He called Floridians testifying at a public hearing "demons." His own sheriff rebuked him. Deltona asked for $115 million in flood recovery and got Bitcoin bills instead.
Read the recordApril 2023, Florida House Commerce Committee, speaking to citizens who came to testify
During a public hearing, Rep. Barnaby lashed out at Floridians, including parents and children who had traveled hours to speak, comparing them to movie mutants and calling them:
"demons and imps who come parade before us"Rep. Webster Barnaby, House Commerce Committee hearing, April 2023. Reported by NBC News, ABC News, The Hill, and the Daytona Beach News-Journal. He apologized minutes later; the bill's own Republican sponsor distanced herself.
The next morning, Volusia County's own sheriff, Mike Chitwood, responded that with hate groups already targeting local residents, our own state representative
"wants to put another target on their back."Sheriff Mike Chitwood, April 2023, reported by Spectrum News 13.
That is not a partisan attack. That is the county's top law-enforcement officer describing the danger created by the district's own representative.
His personally sponsored bills, 2026 session (LegiScan / Florida House records)
While West Volusia families dealt with flooding, insurance costs, and rising prices, here is the trade his district got:
The receipts, bill by bill:
HB 183: Invest up to 10% of state funds, including the Budget Stabilization Fund, in Bitcoin and digital assets. Died in subcommittee.
HB 1039: Create a "Florida Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Fund." Died on Second Reading.
HB 133: Lower the minimum age to buy a firearm, rolling back the law passed after Parkland. Died in Rules.
HB 347: Prohibit certain flags on government property. Died in committee.
HB 641: Workplace pronoun restrictions. Died on Second Reading.
HB 289: Rewrite wrongful-death law around fetal personhood. Died in Rules.
HB 125: Designate a new state day of remembrance. Died in Rules.
HB 29: Sell ivermectin over the counter with no prescription and no doctor consultation. Withdrawn before introduction (Oct. 2025).
$375,000: Even when he asked for flood help, he couldn’t deliver it. He requested funds to pump Deltona’s Lake Theresa basin before hurricane season, after 17+ inches of Milton floodwater; his own party’s Governor line-item vetoed it (2025).
HB 165: One bill that would have directly helped working people in his district: a pay floor for correctional officers. It died in a budget subcommittee; his own chamber's committees declined to advance it.
Roughly two dozen of his bills died or were withdrawn in the 2026 session alone. His own Republican-led Rules Committee repeatedly declined to advance them.
Fairness note: some bills bearing his name did pass, largely co-sponsorships of leadership priorities: a stablecoin regulation, a housing bill, and domestic-violence penalty enhancements. Judge the full record at the sources below.
2024-cycle top contributors, per Florida Division of Elections filings, via Transparency USA
Rep. Barnaby raised $96,060 last cycle. His top donors are not Deltona neighbors; they are Tallahassee industry PACs with business before the Legislature:
| Contributor | Interest | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Committee for Florida Justice Reform | Tort-reform / business lobby | $2,000 |
| Realtors Political Advocacy Committee | Real estate industry | $2,000 |
| Honest Leadership PAC | Leadership-aligned PAC | $2,000 |
| AT&T Florida PAC | Telecom | $1,000 |
| Associated Builders & Contractors N. FL PAC | Construction industry | $1,000 |
| A Stronger Florida PAC | Business coalition | $1,000 |
He sits as Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee, the committee that hears civil-liability bills the tort-reform lobby cares about, and on Ways & Means, which writes tax policy the realtor and builder PACs follow closely. Meanwhile, his biggest expenses are political consultants: $13,000 to one consulting firm alone.
Testing his campaign website against the public record
"Fighting for Affordability — Taking Action to Reduce Gas and Grocery Costs." (votebarnaby.com)
No bill authored by Barnaby on gas or grocery costs exists. The one state gas measure, a single one-month gas tax holiday in October 2022, was written by the Ways & Means Committee and passed unanimously, meaning every legislator in Tallahassee can claim it equally. The Governor himself later said its results left the Legislature unimpressed.
Groceries? Florida hasn't taxed groceries for decades, since long before Barnaby held office. There is no grocery tax for him to have cut.
And in 2026, with gas over $4 a gallon, his own party's leadership left a new gas tax suspension out of the tax bill entirely.
Every claim on this page comes from public records and published reporting. Don't take our word for it: