Political ads · 2026 · FL

Florida House District 16 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them

Sydney Gruters won · 51.2% to 47.0% · Called by AP on Nov 3

Follow Sydney Gruters in office

Sydney Gruters won. Get what Sydney Gruters says in office by email, analyzed for rhetorical techniques, once sworn in. And an email if the result changes: a recount or a call reversed. One-click unsubscribe.

Confirming also makes your free Semblen account, with a 14-day Pro trial. No card.

Mark Davis (NPA), Sydney Gruters (Republican) and Kelly Kirschner (Democrat) are the nominees for Florida's 16th congressional district in the November 3, 2026 general election. By their latest FEC reports, Mark Davis's campaign had raised $67,000 (through October 14, 2026), Sydney Gruters's campaign $1.6 million (through October 14, 2026) and Kelly Kirschner's campaign $876,000 (through October 14, 2026). Outside groups have reported $1.8 million for Sydney Gruters and $203,000 against; $2,000 for Kelly Kirschner and $1.6 million against.

Mark Davis (NPA), Sydney Gruters (REP), Kelly Kirschner (DEM). 6 others filed with the FEC; any ads they ran are below. 0 ads analyzed, 0 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing.

Also on every Florida ballot: 3 statewide ballot measures → The ballot wording and the official arguments, read for rhetorical techniques.

How to vote in Florida

From Florida's official election office. Each line links to the official page it came from.

Registration	Register by Mon, Oct 5 (29 days before the election) (passed)Source: dos.fl.gov ↗Source: dos.fl.gov ↗
Early voting in person	Sat, Oct 24 to Sat, Oct 31 (Mandatory start date (10th day before). Counties may start as early as Oct 19 (15th day before).) (passed)Source: dos.fl.gov ↗Source: dos.fl.gov ↗
By mail	Anyone can vote by mail; request a ballot by Thu, Oct 22 (5 pm on the 12th day before the election. This is the deadline for a ballot to be mailed.); return it by Tue, Nov 3 (Received by 7 pm local time on Election Day; the postmark does not count) (passed)Source: dos.fl.gov ↗
Election Day	Tue, Nov 3. Polls: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time (passed)Source: dos.fl.gov ↗
ID at the polls	Current, valid photo ID with signatureSource: dos.fl.gov ↗

Check your registration and polling place ↗ Florida's official election site ↗

Checked October 6, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the official site before you go.

Something wrong or out of date? Tell us

A person reads every report and fixes errors the same day.

Got a political text?

Paste a campaign text message you’ve received. Semblen marks the persuasion techniques in its wording and lists the factual claims it makes. Take your name out first: what you paste is analyzed and kept like any text.

Semblen is free to read and has no ads. If this page was useful, you can support it.

Money in this race

From FEC filings for 2025–26. Outside spending is money a group spends on its own about a candidate — TV and online ads, mail, canvassing. It is not a donation to the campaign, and the candidate does not control it. Supporting means it was spent to help that candidate win; Opposing means it was spent to defeat them, usually on attack ads. Groups report it within 24 or 48 hours as the election nears. Raised is the campaign's own fundraising, as of its latest quarterly report. Largest donors come from each outside spender's own FEC receipts, with each donor's share of its itemized receipts; donors under $100,000 are not named. People are shown with the employer and occupation they reported. A donor that is itself a political committee is shown with its own largest donors. Companies and nonprofits don't report their funders to the FEC, so the trail ends there, and the page says so.

Mark Davis (NPA)

Raised: $67K through 2026-10-14 individuals $54K · PACs $0 · candidate's own money, incl. loans $9,185 · cash on hand $1,699
Outside spending: none reported

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

All filings at the FEC ↗

Sydney Gruters (REP)

