Ten Florida Candidates Earn ‘2026 Seal of Approval on Child Care’ from Nation’s Leading Moms Group
CONTACT: Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996
Program Helps Voters Identify 2026 Candidates Who Will Prioritize Solutions to Our Child Care Crisis In Office
Our country’s child care crisis is causing profound financial instability and lasting harm to tens of millions of families, small businesses, and our economy, and contributing mightily to the affordability crisis that is roiling the country. That’s why moms have come together to create the 2026 Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care, to identify candidates who will stand with families by advancing comprehensive child care policy solutions that address affordability, accessibility, and quality for all. MomsRising Together, the online and on-the-ground organization of 3.7 million total members, released the first batch of candidates to earn the Seal this year and it includes ten Florida candidates:
- Angie Nixon, running for U.S. Senate from Florida
- Jennifer Jenkins, running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s Congressional District 8
- Lois Frankel, running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s Congressional District 23
- Maxwell Alejandro Frost, running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s Congressional District 10
- David Jolly, running for Governor of Florida
- Emily Gregory, running for the Florida State House in District 87
- Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, running for the Florida State House in District 42
- Marcos Reyes, running for the Florida State House in District 115
- Robin Bartleman, running for the Florida State House in District 103
- Anna Eskamani, running for Mayor of Orlando
“We applaud every candidate who has earned the 2026 Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care,” said MomsRising Together Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “We urgently need elected officials at all levels with a deep commitment to finding solutions to our child care crisis. That is especially important now, as the Trump administration threatens to redirect funds that Congress designated for the cash-starved Child Care and Development Fund to married, stay-at-home parents. Pitting moms in the labor force against stay-at-home moms is a disgraceful attempt at distraction, and moms will not be fooled. Moms will vote for champions who will advance real solutions for all moms, whether they are working full-time or are stay-at-home parents. Studies show that access to child care boosts families, businesses, and our economy as a whole, and we celebrate every candidate who is pushing for much-needed child care solutions.”
While fixing the child care crisis will bring high returns for families and businesses alike, leaving it broken incurs high costs: The average cost of infant care in Florida is $13,021 per year, and the average cost of care for a 4-year-old is $9,548 per year – both of which far exceed the $4,618 average in-state tuition for a 4-year public college. The estimated annual impact of the child care crisis in Florida is $10 billion. Nationally, child care costs more than public college tuition in many states, and nearly half of Americans live in child care deserts, where there is a significant shortage of providers. As a result, millions of moms and caregivers have been forced out of the workforce and families are struggling without their paychecks, while businesses and our economy suffer. At the same time, early educators are severely underpaid, and many are leaving the field because of dismally low wages.
MomsRising Together created the mom-made, mom-approved Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care in 2024 to raise the profile of child care as a campaign issue and to challenge candidates to commit to child care solutions that meet the needs and standards of America’s moms. It was developed with MomsRising parent leaders to raise the profile of the issue in the election and to tell candidates what a gold-star child care plan looks like.
The full 2026 list of Seal recipients, which is still growing, includes more than 156 candidates across the nation. All candidates are eligible to receive the Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care. Any candidate running this year can earn the Seal by committing to being a child care champion as laid out in the Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care commitment guidelines. Candidates interested in being considered should fill out the Seal questionnaire.
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MomsRising is the on-the-ground and online grassroots movement of moms and people who love them with 1,148,000 active members, a cumulative membership of 3,731,024, and a combined social media and Breaking Through Radio audience of tens of millions more. Working to build a nation where everyone can thrive, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org and follow us on X, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, our blog, and other social media platforms.