Rock Aboujaoude Jr.

Rock Aboujaoude Jr.

Democratic Party

Candidate, U.S. House Florida District 3

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

University of Florida, 2020

Graduate

University of Florida, 2024

Personal

Birthplace

Lehigh Acres, Fla.

Religion

Christian: Catholic

Profession

Professor

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 3rd Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Biography

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. lives in Gainesville, Florida. Aboujaoude earned a bachelor's degree in Natural Resource Economics and a Master of Science in multi/interdisciplinary studies from the University Florida in 2019 and 2023 respectively. His career experience includes working as a senior environmental analyst with the Florida Senate, the director of Campus Climate Corps, and the national legislative director of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. He has been affiliated with Boy Scouts of America, Rotary Club, and Alpha Epsilon Lambda.

Elections

2026

See also: Florida's 3rd Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Florida District 3

Incumbent Kat Cammack, Rock Aboujaoude Jr., Seth Harp, Anthony Stebbins, and Angela Wiman are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 3 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Kat Cammack (R)
		Rock Aboujaoude Jr. (D)
		Seth Harp (D)
	Submit photo	Anthony Stebbins (L)
	Submit photo	Angela Wiman (Unaffiliated)

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	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

See also: Florida's 12th Congressional District election, 2024

Florida's 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Democratic primary)

Florida's 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 20 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 12

Incumbent Gus M. Bilirakis defeated Rock Aboujaoude Jr. in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 12 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gus M. Bilirakis (R)	71.0	306,487
		Rock Aboujaoude Jr. (D)	29.0	124,949

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 431,436
= 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

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Rock Aboujaoude Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 12.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 12

Incumbent Gus M. Bilirakis defeated Harry Dunlap in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 12 on August 20, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gus M. Bilirakis	84.3	59,946
		Harry Dunlap	15.7	11,182

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 71,128
= 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

• Jack Martin (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Aboujaoude in this election.

2020

See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Florida House of Representatives District 10

Incumbent Chuck Brannan defeated Rock Aboujaoude Jr. in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 10 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Chuck Brannan (R)	78.2	58,872
		Rock Aboujaoude Jr. (D)	21.8	16,456

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 75,328
= 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. Rock Aboujaoude Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 10.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Chuck Brannan advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 10.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Rock Aboujaoude Jr., click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2024

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Aboujaoude's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am 27 years old, and grew up on a farm in Southwest Florida. It was in SWFL I also got my Eagle Scout.

I earned both my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree (I graduated last month) from the University of Florida. My Master’s Degree is in Climate Science (specifically an emerging technology called Carbon Farming). In January, I intend to continue with my PhD. Between my degrees, I worked for the Florida State Senate as their Senior Environmental Analyst.

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?

• My job, as I see it, is to highlight the climate crisis as much as I can in my district and across the state. In this effort, I wrote the Florida Green New Deal (https://floridadems.my.canva.site/flgnd)
• We must oppose the Extremist Politicians responsible for the assault on Women's Rights, from banning IVF and contraception to criminalizing abortion. I support LIMITING government interference with women's medical care and giving patients the FREEDOM to make their own healthcare decisions with doctors that took Hippocratic oaths to protect them, not politicians. I will fight to RESTORE women's rights!
• Project 2025 is a very real threat. Radical Right-Wing politicians are trying to gut pubic infrastructure and vital government agencies, like the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) & the Department of Education, and replace traditional government functions with for-profit private ownership. We must STOP the anti-science, anti-worker Project 2025, uphold the US Constitution, and PRESERVE our Democracy.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

My background as a climate scientist allows for key insights into the development of climate policy in general, and agriculture specifically.

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

My personal role models are Socrates, Theodore Roosevelt, and Gandalf.

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

Don't Look Up.

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

Integrity.

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

I am an experienced climate scientist, with plenty of taught classes under my belt as a graduate assistant. I believe that those educative qualities are key to proper governance.

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

To safeguard the common good.

What legacy would you like to leave?

One in which future generations have a chance to live the American Dream, rather than a climate nightmare.

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

The 2008 Financial Crisis. I was 12 years old at that time.

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

I worked for my father in his grocery store when I was 11 years old. I had that job until I was 17.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Republic, by Plato.

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

Gandalf.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The climate crisis.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

The Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida.

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.

Interview with Tampa Bay Times

Aboujaoude Jr. highlighted the following themes in an interview with Tampa Bay Times published on April 27, 2024. Text from the Tampa Bay Times article follows below.

“

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. Dunlap, a self-described “regular guy,” says he is running because he doesn’t believe [Republican Rep. Gus] Bilirakis’ constituents are having their interests represented in Washington. Aboujaoude, a climate advocate, previously ran for a state House seat in 2020 but was defeated.

”

2020

Rock Aboujaoude Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Rock Aboujaoude Jr. campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Florida District 12	Lost general	$56,949	$56,823
2020	Florida House of Representatives District 10	Lost general	$5,471	N/A**
Grand total			$62,420	$56,823
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections 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.

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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Footnotes

[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)