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Janet Cruz

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Janet Cruz
Image of Janet Cruz
Prior offices
Florida House of Representatives District 62
Successor: Susan Valdes

Florida State Senate District 18
Successor: Nick DiCeglie
Predecessor: Dana Young

Elections and appointments
Last election

April 25, 2023

Personal
Religion
Christian: Catholic
Profession
Opticians/Healthcare Executive
Contact

Janet Cruz (Democratic Party) was a member of the Florida State Senate, representing District 18. She assumed office on November 6, 2018. She left office on November 8, 2022.

Cruz ran for election for an at-large seat of the Tampa City Council in Florida. She lost in the general runoff election on April 25, 2023.

Biography

Janet Cruz was born on July 7 in Tampa, FL. She graduated from Hillsborough Community College in 1977. Her career experience includes being an optician and healthcare executive. In addition to her work experience, Cruz is a member of the NAACP, the FBI Citizens' Academy Alumni, and the Hillsborough Community College Alumni Foundation. She was also a National Financial Account Manager for Aetna Healthcare and a Regional Director and Director for CIGNA Healthcare.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2021-2022

Cruz was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Cruz was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Florida committee assignments, 2017
Appropriations
Joint Legislative Budget Commission

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Cruz served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Cruz served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Cruz served on the following committees:

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

2023

See also: City elections in Tampa, Florida (2023)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Tampa City Council District 3 At-Large

Incumbent Lynn Hurtak defeated Janet Cruz in the general runoff election for Tampa City Council District 3 At-Large on April 25, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lynn Hurtak
Lynn Hurtak (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
60.3
 
15,447
Image of Janet Cruz
Janet Cruz (Nonpartisan)
 
39.7
 
10,173

Total votes: 25,620
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

General election for Tampa City Council District 3 At-Large

Incumbent Lynn Hurtak and Janet Cruz advanced to a runoff. They defeated George Feshev, K.J. Allen, and Jose Vazquez in the general election for Tampa City Council District 3 At-Large on March 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lynn Hurtak
Lynn Hurtak (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
42.5
 
13,372
Image of Janet Cruz
Janet Cruz (Nonpartisan)
 
38.8
 
12,192
Image of George Feshev
George Feshev (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
9.5
 
3,000
K.J. Allen (Nonpartisan)
 
5.2
 
1,649
Image of Jose Vazquez
Jose Vazquez (Nonpartisan)
 
3.9
 
1,238

Total votes: 31,451
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2022

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Florida State Senate District 14

Jay Collins defeated incumbent Janet Cruz in the general election for Florida State Senate District 14 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jay Collins
Jay Collins (R)
 
54.6
 
104,776
Image of Janet Cruz
Janet Cruz (D)
 
45.4
 
87,216

Total votes: 191,992
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Janet Cruz advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 14.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Jay Collins advanced from the Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 14.

Campaign finance

2018

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Florida State Senate District 18

Janet Cruz defeated incumbent Dana Young in the general election for Florida State Senate District 18 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Janet Cruz
Janet Cruz (D)
 
50.1
 
104,078
Image of Dana Young
Dana Young (R)
 
49.9
 
103,667

Total votes: 207,745
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 18

Janet Cruz advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 18 on August 28, 2018.

Candidate
Image of Janet Cruz
Janet Cruz

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 18

Incumbent Dana Young advanced from the Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 18 on August 28, 2018.

Candidate
Image of Dana Young
Dana Young

Candidate Connection = 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.

2016

See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Florida House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.

Incumbent Janet Cruz ran unopposed in the Florida House of Representatives District 62 general election.[2][3]

Florida House of Representatives, District 62 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Janet Cruz Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Florida Division of Elections


Incumbent Janet Cruz ran unopposed in the Florida House of Representatives District 62 Democratic primary.[4][5]

Florida House of Representatives, District 62 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Janet Cruz Incumbent (unopposed)


2014

See also: Florida House of Representatives 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. Incumbent Janet Cruz was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[6][7]

2012

See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2012

Cruz won election in the 2012 election for Florida House of Representatives District 62. Cruz ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on August 14, 2012, and defeated Wesley G. Warren (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8]

Florida House of Representatives, District 62, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJanet Cruz Incumbent 69.9% 36,745
     Republican Wesley G. Warren 30.1% 15,840
Total Votes 52,585

2010

General election

See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2010

Cruz ran for re-election to the 58th District seat in 2010. She did not have any opposition in the August 24 primary. Cruz defeated Joe Redner (NPA) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[9]

Florida House of Representatives, District 58
2010 General election results
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Janet Cruz (D) 17,375 72.68%
Joe Redner (NPA) 6,532 27.32%

Special election

On February 23, 2010, Cruz won election to the Florida House of Representatives from Florida's 58th District in a special election to replace Michael J. Scionti. Cruz defeated Hunter Chamberlin (R) and Jose Vasquez (write-in) in the election. Cruz received 2,390 votes while Chamberlin received 1,288 votes, and Vazquez received 2 votes.[10]

Florida House of Representatives, District 58
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Janet Cruz (D) 2,390 64.9%
Hunter Chamberlin (R) 1,288 35.0%
Jose Vasquez (write-in) 2 0.1%

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Janet Cruz did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Janet Cruz did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

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.


Janet Cruz campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Florida State Senate District 14Lost general$161,262 $79,233
2016Florida House of Representatives, District 62Won $70,300 N/A**
2014Florida House of Representatives, District 62Won $75,000 N/A**
2012Florida State House, District 62Won $172,775 N/A**
2010Florida State House, District 58Won $72,735 N/A**
Grand total$552,072 $79,233
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Florida

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.




2022

In 2022, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 14.

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 were scored based on their votes on health care, the economy, public schools, affordable housing, clean energy and water, reproductive rights, the freedom to vote and more.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Dana Young (R)
Florida State Senate District 18
2018-2022
Succeeded by
Nick DiCeglie (R)
Preceded by
-
Florida House of Representatives District 62
2010-2018
Succeeded by
Susan Valdes (D)