CIVICS SCORECARD

Home › Candidates › U.S. House — FL District 21 › James T. Martin

DEM Survey: Pending

James T. Martin

U.S. House — FL District 21
Northern Palm Beach County
D Nominee
★★★★☆
122 / 165 points
Integrity & Legal Record
Professional & Business Transparency
Policy & Platform Consistency
Community Engagement & Character
Campaign Transparency
Issue-Based Positions

Challenger (33; fourth-generation Floridian, grew up in Martin County; Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve; nearly a decade active duty, commanded cutters in Fort Pierce, combated drug and human trafficking, served overseas; most recently Chief of Staff for National Security Affairs and Executive Secretary in the Office of the Vice President across two administrations; raised $150K in the first day of his campaign; running in the contested D primary against Edward O'Connor, Elizabeth Pandich, and Bernard Taylor to face incumbent Brian Mast)

Last updated: 2026-08-21

Every candidate is researched identically across six categories using only public records and candidate-submitted information. No candidate is endorsed. Read the full methodology.

Integrity & Legal Record 25 / 25

Criminal History

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 arrested OR convicted OR indicted — 2026-08-14]`. No adverse findings.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-14 — no adverse matches

Civil Court History

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 lawsuit OR litigation — 2026-08-14]`. No adverse civil litigation found (see Identity note above regarding an unrelated same-occupation individual).

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-14 — no adverse matches

Ethics Violations

No ethics complaints found.

Sources:
  • Google/news search: "James Martin" FL-21 ethics complaint — 2026-08-14 — no adverse matches
  • Florida Commission on Ethics — https://ethics.state.fl.us/Complaints/Complaints.aspx — 2026-08-14

Campaign Finance Violations

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 campaign finance FEC violation — 2026-08-14]`. No violation records found.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-14 — no adverse matches

Residency Confirmed

Documented Martin County native, consistent with growing up in the FL-21 district.

Sources:
  • Campaign website (jamesmartinforflorida.com); Florida Politics — 2026-08-14
  • Investigated and ruled out: a 2024 wrongful-arrest lawsuit involving an unrelated Coast Guard officer (Shane Sprague), surfaced by coincidental search-term overlap.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate per the roster, and the CIVICS Disclosure Survey PDF answers have not yet been extracted/indexed per-candidate in general.

Professional & Business Transparency 20 / 25

Business Ownership

No personal business ownership was found for this candidate. His campaign biography and press coverage describe his father, not James Martin himself, as the owner/operator of the family business, Diamond Transfer & Garage (Hobe Sound, FL, founded by his great-grandfather in 1934) — the business is explicitly attributed to his father across multiple sources. Martin's own career has been continuous military/government service (nearly a decade active-duty U.S. Coast Guard, then White House National Security Council staff across two administrations), which is not consistent with concurrent personal business ownership, and no source suggests he holds any. `[Sunbiz primary-source confirmation NOT COMPLETED — search.sunbiz.org blocked this session, see tooling note above]`.

Sources:
  • Florida Politics — "James Martin launches bid to unseat 'out of touch' Brian Mast in CD 21, raises $150K in first day" — 2026-08-21
  • Campaign website (jamesmartinforflorida.com) — "Meet James" — 2026-08-21 — confirms family business is his father's, not his
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Sunbiz confirmation not completed due to a tooling block; recommend a manual recheck, understanding that "James Martin" will require careful disambiguation given the name's commonality.

Financial Conflicts of Interest

No government-contract overlap identified. Martin has never held elected office; his career has been federal military/executive-branch service, not a position with contract-award authority over his own or family interests.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search: "James Martin" FL-21 government contract — 2026-08-21 — no matches

Bankruptcy History

`[NOT FOUND]`. No personal or business bankruptcy filings located, searched with a "Martin County" qualifier to help disambiguate this common name.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — search "James Martin" "Martin County" bankruptcy — 2026-08-21 — 0 results
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Given the commonality of this name, a 0-result search is a weaker signal than for a more distinctive name; recommend the Sunbiz-blocked spouse/personal-name check be prioritized on manual recheck.

