Our Choices for August 18: The Progressives of the Islands Voter Guide
Progressives of the Islands (POI), an organization dedicated to informing residents about the issues facing Sanibel and Captiva and supporting candidates and organizations that advance progressive solutions, has announced its endorsements for the August 18, 2026, Florida primary election.
Every election cycle, the Progressives of the Islands undertakes the same responsibility we have honored since our founding: studying the candidates, weighing their qualifications, and sharing our honest assessment with the voters of Sanibel, Captiva, and the broader Lee County community.
The August 18, 2026, primary is no ordinary election. From a high-profile U.S. Senate special election to contested Lee County School Board races that will shape the education of our children for years to come, the stakes on the ballot this summer are real and consequential.
We do not take our endorsements lightly. We listen to candidates who appear before us, review their records, and ask the hard questions about viability, qualifications, and vision. What follows is our assessment of the races before us and our clear recommendations for where progressive voters in Southwest Florida should place their trust on August 18.
U.S. Senate (Special Election): Alexander Vindman
There are two Democrats in this race, and we respect both of them. But only one is positioned to win, and that is Alexander Vindman.
Vindman's story is, in many ways, the American story. He arrived in this country as a child, a Jewish immigrant from Soviet Ukraine, and went on to serve his adopted nation for 21 years in the United States Army. He earned a Purple Heart in Iraq, served in embassies in Kyiv and Moscow, and rose to become the Director of European Affairs for the National Security Council. He holds advanced degrees from Harvard and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins. When he was asked to testify before Congress in 2019 about conduct he believed was harmful to national security, conduct involving the President of the United States, he did so anyway, at great personal cost.
That is not a political résumé. That is a record of character.
His opponent, state legislator Angie Nixon, holds strong progressive values, and we have no quarrel with her convictions. But she enters this race with $273,000 on hand against Vindman's $6.4 million. In a statewide special election in Florida, that gap is not a disadvantage; it is a disqualifier. Progressives cannot afford to send an underfunded candidate into a race this important. We endorse Alexander Vindman.
U.S. House, FL-19: Victor Arias
Southwest Florida deserves a congressional representative who has spent decades in this community fighting for ordinary people. Victor Arias has done exactly that.
A graduate of Hamilton College and the SUNY Buffalo Law School, Arias has practiced law in Cape Coral for more than 35 years, representing clients in personal injury, workers' compensation, and Social Security cases, the kinds of cases that matter most to working families. He also served as a staff attorney for the Lee County and St. Lucie County School Districts, giving him direct experience with the educational and administrative challenges facing our region.
His two Democratic opponents present a stark contrast. Howard Sapp has spoken before the POI and we appreciate his engagement, but his campaign is currently in debt, which is not an encouraging sign of the organizational discipline required to run a serious congressional race. Robert Neeld is a perennial candidate whose campaign website still references positions he held for a 2010 race in a different district. He has raised no money for this campaign.
Victor Arias is the serious candidate in this field. He has our endorsement.
Governor: David Jolly
Florida needs a governor who can actually govern: not a partisan warrior, but a leader capable of building coalitions and solving problems. We believe that candidate is David Jolly.
Jolly served in Congress as a Republican from 2014 to 2017, representing Florida's 13th Congressional District. He left the party, became an independent, and spent years as one of the most prominent and credible critics of the direction the Republican Party had taken. He formally joined the Democratic Party in 2025 and launched his gubernatorial campaign on a simple but powerful premise: Florida needs pragmatic leadership, not ideological politics.
His record in Congress bears that out. He was known for bipartisan work on campaign finance reform and veterans' healthcare. He is a graduate of Emory University and George Mason University Law School. He has chosen Gwen Graham, an attorney, former congresswoman, and former Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, as his running mate for lieutenant governor.
The financial picture tells the rest of the story. Jolly's campaign has raised $3,782,135. His five Democratic opponents have raised a combined total of approximately $62,200. This is not a close race within the Democratic primary. Jolly visited and spoke before the POI, and he made a compelling case. He has our endorsement.
Chief Financial Officer: Annette Taddeo
The Florida CFO oversees the state's finances, insurance regulation, and consumer protection: a role that demands both executive experience and a genuine understanding of what Floridians face in their daily economic lives. Annette Taddeo brings both.
Taddeo made history as the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida Senate, where she represented Miami-Dade County from 2017 to 2022. But her qualifications extend well beyond the legislature. She founded LanguageSpeak, a multilingual translation and interpretation company, in 1995 and built it into a thriving business serving government agencies, healthcare organizations, and private companies over more than three decades. She knows what it means to meet a payroll, manage a budget, and serve clients who depend on you.
