John Liccione

John Liccione (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 13th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 18, 2026.^[source]

Liccione completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

John Liccione was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1978 to 1984. Liccione earned a high school diploma from Blue Ridge High School and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland in 1988.

Liccione's career experience includes working as an author and tech industry executive.^[1]

Elections

2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 18, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for U.S. House Florida District 13

Tony D'Arrigo (No Party Affiliation) is running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 13 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Tony D'Arrigo (No Party Affiliation)

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13 on August 18, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Fatima Aguerjout
	Submit photo	John Fay
		Earle Ford
	Submit photo	Karla Kemp
	Submit photo	Susan Leff
		John Liccione
	Submit photo	Jeff Moore
	Submit photo	Reggie Paros
		Brandt Robinson

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 13

Incumbent Anna Paulina Luna (R) and Njällssen Amaro Lionheart (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 13 on August 18, 2026.

		Candidate
		Anna Paulina Luna
		Njällssen Amaro Lionheart

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

Florida's 13th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Democratic primary)

Florida's 13th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 13

Incumbent Anna Paulina Luna defeated Whitney Fox and Tony D'Arrigo in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 13 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Anna Paulina Luna (R)	54.8	225,636
	Whitney Fox (D)	45.2	185,930
	Tony D'Arrigo (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in)	0.0	27

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 411,593
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13

Whitney Fox defeated Sabrina Bousbar, Liz Dahan, Mark Weinkrantz, and John Liccione in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13 on August 20, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Whitney Fox	57.9	29,678
	Sabrina Bousbar	17.4	8,929
	Liz Dahan	13.5	6,904
	Mark Weinkrantz	7.2	3,697
	John Liccione	3.9	2,013

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 51,221
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Peter Owen (D)

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Anna Paulina Luna advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 13.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Liccione in this election.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

John Liccione completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Liccione's responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

John Liccione is an engineer, Veteran USAF/NSA intelligence analyst, cybersecurity executive, author, and entrepreneur. The son of Italian immigrants, he was raised with a strong belief in family, hard work, the teachings of Jesus as a moral guide, and service to country.

He built his career at the intersection of national security and technology, later serving as Vice President of Worldwide Services at Tenable where he served as executive program manager for the U.S. Department of Defense’s continuous cybersecurity monitoring program deployed across military installations worldwide.

Liccione is the Founder and CEO of RussiLeaks, an independent American media platform he publicly launched in 2022, with a mission to expose Putin’s secrets in defense of Ukraine and democracy.

He is the author of The Grand Unifying Theory of Putin-Trump: Vladimir Putin's Fascist, Race-baiting, Wizard of Oz Strategy to Take Down America Without Firing a Shot. It set the foundation for the RussiLeaks mission and for his 2024 conressional run for Conress.

A father of three and stepfather to one, John has founded and operated technology start-ups, and media ventures centered on hard-hitting investigative journalism, corruption-fighting, both domestically and geopolitically. John ran for Congress in FL district 13 in 2024.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Our children our Americas' most precious national treasure. A society that cannot defend its children is morally bankrupt. I won’t have it. Not here. Not on my watch. I've declared war on child sex trafficking, proposing a new National Child Defense Act of 2026. Seize $100B from DHS/ICE, launch a Strategic Child Defense Initiative- A dedicated interagency anti-child sex trafficking special operations center: “KID-SOC.” Fight child trafficking from space, air, land, and sea. Fight it in cyber, financial, psy ops. Infiltrate and interdict the networks, roll up the kingpins. Seize their assets, superyachts, offshore accounts,. Indict and prosecute the enabling bankers. Get justice for the victims, and eradicate this scourge.
We must defend our democracy by patching our critical constitutional and legislative security vulnerabilities, such as requiring presidential candidats to pass a basic polygraph. Pass a law to vacate the DOJ policy that sitting presidents can't be indicted. These vulnerabilities are now being exploited by Putin and Trump and their outlaw DOJ. In addition, defending the integrity of our elections and voting rights, is paramount.
Ensuring Ukraine’s victory over Russia is both a national security imperative and a moral one. Russia’s aggression is part of a broader authoritarian operation to destabilize democracies and enable transnational criminal networks that exploit corruption, chaos, and weaken rule of law. A decisive Ukrainian victory weakens the power structures that sustain organized crime, human trafficking, and malign influence operations worldwide. Supporting Ukraine strengthens NATO, deters future aggression, and advances the global fight against child exploitation and abuse.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionate about protecting children from exploitation, strengthening national security, defending democratic institutions from hostile actors, and making our elections tenable. As a STEM candidate and intelligence analyst, I care deeply about system transparency, accountability, and measurable performance in government. I am also committed to supporting veterans and military families, safeguarding constitutional liberties, and ensuring small businesses can compete fairly in an economy that rewards hard work and innovation. I believe in equal protection under the law, especially for the vulnerable and less fortunate in our society. Health care is a human right.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2024