Tax Liens

`[NOT FOUND]`. No federal or state tax lien records located, same disambiguation caveat as above. Per this project's standing methodology, tax liens are inconsistently indexed online, so this absence of results is not presented as a confirmed clean record.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — search "James Martin" "Martin County" tax lien — 2026-08-21 — 0 results

Board Memberships

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 board member/director nonprofit — 2026-08-21]`. No corporate or nonprofit board membership identified. His spouse's name could not be identified via web search (campaign materials reference him as a "husband" without naming her), so the standing spouse-check methodology could not be applied this pass.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21 — no matches found
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Spouse identity not confirmed; recommend follow-up to apply the standing spouse-check methodology.
  • ⚠️ TOOLING BLOCK: Sunbiz was unresponsive for this candidate (4th consecutive candidate this session); no direct Officer/Registered Agent search completed. Given the name's commonality, this candidate should be a priority for manual Sunbiz recheck.
  • ⚠️ REVIEW FLAG: Spouse identity not confirmed via web search; standing spouse-check methodology not yet applied.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate per the roster.

Policy & Platform Consistency 17 / 20

Voting Record

`[NO VOTING RECORD — NON-INCUMBENT]`. Martin has never held elected office; his career is military/national-security staff service (Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve; Chief of Staff for National Security Affairs and Executive Secretary in the Office of the Vice President across two administrations). His platform includes specific, checkable positions: completing Everglades restoration, cleaning up Lake Okeechobee, stopping toxic discharges to the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, addressing regional cost-of-living, and — directly relevant given this project's existing Category 1 PRIORITY finding against incumbent Brian Mast — banning members of Congress from trading stocks, a direct policy contrast with his opponent.

Sources:
  • Florida Politics — "James Martin edges out Bernard Taylor for Democratic nomination in CD 21" — 2026-08-21
  • jamesmartinforflorida.com — campaign platform — 2026-08-21
None — expected for a non-incumbent per this category's methodology; platform includes a specific, checkable policy contrast with the incumbent directly tied to an existing Category 1 finding.

Position Consistency

`[Insufficient historical public record to assess consistency over time — Martin has no prior campaign or officeholding history — searched: nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21]`. His platform is internally consistent (Everglades/water-quality restoration, anti-corruption stock-trading ban, cost-of-living focus).

Sources:
  • jamesmartinforflorida.com — 2026-08-21

Flip-Flops

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 flip-flop reversed position — 2026-08-21]`. No documented instance of Martin reversing a stated position was identified.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21 — no matches

Endorsements

Received: Former Vice President Kamala Harris; Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida; Moms Demand Action; Democratic Hispanic Caucus; Veterans for Responsible Leadership; the Palm Beach Post editorial board. He won the 8/18/2026 Democratic primary by a narrow margin (359 votes, 50.4%–49.6%) over Bernard Taylor and faces incumbent Brian Mast, NPA candidate Alexander Cooke, and write-in David Fabrikant in November. `[Endorsements given — NOT FOUND — 2026-08-21]`.

Sources:
  • Florida Politics — "'Ready to deliver': Kamala Harris endorses 'patriot' James Martin in race to flip CD 21" — 2026-08-21
  • Blue Water Healthy Living — "Post Editorial Board endorsements for US House 21, 23 primary races" — 2026-08-21
  • Cross-reference: Martin's "ban members of Congress from stock trading" platform plank directly contrasts with the Category 1 PRIORITY STOCK Act finding documented against incumbent Brian Mast.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Community Engagement & Character 18 / 25

Community Involvement

Martin has committed to a specific, structured constituent-engagement plan as a candidate: quarterly town halls, bi-annual roundtables with local elected officials and business leaders across the Treasure Coast, and a publicly available schedule. `[As a non-incumbent, no in-office community-service record exists yet to independently verify beyond this stated commitment — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 volunteer community — 2026-08-24]`.

Sources:
  • jamesmartinforflorida.com — campaign platform — 2026-08-24

Veteran / First Responder Service

Confirmed U.S. Coast Guard Reserve veteran (already detailed in his profile summary): Lieutenant Commander, nearly a decade of active duty, commanded cutters in Fort Pierce, combated drug and human trafficking, and served overseas — a well-documented, substantive military service record.

Sources:
  • jamesmartinforflorida.com — "About" — 2026-08-24 (cross-referenced from Category 1)

Faith-Based Involvement (scored on character consistency)

`[No specific denomination/congregation membership was documented — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 faith church — 2026-08-24]`. Not scored negatively per protocol. On character consistency: his stated commitment to transparency and structured constituent access (quarterly town halls, public schedule) is consistent with his professional record of public service (Coast Guard, national security roles across two administrations); no contradictions identified.

