TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — How long is too long for someone to serve in the Florida legislature?

In an effort to end the bouncing back and forth between House and Senate chambers, State Senator Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, is pushing to limit lawmakers to a maximum of 16 years in office — eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate.

“If you are serving in the legislature, it should be a privilege and honor and not a career. Unfortunately, it’s become a career for some,” Ingoglia said.

The decision will be left up to Florida voters.

Senator Ingoglia introduced a constitutional amendment to be put on the November 2026 ballot, which asks voters if they should limit state lawmakers time in office at the statehouse.
“Currently you have an eight-year term limit in the House, you have an eight-year term limit in the Senate,” Ingoglia said. “But what we’ve seen over the years, is people become House members for eight years, Senate members for eight years, then go back to the House for eight years, back to the Senate for eight years, and it’s really not the intent of term limits.”

The trend of jumping back and forth between chambers isn’t new. Political analysts weighed in on the matter, saying there are a number of lawmakers in Tallahassee who have taken part in this cycle.
“This is a great Floridian tradition to have individuals serve in one chamber, serve in another, and then return back or go to other offices,” said Tara Newsom, Political Analyst, St. Pete College. “And of course, we know that we don’t necessarily want being an elected official to be a career, but we also don’t want to have the loss of all that institutional memory.”

More recently, former Senator and now reelected Representative Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, has spoken out about her plans to chase her old Senate seat when Senator Randy Fine, R-Brevard, steps down in March to run for congress.

However, Representative Mayfield was disqualified from the 2025 special election for the district 19 Senate Race.
Mayfield posted on X, “Today Gov DeSantis used the executive branch to punish me for endorsing Donald J Trump for President. He has weopanized the Department of State just like Biden weopanized the DOJ against @realDonaldTrump The law is on my side and we will fight for the people of Brevard.”

It remains to be seen whether the amendment will make it onto the 2026 ballot, as well as the level of support or opposition it may face as the legislative session approaches.