Her opponent, Earle Ford, has a distinguished background: Airborne Infantryman, assistant prosecutor, and IRS federal investigator, and we respect his service. But he has never held elected office, and his executive management experience is limited. The CFO's office is not an entry-level position. Taddeo has raised $37,829 to Ford's $8,000, and she has the experience to match. She has our endorsement.
COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE: DONALD A. "DON" PRICHARD
Pembroke, FL, Police Captain Donald A. “Don” Prichard has spent his career in the police force, first as a Broward County sheriff's deputy, then in Iraq after 9/11 as a Florida National Guardsman, now with Pembroke. He took lessons learned in Iraq to improve relationships between police and the communities they serve — a task he has also taken to police in Brazil, Turkey, and other countries. While Prichard has led an admirable career, he has no campaign website and few donations; his plans for Agriculture Commissioner are unknown.
His primary opponent, Joey Mendoza Atkins, also has no website and no campaign donations. He started as a candidate for US Senate and dropped out when Alexander Vindman entered the race. His donation page and Facebook posts point to his Senate run.
Lee County School Board, District 1: Jenn McDaigle
The Lee County School Board races are officially nonpartisan, but the differences between the candidates in these contests are anything but neutral. In District 1, covering Cape Coral, Sanibel, and Fort Myers Beach, we endorse Jenn McDaigle.
McDaigle is a first-time candidate, but she is not an inexperienced one. She holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on youth psychology and spent more than a decade working with young people before moving into leadership roles at major technology companies. Her understanding of both child development and organizational management is real and relevant.
Her candidacy, however, is rooted in something more personal than a résumé. Her daughter Quillen, who had special needs, died in 2023 after years of navigating the Lee County school system. McDaigle emerged from that experience not with bitterness, but with a clear-eyed understanding of where the system falls short and what it would take to fix it. Her younger daughter is now beginning kindergarten. She is not running for a cause. She is running for her community.
Her opponent, incumbent Sam Fisher, was first elected in 2022 with an endorsement from Ron DeSantis and has campaigned on conservative education priorities ever since. He has raised approximately $60,000 to McDaigle's $6,000. The financial gap is real, but so is the difference in vision. We endorse Jenn McDaigle.
Lee County School Board, District 6: India Palencia
In District 6, we endorse India Palencia, a community advocate, a mother of children in Lee County public schools, and a candidate who has demonstrated the kind of engaged, on-the-ground commitment that school board service demands.
Palencia has not waited for a seat at the table to make her voice heard. When the Lee County School District proposed budget cuts that threatened arts programs and classroom resources, she organized parents and community members to show up and push back. She has spoken before the POI and impressed our members with her clarity of purpose and her genuine investment in the well-being of Lee County's students and teachers.
Her platform centers on three priorities: fair compensation and professional development for educators, expanded mental health resources and safety measures for students, and transparent, accountable fiscal management of the district's budget. These are not abstract policy positions; they are the direct concerns of parents and teachers who feel that the current board has not been listening.
Her opponent, incumbent Jada Langford-Fleming, has aligned with a board majority that has prioritized parental oversight of instructional materials and conservative education policy. We believe the children and educators of Lee County deserve a different direction. We endorse India Palencia.
Judicial Races: No Recommendation
We are making no recommendation in the three judicial races on the August ballot: Circuit Judge 20th Judicial Circuit Group 19, Circuit Judge 20th Judicial Circuit Group 27, or County Judge Group 5. In the Group 19 race, both the incumbent James Stewart and challenger Vera Bergermann are accomplished attorneys with meaningful records of public service. In the remaining two races, the candidates present no meaningful differences relevant to the goals of the POI.
A Final Word
The Progressives of the Islands exists because we believe that an informed electorate is the foundation of a functioning democracy. We offer these endorsements not as commands, but as the product of careful deliberation by people who care deeply about this community and about the direction of our state and nation.
Florida is a closed primary state. If you are a registered Democrat, you may vote in the Democratic primary on August 18. If you are registered as nonpartisan or with another party, you may still vote in the nonpartisan School Board and judicial races. Every vote matters, including yours.
We urge you to vote. We urge you to bring a neighbor. And we urge you to stay engaged, because the work of democracy does not end on Election Day.
The Progressives of the Islands meets monthly on Sanibel and Captiva. For voting resources, membership information, and upcoming events, visit us at4poi.org.
