Hernando County Commissioner Steve Champion launches congressional run in District 15

Florida’s newly redrawn 15th Congressional District now runs through Hernando County, and that map shift helped turn County Commissioner Steve Champion’s long local profile into a congressional campaign. Champion entered the Republican primary against U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee as the district’s political boundaries were being rewritten, changing which voters, local issues and growth pressures will shape the race.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called lawmakers into special session on Jan. 7 to redraw Florida’s congressional lines and address related legal challenges, and the Florida Legislature passed a new map in late April. Under that plan, District 15 picks up Citrus and Hernando counties and loses parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties. The redraw matters because it changes where a candidate must build support and which communities now have the loudest say in a seat that once leaned more heavily on a different set of suburban voters.

Champion is not running as a blank slate. Hernando County materials describe him as a fifth-generation Brooksville resident who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hamilton University, spent more than 20 years with Target Corporation as an executive and director, and owns two businesses in Brooksville, including firearm sales and military police supplies. He was elected to the county commission in November 2016, re-elected in 2020, and has served as chairman in 2018 and 2022 and vice chairman in 2017.

His county record also gives a clear preview of the themes he is likely to push in a congressional race. Champion sponsored the policy allowing Hernando County employees to concealed carry and supported the county’s move to become a Second Amendment Sanctuary, positions that fit with his campaign’s emphasis on fiscal conservatism, reduced regulation and local control. Champion said Washington has “failed the American people” and that he wants to bring “real-world leadership” to Congress.

Lee, who was sworn into the U.S. House on Jan. 3, 2023, said she will seek re-election in District 15 under the new map. The calendar is already tight: the congressional filing deadline is June 12, the primary is Aug. 18 and the general election is Nov. 3.

For Hernando County, the race is about more than party labels. The new map gives the county a larger role in deciding who speaks for the district in Washington, and it puts added weight on the issues residents feel most directly, from transportation and development to flood mitigation, insurance costs and how much leverage local governments keep as the county keeps growing.