¶ How To Win Against Daniel Webster
Rep. Daniel Webster is a 76-year-old Republican who has held elected office continuously for 46 years — since 1980 in the Florida House, then the Florida Senate, and since 2011 in the U.S. House representing central Florida. Despite this extraordinarily long tenure, Webster is ranked as one of the least effective members of Congress, having sponsored just 58 bills in eight terms with zero signed into law. He has missed more than twice the median rate of votes for House members. He is heavily reliant on PAC money (59% of his 2026 cycle contributions) with negligible small-dollar fundraising, suggesting minimal grassroots enthusiasm. His district (FL-11), which includes The Villages — one of the largest retirement communities in the country — is reliably Republican, and Webster has coasted in it without holding a single in-person town hall since 2011.
Daniel Webster promised his constituents he would "not pull the rug of coverage and care out from underneath anyone" and then spent the next eight years doing exactly that. He switched his vote at the last minute to pass the American Health Care Act, which would have stripped coverage from 1.8 million Floridians. He voted against the Inflation Reduction Act's $35 insulin cap, voted for the "One Big Beautiful Bill" that cut $3.8 billion from Florida's health care system and $187 billion from SNAP, and voted for a bill that deliberately let ACA subsidies expire, subsidies that had kept premiums affordable for 4.6 million Floridians, the most of any state. When those subsidies expired, a Central Florida father of three with diabetes saw his premium jump from $28 to $733 a month. Webster is ranked 225th out of 228 House Republicans in legislative effectiveness, has a decades-long affiliation with a ministry whose founder resigned over sexual harassment allegations, and when more than 200 constituents packed a town hall to confront him, he refused to show up.
¶ HEALTH CARE: BROKE HIS PROMISE AND VOTED TO GUT COVERAGE FOR MILLIONS
Webster promised in 2017 not to "pull the rug" on health care, then switched his vote to pass the AHCA that would have stripped 1.8 million Floridians of coverage. He voted for the Big Beautiful Bill's $3.8 billion cut to Florida's health care system and Medicaid cuts projected to eliminate 17,000 health care jobs statewide.
He voted to let ACA subsidies expire, hitting Florida hardest of any state. When subsidies ended, premiums doubled on average for 20 million enrollees. A 30-year-old Florida woman saw her premium nearly triple to $2,500/month, and experts said those aged 55-64 were hit hardest, the core of Webster's district.
He voted against the Inflation Reduction Act that capped insulin at $35/month and let Medicare negotiate drug prices, and once proposed cutting Social Security COLAs for seniors.
Message: Webster promised not to "pull the rug" on health care, then voted to gut it at every opportunity -- in one of the oldest districts in the country.
¶ AFFORDABILITY: BACKED TARIFFS AND CUT FOOD ASSISTANCE WHILE COSTS SOARED
Webster endorsed Trump's tariffs as "a negotiation tool" then voted to sustain tariffs on Canada as six fellow Republicans broke ranks. Florida TaxWatch found tariffs will raise grocery bills 10-15% and add $10,000 to the cost of a new home.
He voted for the Big Beautiful Bill's $187 billion cut to SNAP affecting more than 56,000 SNAP recipients in his own district, all while the same law shifted up to $1 billion in new SNAP costs to Florida.
He voted against the $15 minimum wage that Florida's own voters approved by a 60.8% supermajority.
Message: Webster backed tariffs that are raising grocery bills and housing costs on Florida families, cut food assistance for 56,000 of his own constituents, and voted against the minimum wage his own voters approved.
¶ JOBS AND THE ECONOMY: ONE OF THE LEAST EFFECTIVE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Webster was ranked 225th out of 228 House Republicans in legislative effectiveness, with zero bills making it to committee in the 118th Congress. He missed more than twice the median rate of votes.
His district has been hit by major job losses -- 1,400 workers at Kroger's Groveland center and 500 at Frito-Lay in Orlando, while Sumter County's unemployment nearly doubled to 7.9%.
He blocked farmworkers from unionizing, voted to make it easier to misclassify workers as independent contractors.
When 300 constituents booed him at a 2011 town hall, he stopped holding them. When 200+ showed up in 2025, he refused to attend.
Message: In 43 years of elected office, Webster has accomplished almost nothing for working people -- but has done plenty to make their lives harder.
¶ IBLP AND EXTREME SOCIAL VIEWS: DECADES-LONG TIES TO SCANDAL-PLAGUED MINISTRY
Webster has a "decades-long affiliation" with the Institute in Basic Life Principles, whose founder resigned after 30+ women accused him of sexual harassment. IBLP's textbook dictated that "the wife is to submit to the husband" and that "equal authority" in marriage is "Satan's goal."
Webster boasted at a 2003 IBLP conference that he "made every commitment" the founder asked of him: "'I raised my hand every time, because it absolutely changed my life.'"
In 1990, Webster sponsored a "covenant marriage" bill that would have barred divorce except for proven adultery, trapping women in abusive marriages. He opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
Message: Webster has spent decades aligned with an organization that subjected young women to victim-blaming and tried to make it impossible for women to escape abusive marriages.
¶ Issue Back-Ups
¶ Policies That Hurt Everyday People
Health Care: Broke His Promise and Gutted Coverage
Affordability: Backed Tariffs and Cut Food Assistance
Jobs and Economy: One of the Least Effective in Congress
IBLP Ministry Ties and Extreme Social Views
Election Denial and January 6th
Refuses to Face Constituents
Social Security Cuts