Brandon, Florida is not the newest or the flashiest community in Florida's 16th Congressional District. That distinction belongs to the rapidly developing corridors to the south in Riverview and the master-planned community of Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County. But Brandon is, in many respects, the most established and economically central community in the eastern Hillsborough portion of the district — the commercial hub, the longtime residential anchor, and the place where tens of thousands of FL-16 families have built their lives, educated their children, and established the kind of deep community roots that newer developments have not yet had time to grow.
The stretch of SR-60 through Brandon is one of the most commercially active corridors in Hillsborough County. The Brandon Town Center and surrounding retail district serve a trade area that extends well into Valrico, Bloomingdale, Fish Hawk, and Riverview — drawing shoppers, diners, and service customers from a broad eastern Hillsborough catchment area. The intersection of I-75 and SR-60 is one of the busiest in the Tampa Bay region. Brandon is a place that works — that has established institutions, established businesses, and established community identity — even as the surrounding region grows dramatically around it.
Brandon's Community and Quality of Life
Brandon's appeal as a place to live is rooted in the kind of established community infrastructure that newer developments are still building toward. Schools with long track records and strong parent communities. Parks and recreation facilities that have been improved over decades. A commercial district with genuine variety — not just national chains, but independent businesses that have served the community for years. Healthcare facilities including Brandon Regional Hospital and a dense network of specialist offices and urgent care centers that are accessible without driving across the county.
The housing stock in Brandon is varied in ways that newer planned communities are not. Established neighborhoods with mature trees and character. Older ranch homes that offer value for first-time buyers. Newer subdivisions in the Bloomingdale and Valrico portions of the broader Brandon area that attract families seeking more recent construction. This variety makes Brandon accessible to a wider range of buyers than communities with more uniform, premium-priced housing.
Brandon's restaurant scene reflects the community's diversity and its role as a regional commercial hub. The SR-60 corridor has the national chain density you would expect from a major suburban commercial district. But the side streets and strip centers throughout the broader Brandon area host a growing number of independent ethnic restaurants — Latin American, Asian, and Caribbean establishments that reflect the community's demographics — alongside barbecue joints, seafood spots, and the kind of casual family dining that makes a community feel like a real place rather than just a collection of franchises.
Brandon's Small Business Community
Brandon's economy is built substantially on small and medium-sized businesses — the independent retailers, service providers, healthcare practices, contractors, and restaurants that employ the majority of Brandon's working residents and generate the sales tax revenue that funds local government services. These businesses are the economic backbone of the community, and they are directly affected by the federal policy environment in ways that are not always visible from Washington.
Federal regulatory burden falls disproportionately on small businesses because they lack the compliance departments that large corporations maintain. A Brandon restaurant owner, a Valrico contractor, or a Bloomingdale retail shop operator dealing with a federal regulatory change does not have a team of lawyers to manage the compliance — they handle it personally, diverting time and money from the actual work of running their business. Every unnecessary regulatory requirement is a tax on small business that does not show up in the official budget but is paid every day by business owners throughout Brandon.
The no-tax-on-overtime and no-tax-on-tips provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill directly benefit Brandon's service sector workforce — the restaurant servers, retail workers, and healthcare aides who comprise a significant portion of the community's working population. These are the workers who put in extra hours to make their budgets work and who depend on tip income as a meaningful component of their earnings.
Federal tariff policy affects Brandon's small business community through supply chain costs. Contractors dealing with tariffs on imported lumber, steel, and materials. Retailers whose product sourcing passes through tariffed suppliers. Restaurant owners whose equipment and food service supply costs reflect tariff-driven price increases. The cumulative effect of these cost increases on small business margins is real and cumulative.
Infrastructure: Brandon's Ongoing Priority
Brandon's infrastructure needs are both chronic and acute. The I-75 and SR-60 intersection is among the most heavily traveled in the Tampa Bay region, and the daily traffic volumes through Brandon's commercial corridor create congestion that affects both quality of life and economic efficiency. The Selmon Expressway, which provides a premium toll option connecting Brandon to downtown Tampa, helps some commuters but does not serve everyone for whom the tolls represent a significant daily expense.
Federal transportation investment in the Brandon corridor — through the Federal Highway Administration's programs, the Transportation Improvement Program, and the State Transportation Improvement Program — is essential for maintaining and improving the infrastructure that tens of thousands of Brandon residents rely on every day. As your representative in Congress, I will fight to ensure that Hillsborough County receives federal transportation funding commensurate with its role as one of Florida's major population centers.
What Brandon Needs From Congress in 2026
The Brandon families I talk to are focused on practical realities, not political abstractions. The inflation of recent years has hit their grocery bills, their insurance premiums, and their utility costs in ways that compound monthly. The seniors in the broader Brandon community — in Valrico, Bloomingdale, and the retirement neighborhoods throughout eastern Hillsborough — are watching their fixed incomes erode and their Social Security and Medicare commitments become more critical every year.
The parents of Brandon are paying close attention to school choice and whether Washington will preserve Florida's leadership in educational options or allow federal intervention to reverse the progress the state has made. The workers of Brandon — in healthcare, in retail, in construction, in logistics — are paying attention to whether the tax relief provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill get implemented and protected, or whether they get eroded by future legislation.
Brandon deserves a representative who is as serious about these issues as Brandon families are. I intend to be that representative.
Fighting for Brandon Families in Congress
Join John Peters' campaign for pro-growth, pro-family representation for Brandon and all of eastern Hillsborough County.
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