Samuel Vilchez Santiago
Samuel Vilchez Santiago (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 43. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 18, 2026.[source]
Biography
Vilchez Santiago earned an associate degree from Valencia College in 2015 and a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 2019. His career experience includes working as the Florida campaign manager at All Voting is Local. He was also a fellow at Google, a diversity and inclusion fellow at Hillary for America, and the campaign manager for Johanna Lopez for Orange County School Board.[1]
Vilchez Santiago has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- CCiudadano, deputy director and founding member
- Voces Unidas por la Educación, vice-president
- New Leaders Council
- Orange County Charter Review Commission, member
- Florida Youth Commission, member
Elections
2026
See also: Florida House of Representatives 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 Florida House of Representatives District 43
Incumbent Johanna López (D) is running in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 43 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Johanna López (D) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 43
Samuel Vilchez Santiago (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 43 on August 18, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Samuel Vilchez Santiago | |
| ||||
| = 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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Endorsements
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2020
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 48
Daisy Morales defeated Jesus Martinez in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 48 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Daisy Morales (D) | 65.3 | 47,341 |
 | Jesus Martinez (R) | 34.7 | 25,197 | |
| Total votes: 72,538 | |||
| = 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
Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 48
Daisy Morales defeated Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Julio Rocha, Nelson Pena, and Tony Tsonis in the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 48 on August 18, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Daisy Morales | 39.9 | 4,897 |
| Samuel Vilchez Santiago | 29.9 | 3,676 | |
 | Julio Rocha | 10.7 | 1,309 | |
| Nelson Pena | 10.2 | 1,248 | ||
 | Tony Tsonis | 9.3 | 1,145 | |
| Total votes: 12,275 | |||
| = 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
- Amy Mercado (D)
- Alex Taylor (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Jesus Martinez advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 48.
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2020
Samuel Vilchez Santiago completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vilchez Santiago's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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After graduating as Valedictorian at Colonial High School, Samuel went on to graduate with honors from Princeton University. In 2018, he led a historic youth-run campaign to get Johanna López elected as the first Latina and Puerto Rican OCPS School Board member. He also served as the Communications Director for the March for our Lives in Orlando, helping to mobilize over 20,000 people to march against gun violence in Central Florida.
He currently serves as the Florida Campaign Manager for All Voting is Local, a non-profit organization that works to protect our right to vote. He is a member of the Orange County Charter Review Commission, where he has championed the protection of our environment, ethics reform, and equal representation for all. He is a board member of Voces Unidas por La Educación, Cciudadano, and the Hispanic Democratic Caucus.
Samuel is the recipient of President Obama's Volunteer Service Award, the Congressional Youth Award, and a Rhodes Scholar Finalist. As our State Representative, Samuel will fight to make sure that every kid and family in our community has access to the same opportunities he had.- Samuel Vilchez Santiago grew up, went to school, and has worked in district 48 for close to ten years. He understands, from personal experience, the issues that affect our district the most.
- Samuel Vilchez Santiago has a history of making change happen in our community; from leading a historic campaign to get Johanna Lopez elected as the first Latina member of the Orange County School Board to championing environmental rights and transparency as a member of the Orange County Charter Review Commission.
- Samuel Vilchez Santiago's priorities are in alignment with needs of residents of District 48: Affordable housing, healthcare expansion, workers' empowerment, and improving our education system. His progressive platform will bring about real-change to our community.
Having seen my family struggle to afford healthcare coverage and even be totally uninsured at points, I believe access to affordable, quality healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. I will work to expand Medicaid coverage, make access to mental health readily available for all, and defend women's reproductive rights, including expanding pre-natal and post-natal care options.
Economic Empowerment:
From personal experience, I understand our community succeeds when no one is left behind, especially during such difficult times. I will work to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, ensure sick paid leave for all workers, fix Florida's broken unemployment system and stand up for our small businesses by cutting unnecessary red tape.
Education:
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.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
