Know Before You Vote
Get Informed
Democracy works better when more people understand how it actually works. This page has nothing to do with who to vote for, it's here so that whoever you vote for, you're voting with real information.
Who's Behind This Campaign
🤝 Endorsements
This is a grassroots campaign with no paid staff, so every endorsement below reflects organizations and elected officials who looked at the record and the platform and decided to put their name behind it.
Organizations
National Organization for Women, Jacksonville (N.O.W. Jax) has officially endorsed this campaign.
Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida has officially endorsed this campaign.
Jacksonville NOW PAC has included Rhian on its recommended slate for the 2026 election, alongside other Florida House, U.S. House, judicial, and school board candidates across Duval and St. Johns counties.
Elected Officials
Jimmy Peluso, Jacksonville City Council Member (District 7): "Rhian Tutson is the leader we need for District 14. She is dedicated, experienced, and passionate about serving our community. I am proud to give her my full endorsement."
Katie Hathaway, Jacksonville City Council At-Large, Group 2, has officially endorsed Rhian for Florida House District 14.
Bernard Taylor, candidate for Congress (FL-21): "I am proud to endorse Rhian Tutson for Florida House District 14. Her dedication and leadership are exactly what our community needs."
Civics 101
⚖️ How Laws Get Made & Checks and Balances
The U.S. and Florida governments are both built on the same idea: no single branch should hold all the power.
🏛️
Legislative
Writes and passes laws.
Example: U.S. Congress, or the Florida House & Senate
🏢
Executive
Carries out and enforces laws.
Example: The President, or Florida's Governor
⚖️
Judicial
Interprets laws and decides if they're constitutional.
Example: The Supreme Court, or Florida's courts
Legislative writes a bill → Executive signs or vetoes it → Judicial can rule on whether it's constitutional
Why Separation of Powers Matters
It prevents any one branch from having too much power, it protects your rights and freedoms, and it keeps government fair and balanced. That's not abstract, it's the entire reason a state legislator like the one Rhian is running to become can't just decide something and make it law alone. A bill has to pass the House, pass the Senate, and get signed (or not vetoed) by the Governor. Courts can still strike it down if it violates the constitution. Every step is a check on the step before it.
How a Bill Actually Becomes a Florida Law
A bill is filed by a member of the Florida House or Senate. It gets assigned to committees, where it can be amended, debated, or die without ever getting a vote. If it survives committee, it goes to the full chamber for a floor vote. If it passes, it goes to the other chamber and repeats the process. If both the House and Senate pass identical versions, it goes to the Governor, who can sign it, let it become law without a signature, or veto it. The Legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, which almost never happens, but it's the check that exists on paper.
Civics 101
🗳️ Can I Vote With a Felony Record?
A felony conviction in Florida does not automatically take away your right to vote forever. A lot of people assume it does, and stay home because of it. Don't guess. Check.
The Current Rule
Under Florida's Amendment 4 (2018) and the law implementing it, if your felony conviction was not for murder or a felony sexual offense, your voting rights are restored once you've completed all terms of your sentence, meaning any incarceration, parole, and probation and payment of all court-ordered fines, fees, costs, and restitution tied to that sentence.
If Your Conviction Was for Murder or a Felony Sexual Offense
Your voting rights are not automatically restored. You would need to apply for clemency through the Florida Commission on Offender Review.
Why this matters to Rhian: her Come Home Act proposes changing this rule so unpaid fines and fees never block someone's right to vote in the first place, but that would take a constitutional amendment to accomplish, because Florida's current constitutional text ties restoration to "completion of all terms of sentence," which courts have read to include financial obligations. Until that changes, the rule above is what's actually in effect today.
Civics 101
🔒 Florida's Closed Primary System
Florida is one of only eight states with a fully closed primary system. What that means depends entirely on how you're registered.
What "Closed Primary" Means
In a partisan primary election, only voters registered with that party can vote in it. A registered Republican can only vote in the Republican primary. A registered Democrat can only vote in the Democratic primary. If you're registered with No Party Affiliation (NPA) or a minor party, you cannot vote in either major party's primary, only in nonpartisan races and ballot measures, which are open to everyone regardless of registration.
The Universal Primary Exception
There's one major exception: if every candidate who qualified for an office is from the same party and no other party has a candidate on the general election ballot, the primary opens up to every registered voter, regardless of party. This is called a Universal Primary, and whoever wins it wins the seat outright, there's no November race for that office. This is exactly the situation in Florida House District 14 this cycle: every registered voter in the district, regardless of party, can vote in this specific race on August 18, 2026.
Deadlines That Matter
The deadline to register to vote, or to change your party registration ahead of a primary, is 29 days before the election, for the August 18, 2026 primary, that's July 20, 2026. If you want to vote in a specific party's primary in a future election, your registration needs to reflect that party by the deadline.
Civics 101
🎗️ Where the Parties Stand
This is a factual overview of what each party generally says it stands for, not a scorecard, and not an argument for any of them. Registering with a party doesn't mean you have to agree with everything on its platform. It just means that's generally the direction you lean, and it determines which primary you can vote in.
Democratic Party
Generally associated with
- Broader government role in healthcare, education, and social safety net programs
- Abortion access and reproductive rights protections
- Stronger environmental and climate regulation
- Expanded voting access and civil rights enforcement
- Support for labor unions and higher minimum wage
- Progressive taxation, where higher earners pay a larger share
Republican Party
Generally associated with
- Smaller federal government and lower taxes
- Restrictions on abortion access
- Deregulation, including of environmental and business rules
- Stronger border enforcement and immigration restrictions
- Broader gun rights and opposition to new firearm restrictions
- School choice and parental rights in education policy
No Party Affiliation (NPA)
NPA isn't a third party, it means you've declined to register with any party. NPA voters can vote in all general elections, nonpartisan races, and ballot measures, but under Florida's closed primary system, they cannot vote in a Democratic or Republican primary unless it becomes a Universal Primary (see above). About 30% of registered Florida voters are currently NPA.
Minor Parties on the Florida Ballot
Libertarian Party
Generally favors minimal government intervention in both economic and personal matters, lower taxes, deregulation, and non-interventionist foreign policy, paired with support for civil liberties like drug policy reform and reduced criminal justice enforcement.
Green Party
Generally centers environmental protection, grassroots democracy, and social justice, with positions further left than the Democratic Party on issues like climate policy, healthcare, and economic inequality.
Independent / Other Minor Parties
Florida periodically has other minor parties qualify candidates for the ballot. Each has its own platform, check the Florida Division of Elections website for parties currently active in a given election cycle.
A note on how to use this: platforms shift, candidates within the same party often disagree with each other, and plenty of voters hold views that don't map neatly onto any single party. This page is meant to help you understand the landscape, not to tell you where you belong. The most reliable way to know where you stand is to look at specific issues, specific candidates, and specific races, which is exactly what the
Where I Stand page on this site is for.