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Joseph Thornton
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Joseph Thornton (American Solidarity Party) is running for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 10. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.
Thornton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joseph Thornton earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976 and an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio in 1981. Thornton's career experience includes working as a physician and in healthcare administration. He has been affiliated with the Catholic Medical Association, Florida Psychiatric Society, and Alachua County Medical Society.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 10
Joseph Thornton is running in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 10 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
Joseph Thornton (American Solidarity Party)  | ||
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Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joseph Thornton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thornton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Dr. Joseph Thornton is a longtime Florida resident, physician, educator, and advocate for justice and community health. A partially retired psychiatrist, Dr. Thornton has spent his career serving those most often overlooked—veterans, individuals with mental illness, and incarcerated populations.
He brings decades of leadership experience, including roles as Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health at the North Florida VA and Medical Executive Director at both Union Correctional Institution and the North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center. In each position, Dr. Thornton has worked to protect the vulnerable, reduce violence, and promote dignity for all.
Locally, he founded the Alachua Area Medical Reserve Corps and has lived in the Gainesville/Alachua area for over 20 years. He is committed to practical, community-based solutions that improve lives across rural and urban areas alike.
Dr. Thornton stands firmly against the death penalty—an issue informed by years providing care on death row and consulting in capital cases.
A teacher of bioethics with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, he believes new technologies must serve justice and human dignity—not replace them.
Dr. Thornton is running to bring thoughtful, hopeful leadership to Tallahassee. He is not a career politician, but a public servant dedicated to working across divides and delivering real solutions for the people of District 10.- Dr. Thornton is running to bring thoughtful, hopeful leadership to Tallahassee. He is not a career politician, but a public servant dedicated to working across divides and delivering real solutions for the people of District 10. This campaign can make a difference even before the election by growing the third party movement to break the destructive duopoly of 2 increasingly radicalized authoritarian, political parties. Specific growth within the American Solidarity Party emphasizes to current office holders a renewed citizen demand for person centered government for life, justice and freedom.
- The foundation for Dr Thorntons campaign is the principle of human dignity. As a Catholic Dr Thornton believes our human dignity comes the Triune God and our creation in their image. Our right to life and human dignity is not dependent of age, sex, ethnicity, citizenship. physical strength or intellect. Our right to life stems from our human dignity and cannot be forfeited to another human being. Dr. Thornton is pro-life throughout the lifespan from conception to natural death. Within this frame work Dr. Thornton stands firmly against the death penalty. Our state can immediately support human dignity by stopping killing people. Our state must also always treat detainees of any status with respect for human dignity.
- A teacher of bioethics with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, he believes new technologies must serve justice and human dignity—not replace them.
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
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Florida House of Representatives District 10 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 31, 2025
