Mike Sell is running for U.S. House in Florida's 4th Congressional District as a Florida Forward Party candidate in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. Sell, who says he is 42, has not held elected office, according to his campaign.

Asked why he is running, Sell said in our candidate questionnaire: "I am running because those who are aware and have the capacity to help are obligated to act, and I can no longer watch from the sidelines. Our political system has become badly broken. It answers to money and party instead of to the people who fund it with their taxes and their work."

Other candidates in the race are Aaron Bean, LaShonda Holloway and Todd Schaefer, according to BallotReady election data.

Candidate information

Party: "Forward Party. Not left, not right, forward," Sell said in our questionnaire.

Family: "My grandfather served 26 years in the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander with four submarine tours. My father served 20 years and retired from Naval Air Station Jacksonville … Both of my brothers served as well," Sell said in our questionnaire. "Today I am a husband and a father. My wife and I have been together for more than two decades and raised three children, now grown and finding their own paths."

Education: "I originally studied political science, but I found my real calling in operational excellence … I built master's-level expertise in that field through rigorous professional certification, earning my Six Sigma Black Belt and Shingo Operational Excellence Assessor credentials," Sell said in our questionnaire. He also attended Florida Community College at Jacksonville, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Experience and public service

Asked about his work history, Sell said in our questionnaire: "I have spent more than twenty years fixing complex, broken systems, most of that inside the U.S. healthcare industry … I have led projects that saved more than a quarter of a billion dollars by cutting the waste and dysfunction that drain these systems while protecting the services people depend on."

He also founded a nonprofit. "I founded CCM, a not-for-profit built on the belief that access to information is a right," Sell said in our questionnaire.

Asked about previous office, Sell said in our questionnaire: "This is my first campaign for public office, and I have not held an elected or appointed office. I have served my community in other ways, including helping lead a local Indivisible chapter and spending two decades building and leading civic and volunteer organizations …"

His LinkedIn profile lists roles at Aetna, a CVS Health Company, and as founder of Club Blu, a young professionals group supporting the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida.

On the issues

Top priority: "Getting money out of politics. It is the single issue sitting underneath all the others, because a Congress that answers to its donors will never fully answer to you," Sell said in our questionnaire. His proposals include overturning Citizens United, banning corporate PAC money and banning members of Congress from trading stocks.

Affordability: "Costs are climbing faster than paychecks. Housing is the biggest driver, and the problem is less a shortage than Wall Street buying up homes to extract rent," Sell said in our questionnaire. He said he would support the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act and "raise the minimum wage to $17."

Health care: "Every American deserves guaranteed health coverage. I support Medicare for All as the goal, with a public option as the immediate step so no one has to wait for care while we get there," Sell said in our questionnaire. He added: "Insulin costs about two dollars to make and has sold for hundreds. That is a policy choice, and I would change it."

Climate and energy: "In Northeast Florida we live it now: flooding, septic contamination in the St. Johns River, and insurance costs tied to climate risk," Sell said in our questionnaire. He said he favors "a practical mix driven by reliability and cost: expand nuclear as dependable, carbon-free power, grow solar and wind, and modernize the grid for rising demand."

Sell's FEC filing lists his principal campaign committee as Friends of Mike, with a mailing address in Jacksonville.