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Robert Rochford
Robert Rochford (Republican Party) (also known as Rocky) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 14th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Biography
Robert Rochford served in the U.S. Navy from 1985 to 2018. He earned a bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1985 and a graduate degree from the U.S. Naval War College in 2011.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Florida's 14th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Florida District 14
Incumbent Kathy Castor, Juan Arauz, and Robert Rochford are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 14 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Kathy Castor (D) | |
 | Juan Arauz (D) | |
 | Robert Rochford (R) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John Wick (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Florida's 14th Congressional District election, 2024
Florida's 14th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Republican primary)
Florida's 14th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Florida District 14
Incumbent Kathy Castor defeated Robert Rochford, Christopher Bradley, and Nathaniel Snyder in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 14 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kathy Castor (D) | 56.9 | 199,423 |
| Robert Rochford (R) | 41.6 | 145,643 | |
 | Christopher Bradley (No Party Affiliation) | 0.7 | 2,595 | |
 | Nathaniel Snyder (L) | 0.7 | 2,524 | |
| Total votes: 350,185 | |||
| = 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
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kathy Castor advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 14.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 14
Robert Rochford defeated John Peters, Ehsan Joarder, and Neelam Perry in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 14 on August 20, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Rochford | 54.1 | 15,575 |
 | John Peters | 27.0 | 7,771 | |
 | Ehsan Joarder | 13.3 | 3,837 | |
 | Neelam Perry | 5.5 | 1,594 | |
| Total votes: 28,777 | |||
| = 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
- Renee Marsella (R)
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Nathaniel Snyder advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Florida District 14.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Rochford in this election.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2024
Robert Rochford completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rochford's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- The Issues that are troubling everyone are: The Economy, The Border, National Security, Human Trafficking, Protecting Children, and Family Values
A very specific issue is the Capital Police here in Tampa.
- I know everyone, regardless of what side of the isle you sit is sick of Double Standards.
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 website
Rochford's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
The Economy The economy is a disaster. President Biden is trying to ride on the tails of President Reagan and his Reaganomics that were a tremendous success. In my humble opinion, Biden is out to lunch. I can't fathom why anyone would want to draw attention to his disastrous plan. I call it Biden-comics. Just look at the rate of inflation, the price of gas, and the price of food. Under President Trump, we were or were very close to being energy independent. The Keystone Pipeline needs to be restored. We need to decrease demand and increase supply. This will ease inflation. COVID didn't help, but the last administration approved $4.1 T in relief measures, that under the circumstances made good sense at the time. Biden approved a $1.9 T spending plan called the American Rescue Plan, when most economists agreed that it wasn't needed and would only increase inflation (greater demand with less supply). Top that off with a $437 B plan called the Inflation Reduction Act. Again, increasing demand with less supply. The result, is inflation levels that have not been seen in 40 years. To fix the economy, Biden and the Democrats need to stop spending money that increases demand and raises inflation. Then the fed raises interest rates to counter demand.... and around and around we go. Cut taxes and stop the increase in the size of the Federal Government. Our founding fathers made it clear that it is the states that should be empowered by the Government. The Federal Government exists because of the States, not the other way. A smaller Government with less regulation should be the call from both sides of the aisle, but we know that Democrats want to control every aspect of our lives.... New York won't allow builders to install gas-run stoves anymore... need I say more? Small businesses need great support and protection... not more regulation. Speaker Mike Johnson is committed to reducing wasteful spending, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. I stand behind that call and will vote appropriately WHEN I get to Washington. Biden and the Democrats want to rule and control every aspect of our lives. Most Americans want to afford gas, food, electricity, and rent/mortgage. If we are not careful and stand up and FIGHT, the new Democrat world order will be the demise of the US. The Border The southern border is not a border. It is a sieve. If I told you that one very bad person who wants to harm our citizens and the security of our country by entering illegally through the southern border, you would and should be worried, as would I. Biden's policy on the southern sieve has allowed potentially thousands of bad people to enter our country unchecked. We need those who want to come live in the US to follow the rules in place for entry. Not jump the line or the fence in this case. Every member of Congress swore that they would do everything in their power to prevent another 9-11 event on our soil. With my 33 years of service and knowing what I know about bad guys from across the globe, I believe it's not a question of “if” there will be another attack, but “when” and “how many”. Fentanyl is pouring across the southern sieve and no one is doing anything to stop it. More