John Liccione completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Liccione's responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

John Liccione is a "Lincoln" Democrat USAF veteran and STEM candidate whose primary mission is to put "Kids First, Above All Else." John is an electrical engineer, a high-tech executive, a USAF/NSA veteran linguist and intelligence analyst, and is now serving as Founder and CEO of RussiLeaks, a news media company that is exposing Putin's secrets in defense of America, Ukraine and Democracy.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Kids First, Above All Else: Stop the Mass Murder of Children; Interdict & Eliminate Child Sex Trafficking, STEM Up Our Kids & Forgive Student Loan Debt
Return to Roe Reproductive Rights, Strengthen Minority/LGBTQ Protections, Voting Rights
Strengthen our national security at all borders, land, air, sea, cyber, and space, around our schools.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1. Massive Investment in Strategic Child Defense Initiative to defend our children from mass murder and sex trafficking, as a Matter of National Security: With a level of funding on the order of magnitude of our post-9/11 investments to prevent another 9/11. R&D and deployment of school gun & behavior recognition AI surveillance systems, school security assets (staff, tech, systems), gun-sniffer dogs, hardened classroom/school doors.

2. Arm Ukraine to the teeth to defend against and defeat Russia, take the fight to Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran in cyberspace.
3. Prevent further subtraction of Americans' freedoms, civil, voting, reproductive rights; expand freedoms.

4. Sensible ghost-gun and red-flag laws.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela.

I believe in the teachings of Jesus as a guidepost for all.
Lincoln emancipated the slaves and saved the Union. I consider myself a "Lincoln" Democrat since my belief system comports much more to Lincolns' versus that of the post-Reagan Putin-Trump GOP. The Democrat party is now the party driving strong National Security investments whereas the GOP has abandoned its conservative and Reaganesque national security principles and bends the knee at the alter of the Putin-Trump.
Reagan, while I didn't agree with all his policies, was very strong on national defense. He outspent and bankrupted the USSR, and he returned our military to a strong force while I was serving in the USAF.

Martil Luther King Jr, stood for freedom, justice, and equal rights for all, and he advocated tirelessly for it all in a non-violent way. Nelson Mandela taught us how it can be possible, even after decades in prison, of not retaliating against those who had wronged him, and in doing so, he brought peace to South Africa in the post-Apartheid era. We can do the same here in America in the post-Trump era.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

My book: "The Grand Unifying Theory of Putin-Trump: Pay No Attention to the White Russian Behind the Curtain" is a foundational piece that addresses America's and the world's Putin-Trump problem, how to solve it, and along what timeline.

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. A proven high-tech marketing strategy than I will be adapting and applying in the social and political realm to solve our most pressing problems.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity...even when it's hard. Placing the needs of others over one's own. Solving problems with a systematic STEM approach and methodologies, rather then by engaging in unproductive demagoguery and personal attacks. "Show me the spreadsheets!" A sense of urgency. A sense of mission. Mission objectives, over dogma. Set goals, set stretch goals, gain 60% consensus, make the necerssary investments, execute...improvise, adapt, and overcome. Agile government practices akin to agile programming methods.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Persuasive communicator. Excellent writer, visionary, and leader. Mission oriented over dogma or party oriented. Can bring people together to solve problems with a STEM-based approach that will serve to wring out the extremes and hot emotions out of the process and focus on the numbers and the science. I'm a great listener. I have the ability to put myself in the shoes of another. I am a champion of democracy and a defender of children and the rights of the downtrodden.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Serve the needs of Florida's 13th Congressional District citizens, whether wealthy, middle class, or poor. Listen...closely. Return their phone calls, emails. Hold town meetings. Protect their civil and reproductive rights.
Work to reduce economic burden on constituents. Work to protect enviornment and promote clean energy. Protect and defend the US constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Ensure the national defense...which includes a full-throated defense of our children in all walks of life, wherever they are. Ensure our children's education is top-notch in comparison to other nations.

What legacy would you like to leave?

The elimination of child mass murders by guns and child sex trafficking in America within 4 years by my having championed the Strategic Child Defense Initiative (SCDI) Act through Congress with a massive investment in R&D, deployment, and operation of a new integrated child defense system/agency/taskforce

The reduction in student loan debt by 50 percent in 2 years and an end to predatory lending practices with student loans.
The takedown of Vladimir Putin, and peace and democracy in Ukraine....and in Russia.

