Pastor and former NAACP president runs for Congress
Democrat James Stockton is vying for the District 6 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives

File photo: Bishop James D. Stockton, Sr. Pastor of Greater New Hope Church, is running as a Democrat for the District 6 seat of the U.S. House of Representatives [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.
A local pastor-turned-politician is the sole Democrat vying for the District 6 seat of the U.S. House of Representatives—and he hopes to bring Ocala’s interests to Congress.
Bishop James David Stockton, 52, serves as the pastor of the Greater New Hope Church and is a community leader of faith. Through his work as the former president of the Marion County NAACP, he is a longtime advocate of civil rights in the community.
As the only Democrat in the race for Congress in District 6, he will face the winner of the Republican primary election in the general election in November. The candidates running in the Aug. 20 GOP primary election are incumbent Rep. Michael Waltz, John Grow, and write-in candidate Richard Deminsky.
Each congressional district is made up of about 710,000 people. District 6 encompasses parts of Marion, Lake, Putnam, Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns counties. Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and receive a salary of $174,000.
“I see myself as someone who really wants to be a voice to the voiceless, and one who is willing to listen, to see what people are really desirous of,” Stockton said. “If not now, when? And if not you, who?”
Outside of his duties as pastor of his church, he is the immediate past president of the Marion County NAACP and the chair of the board of governors for the Ocala/Marion County Continuum of Care for Homelessness. He is also a member of the Marion County Affordable Housing Advisory Council, the Central Florida Community Action Agency and the Marion County Land Development Regulation Committee.
“If I continue to get up and do my best every day to be my best, that’s what my faith teaches me,” Stockton said. “My faith teaches me to be the best person I can be, so that somebody might want to be like me.”
Stockton resigned as president of the NAACP when he launched his campaign for Congress.
A first-time politician, Stockton said he hopes to bring the role of a representative back to what it should be—someone who speaks for the people, rather than solely focusing on economics and policy.
Stockton said his platform is based on four core principles—healthcare, education, rights for women, and environment: “H.E.R.E.”
“My daughter was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and because of the type of insurance she had and the lack of endocrinologists in the area, it took us almost a year to get in to see a specialist for her hyperthyroidism,” Stockton said. “That’s a problem. That is what we have to work on.”
In addition to national issues such as border reform and gun control, Stockton said he wishes to ensure that issues that the people of District 6 face every day are advocated on a national level, one of which being education.
“Education is important to me. Being a person of color, I must admit, I have a problem with saying to little Black and brown children who, historically with their forefathers and foremothers, carried slaves, telling them that slavery was a Job Corps program where they learned skills and things that would help them in their future,” Stockton said. “I have a problem with that type of rhetoric and that type of conversation.”
Stockton emphasized the problem of teachers not making high enough salaries, or not being able to personalize their teaching.
He also described the powerful effect that many strong women have had on his life, especially the ones who raised him, and expressed a desire to defend women’s health and reproductive rights.
“I’ve always had strong women around that were some of the wisest, gentlest, nurturing people in the world,” Stockton said. “Now people are saying that women don’t have the right to make fundamental decisions about themselves for themselves. I have a problem with that, and I’ll take that to Washington.”
Lastly, Stockton said he hopes to back legislation that protects the environment, from the farmland of Marion County to the beaches of Flagler County.
“We’re in the Sunshine State. Why aren’t we not only utilizing hydropower, our state is surrounded by water on three sides, but solar and wind power?” Stockton said.
In Stockton’s financial disclosure, he listed an income of $2,500 from Jan. 1, 2023, until April 15, 2024. This sole income was made through a stipend from the Greater New Hope Church, for his work as its pastor. In the year prior, he listed an income of $1,200.
Stockton did not disclose any assets, unearned income, liabilities or debts.
In total, he has raised $14,890 in campaign contributions. Of that, he has received $5,300 in party committee contributions, including $1,650 from ActBlue, a political action committee that fundraises to serve Democratic candidates and nonprofit organizations, and contributions from the Palm Coast Democratic Club, OTOW Democratic Club, Florida Democratic Party, and the Democratic Club of Oak Run.
Thus far, he has spent $13,925 in expenditures, including for a qualifying fee of $10,440 to the Florida Department of State.
The qualifying fee must be paid by federal candidates to appear on the ballot under a qualified party. Candidates had to pay this amount by April 26. A candidate who wishes to appear on the ballot unaffiliated with a party would only have to pay a $6,960 filing fee.
One of Stockton’s opponents, the incumbent Waltz, has raised over $1.5 million for his campaign.
Stockton said he was concerned about his ability to raise money in comparison to his opponents, but that he runs a grassroots campaign and mostly works to ensure that he can gain recognition for his campaign through knocking on doors and word of mouth.
“District 6 is the size of Rhode Island state, so it’s a lot of space to cover, but it has been really, really exciting,” Stockton said. “Just meeting the people, the different ones around the district, and just learning so much about our district has just been phenomenal.”
Stockton said it is through the connections made while on the campaign trail that he believes he is a good fit to represent the people and bring awareness to the issues that matter to them.
“Of course I want to win, but whether I win or whether I lose, I believe I have made some connections with some people that have forever changed my life,” Stockton said.