreign aid worker Amanda Marie Green to replace U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn.

Both districts lean Republican by voter registration and past results. Neither has drawn the attention of the state's toss-up House races, but each will help show how far Democratic hopes of overperforming reach on Nov. 3.

The two districts at a glance

Registration figures at the close of the books for the general election, as reported by Florida Politics, show the Republican edge in each seat:

CD 11: an open seat in a redrawn district

The 11th District changed under the congressional map the Legislature approved this year. Under the old lines it included all of Sumter County, home to much of The Villages, and parts of Lake, Orange and Polk counties. The new district sheds its Polk territory and moves deeper into southwestern Orange County, trading about 41,000 Polk residents for the same number in Orange, WUSF reported. The change made the seat somewhat less Republican but still solidly red: the new district voted for Trump 57% to 42% in 2024 and 54% to 45% in 2020.

Webster, a Clermont Republican, announced during the Legislature's redistricting special session that he would not seek another term.

Joe Strada

Strada, a Lake Mary Republican, founded Strada Services, which the company bills as the largest privately held and family-owned air conditioning, electric, security and plumbing company in the country. He has promoted a rags-to-riches story: from a blue-collar background, he built a net worth of $800 million, and according to Forbes he would enter the House as its richest member. Florida Politics noted the background is similar to Webster's, who for decades ran the family business Webster Air Conditioning & Heating.

His path to the nomination was narrow. Despite having more money than all of his primary opponents combined, Strada beat former Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker by 393 votes in the August primary, and a mandatory machine recount left the margin unchanged. Baker endorsed him within days.

"Washington is full of career politicians looking for their next government job, but the people of District 11 deserve someone who understands the challenges they face and the real-world experience to provide solutions we need," Strada said.

His priorities include banning congressional insider trading and investigating whether members have profited from privileged information, plus a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

James Pericola

Pericola, who cruised through the Democratic primary, worked for the late U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and in former President Bill Clinton's administration. He has pitched himself as a moderate and a force for change, and appeared with Clinton when the former president came to Florida to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly.

He has focused on pocketbook issues, promising to protect Medicare and Social Security in a district that includes much of The Villages, to seek federal help on housing and property insurance costs and to back tax cuts for working families. He also wants to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and fight partisan gerrymandering.

"The choice couldn't be clearer. Strada refuses to debate me or answer questions from voters and the media, yet brags about his wealth while supporting cuts to Social Security and Medicare," Pericola said.

The money

Strada had raised more than $5.5 million through Oct. 14, most of it a $5 million loan to his own campaign, and reported more than $860,000 in the bank at the start of October. Pericola had raised about $226,000, about $65,000 of it his own money, and had $35,000 on hand at the same point, Florida Politics reported.

CD 2: replacing Neal Dunn in North Florida

The 2nd District stretches across 16 counties of the Big Bend and Panhandle, including Tallahassee and Panama City. It was not changed by this year's redistricting, which left Districts 1 through 7 as they were. Dunn won almost 62% of the vote there in 2024 in his final campaign, while Trump took more than 58%.

Florida Politics noted that most of the district was represented by a Democrat twice in the last quarter century, most recently by Gwen Graham, now the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Dunn flipped the seat in 2016 after a court-ordered redistricting.

Austin Rogers

Rogers, a Panhandle native and father of three, most recently served as general counsel to U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and earlier as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He won a competitive Republican primary over a field that included the sitting chair of the Republican Party of Florida, a former U.S. Senate candidate who spent millions of his own money and the Gulf County superintendent of schools. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan has campaigned for him in the district.

"As a Panhandle native, I know and love Florida's 2nd Congressional District well, and it would be the honor of a lifetime to represent it in Congress," Rogers said. He listed his top priorities as "addressing affordability, holding China accountable, and ensuring that we have thoughtful leadership when it comes to artificial intelligence."

Amanda Marie Green

Green, a Tallahassee Democrat and new mother, worked for more than nine years at Chemonics International, a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, until the Trump administration eliminated the agency. She won an uncertain Democratic primary in August.

She has run on economic hardship in a largely rural district. "We cannot afford to elect someone that guts nutrition assistance while one in four families face hunger, fails to support our farmers and ranchers who put food on our tables and are the last line of defense against overdevelopment and data centers, and guts our access to healthcare in rural areas," Green said.

The money

Rogers had raised $1.36 million through Oct. 14 to Green's more than $658,000, though their fundraising since September has been closer: about $350,000 for Rogers and roughly $310,000 for Green. In mid-October Rogers had more than $98,000 on hand and Green $28,000. A super PAC called Panhandle Patriots has spent more than $1.7 million supporting Rogers, while groups including the Blue Dog Coalition, which backs moderate Democrats, have helped Green, according to Florida Politics.

Why these races matter

Republicans hold both seats now, and the registration numbers favor keeping them. The more useful question on election night may be the margins. Democrats statewide are counting on gains among voters registered with no party affiliation, a sizable bloc in CD 11, and on turnout driven by Trump's weak approval ratings. Results in seats like these, which the parties have not treated as battlegrounds, will help show whether that environment is broad or limited to a handful of targeted districts such as the Tampa and South Florida seats already covered by The Florida Press.

The CD 11 contest also tests whether a nominee who barely survived his primary can consolidate Republican voters.

What's next

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls in CD 11 close at 7 p.m. Eastern. CD 2 spans both time zones, so its last polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern. Counties must post early voting and mail ballot results within 30 minutes of their polls closing. The winners will be sworn in when the new Congress convenes in January.