Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Fred Costello
Fred Costello (Republican Party) was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 25.
Costello (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 6th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on August 28, 2018.
Costello is a former Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 25 from 2014 to 2016. Costello did not seek re-election to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016. Instead, Costello was a 2016 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 6th Congressional District of Florida.[1] Costello was defeated by incumbent Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary on August 30, 2016.[2]
Costello previously served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 26 from 2010 to 2012. He was a 2012 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent of Florida. Costello was defeated by Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012.[3]
Biography
Costello was born and raised in Orlando, Florida.[4] He earned his B.S. from Graceland University and his D.D.S. from the University of Iowa.[4] His professional experience includes working as a dentist. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force from 1974 to 1977.[4]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Costello served on the following committees:
| Florida committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health & Human Services |
| • Rules, Calendar & Ethics |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Costello served on these committees:
| Florida committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Finance & Tax |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Florida District 6
Michael Waltz defeated Nancy Soderberg in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 6 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Waltz (R) | 56.3 | 187,891 |
 | Nancy Soderberg (D) | 43.7 | 145,758 | |
| Total votes: 333,649 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 6
Nancy Soderberg defeated John Upchurch and Stephen Sevigny in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 6 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nancy Soderberg | 55.6 | 32,174 |
 | John Upchurch | 22.6 | 13,088 | |
 | Stephen Sevigny | 21.8 | 12,633 | |
| Total votes: 57,895 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robert Coffman (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 6
Michael Waltz defeated John Ward and Fred Costello in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 6 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Waltz | 42.4 | 32,916 |
 | John Ward | 30.4 | 23,593 | |
 | Fred Costello | 27.2 | 21,074 | |
| Total votes: 77,583 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jimmy Johns (R)
- Jeremy Kelly (R)
2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Ron DeSantis (R) sought re-election in 2016. He defeated William McCullough (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. DeSantis defeated G.G. Galloway and Fred Costello in the Republican primary, while McCullough defeated Jay McGovern, George Pappas, and Dwayne Taylor to win the Democratic nomination. The primary elections took place on August 30, 2016.[5][2]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Ron DeSantis Incumbent |
58.6% | 213,519 | |
| Democratic | William McCullough | 41.4% | 151,051 | |
| Total Votes | 364,570 | |||
| Source: Florida Division of Elections | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ron DeSantis Incumbent |
61% | 41,311 | ||
| Fred Costello | 24.7% | 16,690 | ||
| G.G. Galloway | 14.3% | 9,683 | ||
| Total Votes | 67,684 | |||
| Source: Florida Division of Elections |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
William McCullough |
36.6% | 16,043 | ||
| Dwayne Taylor | 28.8% | 12,625 | ||
| Jay McGovern | 19.1% | 8,388 | ||
| George Pappas | 15.4% | 6,762 | ||
| Total Votes | 43,818 | |||
| Source: Florida Division of Elections |
||||
2014
Elections for the Florida House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 20, 2014. Noel Cheryl Bickford was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Fred Costello was unopposed in the Republican primary. Costello defeated Bickford in the general election.[6][7]
Endorsements
In 2014, Costello's endorsements include the following:[8]
- BusinessForce
- Florida Chamber of Commerce
- Florida Dental Association PAC
- Florida Medical Association PAC
- National Rifle Association - A Rating
- Alan Hays
- Kelli Stargel
- Larry Metz
- Matt Gaetz
- Keith Perry
- Tom Goodson
- Dennis Baxley
- Lake Ray
- Pat Rooney
- Mike Bileca
- Frank Artilles
- Jose Pepe Diaz
- Carlos Truijillo
- Doc Renuart
- Jason Bordeur
2012
Costello ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Florida's 6th District. Costello sought the nomination on the Republican ticket.[9] The primary elections were held on August 14, 2012. Costello was defeated by Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012.[3][10]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Ron Desantis |
38.8% | 24,132 |
| Fred Costello | 22.8% | 14,189 |
| Beverly Slough | 13.2% | 8,229 |
| Craig Miller | 13.1% | 8,113 |
| Richard Clark | 9.8% | 6,090 |
| Alec Pueschal | 1.2% | 739 |
| William Billy Kogut | 1% | 628 |
| Total Votes | 62,120 | |
2010
Costello won election, defeating Timothy Huth (D) in the November 2 general election.[11]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 26 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Fred Costello (R)
|
34,369 | 60.48% | ||
| Timothy Huth (D) | 22,460 | 39.52% | ||
Costello defeated Vince Champion and Nathan Daniel McDonell in the August 24 primary.[12]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 26 - Republican Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Fred Costello
|
7,341 | 49.96% | ||
| Nathan McDonell | 4,042 | 27.51% | ||
| Vince Champion | 3,312 | 22.54% | ||
Campaign themes
2014
Costello's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[13]
Tax Reform
- Excerpt: "I support revenue neutral tax reform. We must restore equity in our Florida tax system so that all constituencies are equitably impacted by the balance between desired services and the resources required to provide those services."
Educational Reform, Funding and "Common Core"
- Excerpt: "I support parent directed education reform including school choice (public, charter, private, parochial, religious, digital and/or home schools) with the education funding (whether called a voucher or scholarship or …) following the student."
Economic Development / Jobs
- Excerpt: "I support initiatives to stimulate creation of living wage jobs including increased educational investment in career educational opportunities, reduced development and government regulations and targeted tax rebates and other incentives with claw/pay back requirements if job creation projections aren't met."
Health Care Reform
- Excerpt: "ObamaCare is unconstitutional. It must be repealed. I support enhanced access to healthcare for Florida students through age 18."
Intergovernmental Relations
- Excerpt: "I support transparency and increased accountability at all levels of government, specifically to include elimination of unfunded mandates and cost shifts from one government to another."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Costello and his wife, Linda Gail Ditzig, have three children.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2016
In 2016, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 12 through March 11.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on healthcare related issues.
- Legislators are scored on whether the organization believes they are making an effort to provide “a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education.”
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 3 through May 1.
|
See also
- Florida's 6th Congressional District election, 2018
- Florida's 6th Congressional District election, 2016
- Florida State Legislature
- Florida House of Representatives
- Florida House Committees
- Florida state legislative districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign contributions: 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ The Daytona Beach News-Journal, "Costello in, Barringer out in race for Volusia-Flagler congressional seat," January 14, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Politico, " Florida House Races Results," August 30, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 AP Results, "U.S. House Results," accessed August 14, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Elect Fred Costello, "About Fred" accessed February 14, 2012
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidate Listing for 2016 General Election," accessed June 25, 2016
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "2014 Florida Election Watch - Multi-County or District Offices," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election," accessed June 23, 2014
- ↑ electfredcostello.com, "Endorsements," accessed October 23, 2014
- ↑ St. Augustine Record, "Mica to announce his district today" accessed February 13, 2012
- ↑ Florida Secretary of State, "August 2012 Primary Election," accessed September 4, 2012
- ↑ Florida Election Watch, "2010 Election results," accessed December 16, 2014
- ↑ Florida Election Watch, "August 24, 2010, State Representative primary results," August 24, 2010
- ↑ electfredcostello.com, "Positions," accessed October 23, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles David Hood Jr. (R) |
Florida House of Representatives District 25 2014–2016 |
Succeeded by Tom Leek (R) |
| Preceded by Pat Patterson |
Florida House of Representatives District 26 2010–2012 |
Succeeded by Dwayne L. Taylor (D) |