Sources:
  • (cross-referenced from Community Involvement sources above) — 2026-08-24

Debates / Town Halls

`[No documented specific debate invitations or appearances for the 2026 primary cycle were found this pass — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 debate 2026 — 2026-08-24]`. He has publicly committed to a quarterly town hall structure if elected; a Mobilize.us "Meet the Candidate" event was documented during the campaign.

Sources:
  • Mobilize.us — "Meet the Candidate! James Martin, Candidate for Congress, FL-21" — 2026-08-24
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Stated future commitment documented, but no specific debate appearance found this cycle; recommend a follow-up closer to November.

Social Media Presence & Consistency

Active campaign presence via jamesmartinforflorida.com and Facebook. `[A full manual review of his last 90 days of posts was NOT performed this pass — 2026-08-24]`. No inflammatory or contradictory content was surfaced in general search.

Sources:
  • Facebook — "James Martin for Congress" — 2026-08-24
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Full manual 90-day audit not performed; recommend direct platform review if full certainty is required.
  • ⚠️ REVIEW FLAG: No debate coverage or full social-media audit completed this pass; recommend follow-up closer to November.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Campaign Transparency 18 / 25

Top Donors / Donor Composition

Martin raised more than $150,000 within the first 24 hours of launching his campaign (October 2025) — a strong grassroots-enthusiasm signal. `[Full-cycle total fundraising and precise donor-composition breakdown NOT FOUND — FEC.gov candidate page did not return complete detailed data this session — searched: FEC.gov, FloridaDonorTrack — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Florida Politics — "James Martin launches bid to unseat 'out of touch' Brian Mast in CD 21, raises $150K in first day" — 2026-08-26
None — data gap, not adverse.

PAC / LLC / Funneling Structures

`[NOT FOUND — no PAC funding identified — searched: FEC.gov, nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Advertising Spend

`[NOT FOUND — searched: FEC.gov expenditure reports — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Grassroots Engagement

`[No specific documented canvassing/phone-banking events located — searched: nationwide Google/news search "James Martin" FL-21 campaign volunteer 2026 — 2026-08-26]`. His rapid first-day fundraising ($150K/24hrs) is a notable enthusiasm signal, though distinct from a documented ground-game record.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Donations to Political Figures

`[NOT FOUND — searched: FEC.gov, nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches
  • Full-cycle FEC data was not fully accessible this session; recommend a follow-up direct FEC.gov check closer to November.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Issue-Based Positions 24 / 40

2A Rights Score

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND — scored 3 per protocol — sources searched: NRA, GOA, campaign website (jamesmartinforflorida.com) — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Pro-Life / Pro-Family Score

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND — scored 3 per protocol — sources searched: SBA Pro-Life America, campaign website — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Fiscal Conservatism Score

Pledges to "never vote to cut Social Security, Medicare, or veterans' benefits," opposing any effort to raise the retirement age, privatize Social Security, or restructure the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sources:
  • jamesmartinforflorida.com — 2026-08-26

Parental Rights Score

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND — scored 3 per protocol — sources searched: Moms for Liberty, campaign website — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Election Integrity Position

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND — scored 3 per protocol — sources searched: campaign website, nationwide news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Housing / Insurance Position

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND — scored 3 per protocol — sources searched: campaign website, nationwide news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Education / School Choice Position

`[NO STATED POSITION FOUND — scored 3 per protocol — sources searched: Parents Defending Education, campaign website — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Environment / Everglades Position

Detailed, district-specific platform: pledges to "relentlessly seek to end the Treasure Coast's clean water crisis" by completing Everglades restoration, cleaning up Lake Okeechobee, and stopping toxic discharges to the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, while opposing any weakening of "bedrock environmental laws."

Sources:
  • jamesmartinforflorida.com — 2026-08-26
  • Strongest documented platform area is Environment/water-quality, consistent with his Coast Guard veteran background and Treasure Coast district focus; most national social-issue metrics have no stated position as a non-incumbent challenger.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Other candidates in this race — U.S. House — FL District 21

Brian Mast (REP)Alexander Cooke (NPA)David Fabrikant (NPA)View the full U.S. House — FL District 21 race page →

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