Raised: $1.6M through 2026-10-14 individuals $1.2M · PACs $351K · candidate's own money, incl. loans $7,000 · from the candidate's other committees $48K · cash on hand $252K
Outside spending: $203K opposing Gruters · $1.8M supporting Gruters · latest reported 2026-10-30
Largest outside spenders: CONSERVATIVES FOR AMERICAN EXCELLENCE INC. — $1.0M supporting Gruters Largest donors: CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS PAC $8.3M (49%); Kenneth Griffin $3.0M (18%), Citadel, Founder & CEO; Paul Singer $1.9M (11%), Elliott Investment Management, CO-CEO & President; FRIENDS OF JOE GRUTERS $1.2M (7%); ARDLEIGH IMPACT CORP. $750K (4%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC) DEFEND AMERICAN JOBS — $502K supporting Gruters Largest donors: FAIRSHAKE $37.0M (>99%) (its largest donors: RIPPLE LABS INC. $48.0M, an organization; COINBASE $25.0M, an organization; COINBASE COMMERCE (EXCHANGE) $8.2M, an organization); RIPPLE LABS INC. $250K (1%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC) AMERICAN DEMOCRACY PROJECT — $203K opposing Gruters Largest donors: SMP $300K (63%); Rishi K Bhutada Shraddha $100K (21%), Star Pipe Products, Executive Vice President WFW ACTION FUND INC — $93K supporting Gruters Largest donors: Paul E Singer $250K (32%), CO-CEO CO-CIO President, Elliott Investment Management L.p.; GOP WINNING WOMEN 2026 $139K (18%) (its largest donors: BUSCEMA, JOHN $771K; Elizabeth Stern $246K, Retired; Richard W Colburn $236K, Payroll & Insurance Group); Cliff Asness $125K (16%), AQR Capital, Finance; Laurel Asness $125K (16%), Homemaker, Homemaker FOUNDATIONS PAC — $62K supporting Gruters and 4 more

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

32 PACs gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

ACPAC ACA INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,000
AMERICA'S FIRST PAC $2,500
AMERICAN REVIVAL PAC $5,000
BE AN AMERICAN PAC $1,000
BUCKEYE LIBERTY PAC $5,000
CITIZENS UNITED POLITICAL VICTORY FUND $5,000
CUT THE BULL PAC $2,000
DOUBLE L PAC $5,000
DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (DUKEPAC) $1,000
ELECTING MAJORITY MAKING EFFECTIVE REPUBLICANS PAC $5,000
FLORIDA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION FEDPAC $1,000
FRIENDS OF MIKE HARTING $500
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING FOR BETTER ELECTION RESULTS PAC $1,000
HEBREW HAMMER PAC $7,000
JIM JORDAN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
JM FAMILY ENTERPRISES, INC PAC $2,500
JUST ELECT SUPER STARS PAC $1,500
LADY WASHINGTON PAC $2,000
LISA MCCLAIN LEADERSHIP FUND $2,500
MAGGIE'S LIST $5,000
MIKE JOHNSON FOR LOUISIANA $2,000
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,000
NATIONAL BEER WHOLESALERS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,000
RAPTOR PAC $6,000
RUDY FOR INDIANA $2,000
SCALISE FOR CONGRESS $2,000
SPACE COAST LEADERSHIP PAC $2,000
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP. PAC $10K
THE EYE OF THE TIGER POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,000
VALUE IN ELECTING WOMEN POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $10K
VOTE TO ELECT REPUBLICANS NOW PAC $5,000
WFW ACTION FUND INC $5,000

All filings at the FEC ↗

Kelly Kirschner (DEM)

Raised: $876K through 2026-10-14 individuals $861K · PACs $14K · candidate's own money, incl. loans $502 · cash on hand $261K
Outside spending: $1.6M opposing Kirschner · $1,784 supporting Kirschner · latest reported 2026-10-30
Largest outside spenders: CONSERVATIVES FOR AMERICAN EXCELLENCE INC. — $1.2M opposing Kirschner Largest donors: CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS PAC $8.3M (49%); Kenneth Griffin $3.0M (18%), Citadel, Founder & CEO; Paul Singer $1.9M (11%), Elliott Investment Management, CO-CEO & President; FRIENDS OF JOE GRUTERS $1.2M (7%); ARDLEIGH IMPACT CORP. $750K (4%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC) NO GOING BACK PAC INC. — $450K opposing Kirschner UNIDOSUS ACTION PAC — $1,774 supporting Kirschner Largest donors: SEIU COPE (SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL EDUCATION) $165K (100%) SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION — $10 supporting Kirschner

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

All filings at the FEC ↗

No campaign ads analyzed for this race yet.

What this page is

An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it comes from a national Senate group and ran mostly in FL; or it ran mostly in FL and names a candidate — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific rhetorical move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. Running a check and seeing its verdicts are part of Semblen Pro, because each check costs money to run; anyone can see which claims an ad makes. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.