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Meet Your Candidates for Florida's 4th Congressional District

Posted 10/15/26

Editor's Note: All candidates in this race were invited to respond to each prompt in 175 words or less. The responses in this candidate forum are presented exactly as submitted by each candidate. …

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Meet Your Candidates for Florida's 4th Congressional District


Posted
Editor's Note: All candidates in this race were invited to respond to each prompt in 175 words or less. The responses in this candidate forum are presented exactly as submitted by each candidate. Minor edits may have been made for grammar, spelling, punctuation or formatting, but the intent of each response has not been altered.
Aaron Bean (R):
 
Please tell our readers about yourself.
 

I’m a lifelong Northeast Floridian, the youngest of nine children, and I grew up in a working-class family that taught me the value of hard work, faith and service. My wife, Abby, is a fifth-generation Clay Countian, and together we raised our three sons in Northeast Florida. Today, we’re proud grandparents.

Before entering public service, I built a small business and served as president of a community bank. I began my public service as a Fernandina Beach City Commissioner and Mayor before serving in the Florida House and Florida Senate.

Today, I have the honor of representing Florida’s 4th Congressional District in Congress, where I serve on the House Ways and Means Committee. I’ve always had a servant’s heart, and I believe representing Northeast Florida means showing up, listening and being accessible to the people I serve. My job is to take their priorities with me to Washington, be a strong voice for our community and deliver results. Serving Northeast Florida is one of the greatest honors of my life.


What are the pressing issues facing the United States?

The rising cost of living continues to put pressure on hardworking families, while access to affordable healthcare and the safety of our communities remain major concerns across the country.

Families are having to make their dollars stretch further, and the decisions we make in Washington have a whole lot to do with whether we make that easier or harder. We need to rein in spending, grow our economy and make sure Americans keep more of what they earn.

We need to put patients back at the center of healthcare by lowering costs, expanding access to doctors, increasing transparency and giving Americans more control over their healthcare dollars.

Families should also feel safe in the communities they call home. That means securing our border, supporting law enforcement and ensuring those who protect our communities have the resources they need.

Addressing these challenges means looking past the politics of today and making the tough decisions that will put our families, communities and country in a stronger position for the future.


What would you like to see done for the residents of District 4?

I want to make sure Northeast Florida remains a place where families can afford to build a life, businesses can grow, and our communities can thrive.

As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I helped craft the Working Families Tax Cut, which puts $3,900 back into Clay County residents’ pockets.

I also advocated for the release of nearly $3 million in federal education funding for Clay County teachers and classrooms, assisted with the Walnut Street renovation in Green Cove Springs and helped Clay Hill residents get their community recognized in their mailing addresses.

Delivering results is only part of the job. My priority is making sure people know they have someone in their corner. That's why I chose to locate my district office in Fleming Island. I want Clay County residents to know my door is always open, whether they need help with a federal agency, benefits they've earned or simply someone to listen.

If reelected, I'll keep fighting for Northeast Florida and making sure the people I represent always come first.


How can we best unite the country?

I think we can all agree that our country has some tough decisions ahead. We may have different ideas about how to get there, but most Americans want the same basic things: to be able to afford a good life, work hard and get ahead, live in a safe community and give their children an even better future.

We need to spend less time focused on who gets the political win and more time focused on solving the problems in front of us.

Over the years, I’ve learned that what’s popular isn’t always right, and what’s right isn’t always popular. Leadership means being willing to make the tough calls, find common ground where we can and look beyond the politics of today to what will put our families, communities and country in a stronger position for the future.

We don’t have to agree on everything to work together on the things that matter most.

LaShonda "L.J." Holloway (D):

Please tell our readers about yourself.

My name is LaShonda "Lj" Holloway, and I am a passionate public servant who fights for justice. My motivation to Represent the People is my love for people and to leave a better future for those who are yet unborn. As the 4th of six generations in my family residing in Florida’s 4th Congressional District, my commitment is personal.

I bring vital federal experience, having worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and for a member of Congress on the Appropriations Committee. My own battle with a brain tumor exposed deep inequities in healthcare. In response, I founded All About HealthCARE Advocates and awarded over 50 scholarships through “The Celebration of Life Annual Benefit.”

Beyond grassroots organizing, I feed local families through Clay County Bags of Hope and organize diaper drives. Despite a heavily gerrymandered district and an AIPAC funded incumbent, our grassroots campaign earned 165,912 votes in 2024. We refuse PAC money, support term limits, and vow to fight for democracy, healthcare, and housing.

For a better day, vote L.J. Holloway!

What are the pressing issues facing the United States?

The pressing issues facing the United States are AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY; not to mention the very unnecessary WAR, a FAIR LIVING WAGE and VOTING RIGHTS. 

 

What would you like to see done for the residents of District 4?

What I would like to see for the residents of Congressional District 4 is affordable healthcare and housing with affordable gas and groceries alongside a government that is “For the People and by the People with Leadership that LISTENS to the people and not the powerful.

How can we best unite the country?

To unite a divided country, we must bridge social, economic, and political divides through intentional action because there is more that unite us than divide us. 

We all need to eat, sleep have a reasonable portion of our health, a roof over our head and rest. Hence, our need to Foster Connection with face to face dialogue to break down toxic online narratives and address Disparities. 

We must also Bridge the gaps between ethnicity, finances geography, health and income inequality as well as invest in CIVICS to ensure a comprehensive understanding of how government works and democratic institutions function. 

Mike Sell (FFP):

Please tell our readers about yourself.
 
 I'm Mike Sell, and I'm on your ballot for Congress in Florida's 4th District on November 3. I'm running with the Forward Party as an alternative to the status quo, two-party system.

