SURFSIDE, Fla., May 19, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Charles W. Burkett, four-term Mayor of Surfside and lifelong Floridian, today announced his candidacy for Governor of Florida in the 2026 election as a No Party Affiliation candidate.
Image caption: Charles W. Burkett.
“I’m not a politician, and I don’t really like being called one,” said Burkett. “What I am, is a concerned homeowner, a hardworking parent, a successful problem-solver, and an investor who refuses to go along just to get along. Florida voters deserve someone they can trust — someone who will tell them the truth and be their insider in Tallahassee, not a political double-talker who says one thing and does the exact opposite.”
Born and raised in Miami Beach, Burkett graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in finance and founded a national real estate investment firm. He has dedicated more than four decades to public service, including civic leadership in Miami Beach and four terms as Mayor of Surfside (2006–2008, 2008-2010, 2020–2022, and 2024–2026). During recent terms, he guided the beachside community through the COVID-19 pandemic and the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse, the third deadliest in U.S. history.
Burkett’s campaign will focus on practical, common-sense solutions that put current Florida residents first, like:
KEEPING FLORIDA AFFORDABLE:
- Eliminate property taxes on homesteaded primary residences.
- Completely rewrite broken property and auto insurance laws.
- Dismiss non-criminal traffic tickets for drivers with clean 10-year records.
- Eliminate unfair paid highway express lanes.
- Eliminate unfair tolls on public roads.
- Eliminate Florida’s unfair gas tax.
- Eliminate permit fees to repair and improve your home.
- Force local government to provide water and sewer at cost.
- Slash bloated government, wherever it is, that we don’t need – or want.
- Rewrite the unaffordable, broken healthcare laws. Put doctors, not government and insurance companies, in charge. Make ‘Right to Try’ laws absolute. Affirm and codify “My Body, My Choice.” Free Florida medical research from bureaucratic and litigious strangulation.
STOP DANGEROUS OVER-DEVELOPMENT THAT IS DESTROYING OUR WAY OF LIFE:
- Repeal the Live Local Act sham, and all others like it, put in place mostly to line the pockets of developers – who then gladly line the pockets of politicians.
- Stop the “Manhattanization” and continued “over-densification” of Florida’s charming and historic communities.
- Crush traffic and population gridlock by favoring smart renovation over unchecked new construction, and by favoring current residents over those who wish to move to Florida.
RESTORE TRUST AND ‘FEDEX/UPS-STYLE’ EFFICIENCY IN GOVERNMENT:
- Eliminate excessive pay and pension schemes that reward career politicians and others which will eventually bankrupt our state.
- Any government position paying more than $250,000 must not exceed a two-year term and be reviewed and advertised for replacement, with interviews of all new applicants, every two years.
- Prohibit politicians and bureaucrats from wasteful travel. Require all “meetings,” “retreats,” non-physical “training,” and “education,” be conducted by Zoom only.
PROMOTE COMMON-SENSE IDEAS, GROWTH AND RESTORATION:
- Demand clean water and air.
- Real education for our kids, not factory-style, educational warehousing. Retain only great teachers — good enough is not good enough for our kids.
- Transform Florida’s slums, ghettos, and war zone neighborhoods by enacting my proposed “Oasis Act”.
- Employ economic development and tourism programs that benefit Floridians most — not developers, special interests, new Florida arrivals, or tourists.
See our campaign website for many more changes a Burkett governorship will bring to Florida.
“Florida has been good to me and my family my entire life,” Burkett added. “I enter this race as a proud, multi-generational American and lifelong Floridian. I want to bring the same passion and love I’ve dedicated to my beautiful Surfside hamlet on the beach – to every corner of the state — all while being unafraid to introduce real, innovative and sometimes radical solutions that will keep Florida a beacon of progress, opportunity, quality of life and success.”
MORE ABOUT CHARLES W. BURKETT
Charles Burkett is a lifelong Floridian, successful businessman, and four-term Mayor of Surfside, Florida. After college, Charles used savings from work as a construction laborer to buy his first property in 1983. He renovated it with help from friends he hired, leased it and went on to repeat that process over and over, which ultimately resulted in his ownership of properties in eight states, including Florida.
While busy in business, he also took time to give back as a political activist. Charles moved to Surfside in 1996 and has earned a reputation for not being afraid to shake things up or take on the hard issues. Honesty, straight talk, and putting residents first are his primary objectives. The bottom line is that Charles Burkett has the right experience; personally, in business, and in politics, to serve the people of Florida and make their lives better.
For even more information about Charles and his views: https://americawantsbetter.org/
Website: https://burkettforgov.com/
Press queries: Press@BurkettforGov.com
NEWS SOURCE: Charles Burkett for Florida Governor Campaign
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