people have been killed due to opioid overdose than all Americans that were killed during WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM combined! CBP is doing the best it can with the limited resources the Biden Administration provides them (more accurately – doesn’t provide them). The 87,000 new IRS agents that the Democrats want to hire should be transferred to the CBP and ICE to CLOSE the border and find as many of those that will harm our citizens and country and permanently bar them from entering the country. The southern sieve is an epic failure and Human Trafficking has become a national emergency. The VP is in charge of border security.... that's laughable (or cack-able). The bottom line, we MUST regain control of our border and apply common sense to managing immigration. National Security National security is the security and defense of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. I graduated from the U.S. Naval War College with a Master's Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies, additionally attaining the distinction as an Arleigh Burke Fellow and a VADM Samuel L. Gravely Scholar. I can assure you that the southern sieve is one of the most dangerous failures of this administration (and there have been many). To allow millions (yes, that’s a seven-digit number) to enter our country without following the law is negligence of epic proportions. If you perform an act that is against the law, you have committed an illegal act. Some don’t like to call them illegals, but that is what they are. Is everyone illegally crossing the southern sieve bad? Of course not. If we cannot distinguish between good and bad people, what would you do? Allow them all in? I will remind you that nineteen 9-11 hijackers entered the country legally. How many amongst the millions that entered the country are bad? Why doesn’t our current leadership have an ounce of common sense? China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran have become allies. If the current leadership thinks that having an arsenal of nuclear weapons that would ensure mutual annihilation is a strong defense measure, then they are mistaken. It took only 19 men to create a national crisis that completely changed our lives. For months following that tragic day, we had Combat Air Patrols (CAP) circling many of our major cities. CAP stations here in the US! The list is very long on the effects of 9-11 on how our country and the world changed. They don’t need to nuke us, they only need a couple of dozen bad people to harm our citizens, our country, and our way of life. I’ll ask again, how many bad people have and are illegally entering the US across the southern sieve that intend to do us harm? Human Trafficking How do we address this global emergency? What organization(s) should take charge and be front and center both domestically and internationally? Protecting Children Across the country, children’s innocence is under attack. Every day children as young as kindergartners are being exposed to a small group of radical individual agendas (sex, politics, undue influence for gender reassignment, hormone injections). Children’s minds are not fully developed until they reach their mid-twenties. Why are we rushing children to make life-altering decisions before they understand what they truly want? Why don’t we let children be children? When they reach an appropriate age, they will make the decisions that make them the happiest. My Brother, Bill, was gay and didn’t understand what that meant until his late teenage years. Sadly, he died of AIDS in 1991. I learned that everyone is different and we as a society must accept those that are different than us. That is a 2-way street. The LGBTQ+ community must not judge everyone who doesn’t think like them. We are one community that is raising children who will be the next leaders of our world. Along with Protecting Children, we must protect parents’ rights… No wait, protect is the wrong word. It implies defense when we should be on the offense. We must FIGHT for parental rights. Most parents don’t know what’s happening in their schools and their communities. Most parents want their children to go to school and be educated not indoctrinated. As with most parents, most teachers want to teach the young minds we have trusted them with and stay far away from topics that are inappropriate for children. School boards over the last number of years have become far more radical than when we were growing up. We are seeing more and more conservatives on both sides of the aisle, run for school boards to return them to a sense of normalcy. My wife, Andrea, who is a nurse, was explaining to me why women who have gone through menopause struggle with the pros and cons of hormone therapy. Some terrible and dangerous side effects can even cause cancer… and some want to give hormone therapy to CHILDREN. Where has common sense gone? It’s time to retake control of our schools, FIGHT for our children, FIGHT for parents’ rights, and FIGHT for the teachers who want only to teach and care for our children. Will you stand with me and FIGHT? Family Values Do you think God should have a role in family values? Should we return God to our schools? What about the separation of church and state? How do we protect and fight for parental rights? Capital Police in Tampa Why are Capital Police here in Tampa? What is their function? How did they get here? Do they need to be here? If not, how do we get rid of them? Fighting for Tampa Bay How do we prevent Tampa from becoming the next radical liberal city? Did you know that the Mayor wants to make Tampa a sanctuary city? What would happen to our great city if only a fraction of what's happening in liberal cities across the country (like San Fransisco) happened here? Election Integrity How should election integrity be improved? As a constitutional republic, what would you like to see happen to ensure EVERY LEGAL VOTE COUNTS?[2] |
” |
| —Robert Rochford's campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
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.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 22, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Robert Rochford's campaign website, "What are the issues," accessed September 19, 2024