I'm not taking donations. Running for office shouldn't be a for-profit business, and I want to show it doesn't have to be.

I'm the son of a Navy family. Three generations of us served: my grandfather, my father, who retired from NAS Jacksonville out of VP-30, and both of my brothers. Today I'm a husband and a dad. My wife and I have been together for 25 years, and now we are sending our three kids off on their own journeys.

For the last 20 years I've been fixing 'broken' systems, mostly in healthcare. That work has added up to more than $250 million in savings. I want to bring the same approach to Congress.
 
What are the pressing issues facing the United States?
 
 First, Make life more affordable. Housing, insurance, groceries, prescriptions, electricity, and child care keep climbing while paychecks don't. I'd end algorithmic pricing, crack down on price gouging, let Medicare negotiate drug prices, and fight for a reasonable living wage. On insurance, I'd take on the reinsurance costs and flood program problems driving Florida premiums. And I'd stop data centers from pushing their power costs onto neighborhood bills.

Second, Fix the System. That includes solutions like getting corporate money out of politics, and setting term limits so public service stops being a career.

Third, Protect Our Future. That means reining in exploitive technology. AI and automation are changing work and prices faster than our rules can keep up, and families pay for it. I'd put real guardrails on how these tools get used.

The whole platform is at mikesell.org/4ps.
 
What would you like to see done for the residents of District 4?
 
The biggest thing I can do for District 4 families is bring down the cost of living.

Housing first. Wall Street firms are buying up starter homes and renting them back to us. I support limits on that, so young families in Orange Park, Middleburg, and Green Cove Springs can buy where they grew up. Growth should pay its own way too, with developers funding the roads, water, and sewer new building demands.

Healthcare and prescriptions. Let Medicare negotiate drug prices, and end the surprise billing that buries families in debt.

Insurance. I'll take on the reinsurance costs and flood program problems driving Florida's homeowner premiums.

Food. Crack down on the price gouging that keeps grocery bills high.

And we keep our promise to veterans: fully fund the VA, clear the claims backlog, and expand mental health care for those who served.
 
How can we best unite the country?

We unite when we share a vision for a better future, one that lets us feel good about what we're building together. Right now too many people are stuck in a vicious cycle of working just to eat, sleep, and repeat, under ever-growing pressure to produce more while only a few grow more prosperous.

That grind pulls us apart. We can change it with systems and processes that let people live more enjoyably, not just survive. Most of us already want the same things: honest government, safe neighborhoods, good schools, and a paycheck that covers the bills.

And we unite by listening to the people who gave up on being heard. Early in my career, I learned the opposite of depression is expression, and a voice that goes unheard is even worse than one that goes unspoken. When people feel heard, and feel good about what they're contributing to, they come back to the table.
 
Todd Schaefer (NPA):
 
Please tell our readers about yourself.
I grew up in Anderson, IN, a General Motors union town in a middle-class union family. The factories were closing/downsizing in the ‘90s as I was preparing to enter the workforce, so I joined the Navy as a nuclear electronics technician in 1998. I moved to Fernandina in 2014 shortly after transferring to the USS Tennessee and loved this area too much to leave when I retired in 2018 from NRMD Kings Bay. After retirement, I worked as a Realtor in both Florida and Georgia until 2024 when I decided to run for this office, then as a write-in candidate and this year on the ballot. It became clear that the country I’d served for half my life was failing its citizens at nearly every level. Every election has been ‘the most important of our lifetime’, but for decades under both parties nothing has really been fixed. As a matter of fact, it has only gotten worse. We’ve allowed our government to be sold to the highest bidder.
 

What are the pressing issues facing the United States?
 
The first question we must ask to get to the core of our pressing issues is: Who does the government work for? Studies show that the will of the people has almost no effect on government policy. Policies are written by lobbies, not legislators. Campaign donations are investments and buy votes on those policies. Those who dare to step out of line face primaries or are redistricted out of their seats, and we’ve seen both parties are willing to do that. Housing costs are high because real estate is the easiest to finance and most tax privileged asset class. One adjustment to the tax code could address that. Illegal immigration persists because of businesses that profit from cheap illegal labor, suppressing working class wages across the board. We could hold those businesses to account, but we don’t. Healthcare costs are out of control because we allow the health and insurance lobby to prevent any real solutions. Government can’t ‘fix’ everything, but they could definitely stop actively making things worse.
 
What would you like to see done for the residents of District 4?
 
I want to see the residents of District 4 get a say in our government, not just a party line vote. That does not come with promises to bring X, Y, and Z Federal money or investments into the district. We have 435 members of the House who make those promises to their district, who then go on to swallow the poison pills written into thousand-page bills to say they were ‘serving’ their district with their little earmark. That is simply not the Federal Government’s job. That type of thinking has gotten us north of $40T in debt with annual $1T+ deficits. Congress has failed in controlling our budget, taxes, and endless wars. There are only a handful of responsibilities spelled out in the Constitution. We need to get the basics under control before we can demand more. I know that isn’t the answer you want to read, but it is the truth we all need to face.
 
How can we best unite the country?
 
We can best unite the country by not allowing inconsequential arguments to divide us. Most people want the same basic things. We want dignity in labor and fair wages. We want a roof over our heads and to be able to feed ourselves and our families. We want to be able to go to the doctor when we’re sick without worrying about going bankrupt. And we want to make sure that when we reach retirement, we aren’t cast aside by society. 250 years ago, imperfect people came together to give us a framework by which we could set aside our differences and have a baseline by which to govern an imperfect society. That is a rare gift that not every country has. We can disagree on exactly how we move into a better future, but disagreements should be debated without stopping the journey entirely. We unite behind what we want the next two centuries to look like, not just the next two years until the next election.
 

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