To having taught and shown America how we can come together again as a nation, to show forgiveness and compassion, and a repeatable methodology for addressing and solving our most pressing problems.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Robert F Kennedy assassination along with the Apollo moon landing. I was 8/9.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Farm Hand, from 14 to 17 years old

What is your favorite book? Why?

Favorite Non-Fiction is: Malcome Gladwell's "Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference."

I have used the concepts articulated in this book in my career to find those little things than can make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time, so as to bring about huge, positive change in any endeavor. I've used these concepts to turn around failing companies, departments, and to help grow successful companies. I will be bringing these practical concepts to bear to solve the most pressing social and political problems facing Florida and America. This is exactly what I've been attempting to achieve with RussiLeaks - to "tip over" Vladimir Putin by exposing his dirty secrets to the Russian people and those in positions of power, so they'll move to take him out themselves.

My favorite types of non-fiction are sci-fi and legal thrillers.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

General Maximus Decimus Meridius. "The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor."

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I play acoustic guitar and sing my own original political comedic satire parody songs. Woody Guthrie's Union Maid ("You can't scare me I'm sticking to the Union..I'm stickin to the union till the day I die.") sticks in my head because it's a song for which I wrote my own political parody version to bring it up to date in the era of Putin, Trump, DeSantis, Anna Luna, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor-Greene. I ended up getting ejected and banned from a local pub in Ron DeSantis' hometown of Dunedin, The Woodwright Brewing Company, for performing my parody version at their blue grass open jam event on 6/22/23. The owner & security gal called the cops on me on false pretenses and accused me of singing a "political song" (which was true, but they claimed it was "not allowed"), of trespassing (false), of disturbing the peace (false), and they claimed on the 911 call that "He was using his guitar as a weapon." You have to hear the 911 call and see the body cam and cell phone footage to appreciate it. No arrest was made. The cops just left. So, that song...my version of it anyway, really sticks in my head given the hypocrisy it exposed and how these people crossed over into criminal actions (making false statements to the police) in a failed effort to get me arrested for my somewhat mild political comedic satire song lyrics. (e.g., "Oh you can't scare me Ron DeSantis...I'll be stickin DeSantis till the day I die.")

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I've been through some traumatic events including surviving being poisoned with heavy metal poison by Russia four times since 2013. It began in 2013 when I was VP at Tenable where I ran their DOD cyber-security contract worldwide, which seems to have made me a target for Russian compromise. I was poisoned again in Pinellas County (Redington Shores) twice in 2019 and the poisoned powder was discovered seeded inside my HVAC ductwork in October 2019. I was poisoned again in Washington DC in 2021 when heavy metal poisoned powder was discovered in my HVAC system...again. (Note: I have the receipts/video/photos/toxicology reports/records and will be producing them for public review.)

Tell us your favorite joke.

Ask me about my NDA.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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.

John Liccione campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Florida District 13	Candidacy Declared primary	$0	N/A**
2024	U.S. House Florida District 13	Lost primary	$285,967	$285,967
Grand total			$285,967	$285,967
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Election Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Florida District 13

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 16, 2023

[show]

Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ashley Moody (R)

Rick Scott (R)

Representatives

District 1

Jimmy Patronis (R)

District 2

Neal Dunn (R)

District 3

Kat Cammack (R)

District 4

Aaron Bean (R)

District 5

John Rutherford (R)

District 6

Randy Fine (R)

District 7

Cory Mills (R)

District 8

Mike Haridopolos (R)

District 9

Darren Soto (D)

District 10

Maxwell Frost (D)

District 11

Daniel Webster (R)

District 12

Gus Bilirakis (R)

District 13

Anna Luna (R)

District 14

Kathy Castor (D)

District 15

Laurel Lee (R)

District 16

Vern Buchanan (R)

District 17

Greg Steube (R)

District 18

Scott Franklin (R)

District 19

Byron Donalds (R)

District 20

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D)

District 21

Brian Mast (R)

District 22

Lois Frankel (D)

District 23

Jared Moskowitz (D)

District 24

Frederica Wilson (D)

District 25

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)

District 26

Mario Diaz-Balart (R)

District 27

Maria Elvira Salazar (R)

District 28

Carlos Gimenez (R)

Republican Party (22)

Democratic Party (8)

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 16, 2023

[1]

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John Liccione

Contents

Biography

Elections

2026

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 13

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 13

Endorsements

2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 13

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

2024

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

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