Janelle Irwin Taylor
Democrat Brian Nathan, Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local 915, is the first Democrat to file for the Senate District 14 Special Election.
The previous officeholder, Republican Sen. Jay Collins, vacated the seat after his appointment as Lieutenant Governor this week.
Nathan is a Navy veteran and Orlando native who moved to Tampa in 2008 after his military career concluded. He attended Hillsborough Community College and earned his undergraduate degrees in philosophy and sociology from the University of Tampa.
“Nathan, a longtime leader in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, brings a proven record of fighting for working families on issues like good-paying jobs, affordable housing to ensure Floridians can live where they work, quality education, and accessible health care,” Nathan’s campaign announcement reads.
“His candidacy has energized voters and community leaders, positioning him as the leading contender for District 14.”
Nathan is a Journeyman who, before joining IBEW, worked as an electrical foreman and industrial electrician for Electro Design Engineering in Tampa.
Nathan filed for the race on Monday and, therefore, has not yet posted any financial information. For now, he has filed for the 2026 race for the seat, as a Special Election has not yet been formally scheduled.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Collins as Lieutenant Governor earlier this week, setting up an open race for Collins’ Senate seat that will no doubt attract competitive campaigns from both sides of the aisle.
Collins was first elected to the Senate in 2022, flipping the seat red after former Sen. Janet Cruz had flipped it blue just four years before.
For Democrats to win the seat back — even ahead of a Midterm cycle that, if history is any indication, should favor Democrats as the party not in power in Washington — it would still be an uphill climb. Republicans control about 38.66% of the electorate, with Democrats having just under 32%. More than 29% of the district’s voters are registered with no party affiliation, according to the most recent L2 voter data.
And even without a registration advantage, political winds in Florida have been blowing to the right for some time, with historic gains in races even in areas, such as Hillsborough County, that had been trending more to the left.
In the year Cruz lost to Collins, the margin was about 10 percentage points. Worse, at the time, Democrats had a voter registration advantage, albeit slight, at just two percentage points. Republicans also shocked political onlookers by not only flipping the Hillsborough County Commission, but by nearly sweeping it. Two Democrats lost their seats, robbing Democrats of a 5-2 majority on the board and handing the GOP a 4-3 majority. Two years later, they lost another seat, giving the GOP a 5-2 majority, which it still enjoys today.
While Collins is not running, he is still listed as a candidate for the district next year, along with perennial candidate Amaro Lionheart, who is also a Republican.
