Todd Schaefer
No Party Affiliation | Florida
Candidate Profile
Liberal
BIOGRAPHY
EDUCATION
Candidate did not provide
WORK & MILITARY
US Navy, Senior Chief, Nuclear Electronics Technician, 1998-2018
AFFILIATIONS
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (1)
Bernie Sanders (2016)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
OTHER INFORMATION
Candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025.
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life deserves legal protection from conception until natural death.
Neutral
I am personally pro-choice. In a country that allows tens of thousands to die due to lack of proper healthcare a year, I'd argue that we are failing more in the birth to natural death respect than the conception to birth stage of life.
The lives of human embryos created through artificial methods ought to be protected from purposeful destruction.
Disagree
Under what circumstances should an elective abortion be allowed?
Prior to viability, I don't believe it is the government's role to interfere. Where that cutoff occurs is up for debate, however it is not, in my belief, at conception. Beyond viability there still needs to be reasonable exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. I think we would be better served promoting economic conditions for parents than arguing over the morality of abortions, as many make that choice for economic reasons.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Agree
Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.
The Comstock Act, which bans interstate transportation of abortion-inducing drugs, should be enforced.
Strongly Disagree
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Agree
That sounds wonderful until you realize that what we currently have isn't 'free enterprise'. When concentrated wealth is allowed to buy both political parties and therefore more favorable regulatory and tax treatment, those donations become investments with an expected return. Until we institute election finance reform we'll be subject to that system.
People who can afford to pay more taxes should do so in order to provide relief for working families.
Agree
Higher marginal tax rates on higher income were necessary not to prevent people from becoming wealthy but to prevent the extreme concentration of wealth and political power I addressed in my previous answer. The OBBB alone cut $4T in tax revenue and $1T of that was to the top 1% of earners. Tax policy alone won't fix our problems, and lowering taxes more won't magically grow us out of debt. We need to understand how our debt is created and who benefits from that continued creation.
The government should cut spending in order to reduce the national debt.
Agree
DOGE was a great idea, but the waste identified fell far short of the trillions we have in deficit spending each year. The waste they found was partisan signaling at best and made no serious effort to find any real structural problems. While that was happening, we still had near unconditional support for weapons and funding for our proxy wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.
List your top 3-5 priorities to eliminate government waste.
Own Our Debt - My proposed American Prosperity Card Act will allow Americans to have a bank account that earns the full Treasury Rate instead of lending banks your deposit for 0.6% while they pocket the difference. Single Issue Bills - With 435 members in the House, if a poison pill requires 218 favors to pass that is 218 opportunities for more waste. Simple. End Military Waste - 800+ bases and $multi-billion fleets being defeated by drones that cost tens of thousands... That's not 'defense'.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Disagree
The free market can decide how to do business with those companies.
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
Exactly as it says in the Constitution. We are a secular country. Religion can inform on morals, but beyond that doesn't belong in legislation.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D) Taxpayer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be defunded.
A/B. Our near exclusive for-profit healthcare system costs us twice as much as other western countries and provides worse outcomes. At the very least we need a full public option. I'd prefer a full single payer system, but we've been so brainwashed to love our for-profit system that is a difficult first step. I don't think either will lead to no private options at all. Continuing subsidies under the ACA which just fuel debt spending isn't a long term solution.
The government should keep a database of people with various ongoing medical illnesses to assess the economic burden of treatment.
Strongly Disagree
NATIONAL SECURITY
With regard to America's foreign policy, which view most closely resembles yours: A) The United States should intervene whenever freedom is threatened. B) The United States should selectively help countries trying to grow democracy and fight tyranny. C) The United States has become too involved in others' policies and should remain focused on issues regarding our own sovereignty unless in imminent danger. D) The United States should stay out of foreign conflicts completely.
C. We haven't fought a truly justified, or declared for that matter, war since WWII. Our military has become bloated and over extended. Eisenhower warned us of the Congressional Military Industrial Complex before he left office. Our weapons manufacturers sold us expensive, ineffective systems that have shown their limitations/failures most recently in Iran. We need to rethink our priorities and the way that we develop and procure weapons systems.
The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.
Disagree
The threats to our security and economy exist within our own country. Weaponization of the dollar and our failed foreign policy for decades has led to China's rise as a peer competitor. Until we come to terms with our own complicity in our decline, we can't lash out against those who recognized and took advantage of it.
Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?
No. As a matter of fact our 'special relationship' with Israel is detrimental to our long term security and sovereignty. They are credibly accused of genocide in Gaza and both parties who are beholden to their foreign lobby have provided weapons and political cover for it. If that isn't a red line, I really have nothing more to say.
Islamic terrorism is a threat to the United States' national security.
Disagree
This is the same as the China question. We have to prop up 'bad guys' to ensure no one pays attention to what our own government has been doing. We have armed and funded terrorists around the world and the Middle East for decades. To the extent they are a threat, it is the threat that we introduced to their region.
IMMIGRATION
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Immigration should be limited and legal. We do need to acknowledge two main drivers of it. First: Companies benefit from cheap legal and illegal labor and that suppresses wages. Second: Our foreign policy has led to destabilization and increased migration. We can fix the first by extending labor protections to ALL workers, regardless of immigration status, and holding business owners to account for the employees they hire. Remove the financial benefits and the problem will be greatly reduce.
I support the existence of sanctuary cities to protect undocumented persons.
Disagree
EDUCATION
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Disagree
Federal funding for education is vital to ensuring we have an educated future workforce as a nation. Federal CONTROL over curriculum is overreach. State and local governments are better suited to make decisions on curriculum as they are closer to the communities that utilize that education in their labor market. Too many people conflate the two issues as the same, and a complete elimination of funding would be detrimental to our nation.
Foreign governments should be prohibited from funding American education.
Disagree
VALUES
Attempts to physically or socially transition a child to the opposite sex constitute child abuse.
Agree
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Strongly Disagree
Separation of Church and State was covered in a previous section. This question falls squarely in that category.
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I'm agnostic. I believe there is a God. However, I don't believe that God would pick one organized religion over another or over humanity. Core moral values and consistency are more informative and important to me than what religion someone practices.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Neutral
This is a loaded question, so I'll provide nuance. If state or federal photo ID is required, it should be available at no cost. Requiring payment for ID and then requiring that ID to vote is akin to a poll tax, and we should all agree those are illegal. If the REAL question is whether non-citizens should be able to vote: My answer is No.
EQUALITY
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Agree
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
What do you believe is the most reliable energy source that will supply the growing demand for electricity?
Nuclear power is our best long term solution. It shouldn't take a decade or more to get permitted to build a plant.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Moderate
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Government has a responsibility to protect children from sexual exploitation during online activities.
Strongly Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
We have a 2nd Amendment in case the 1st one fails. Any limitation on gun rights has to be carefully considered. Felons convicted of violent crimes and domestic abuse are places that I think restrictions make sense from a public safety perspective. There is a fine line between safety and liberty, and we need to be very careful where we legislate that line.
