2026 ELECTIONS

Barbie Harden Hall ends campaign for Congress, citing illness

By: Norine Dworkin | Editor in Chief

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June 6, 2026

In a surprise announcement Saturday afternoon, Democrat Barbie Harden Hall said she was ending her campaign for Congress, citing an undisclosed illness.

She posted her announcement around 3:15 p.m. on social media.

Harden Hall, 39, was running in the Aug. 18 Democratic Primary and hoped to best candidates Dan Williams and Royal Webster for the opportunity to run in the general election for the 11th Congressional District seat. That seat has been held for 16 years by U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, who announced his retirement last month.

This was Harden Hall’s second run for Congress. She attempted to unseat Webster in 2024. Although she did not win, she pushed the district 6.9 points to the left.

In today's post, Hall said she was “making the very difficult decision to suspend my Congressional campaign” because she has a “recurring illness that has affected my ability to campaign in the way that is necessary.”

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Democrat Barbie Harden Hall, a Mount Dora mom of four, surprised supporters and her opponents with her announcement that she was ending her campaign for Congress.

Courtesy Barbie Harden Hall for Congress

She added that she had “no doubt we would be successful in the primary election” and would be able to “flip FL-11,” but that she could not “selfishly stay in the race when it would leave the district with a candidate unable to fight the way that is necessary.”

Harden Hall thanked her supporters and volunteers and said she would continue to work to get Democrats “elected up and down the ballot in 2026 and beyond.”

Concern and get-well wishes filled the comments section on her post:

"Your health is a priority, pray that you will heal to the fullest."

"So sorry to hear about your condition. Please take care."

"I’m so sorry. Your health has to come first."

"Your health for your family is more important than anything else. That being said, I am sad that I won’t get to watch you win FL-11."

Her opponents on both sides of the aisle sent wishes for her recovery.

“I was surprised and concerned because I know how much effort she has put into this race and how much she wants to be able to do this,” Royal Webster said by phone earlier today. “My only thing right now is for her health. I hope she gets over whatever illness it is. I'm sure it's a private matter with her and her family. I texted her, and I told her that my family's prayers will be going out for her and her family.”

“Terrible to hear, praying she gets well,” Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, a Republican Primary candidate for CD-11, told VoxPopuli in a text message.

“I wish Barbie a speedy recovery in whatever she’s going through,” Williams said by text. “Royal Webster and I will make sure that we pick up her torch and flip FL-11 blue!”

The Mount Dora mom of four originally got into politics after losing her 2-year-old son in 2021 to a rare genetic disease. She eventually got into rare disease advocacy work and went to Washington, D.C. to meet with legislators to raise awareness about the disease that took her child. Even though she was also a constituent, she said she was rebuffed by Webster and his staff. After that experience, when she learned that Webster didn’t have a Democratic challenger in 2024, she jumped into the race, turning her maternal grief into a rallying cry against Washington indifference.

She said she wanted to be elected so that people would encounter a public servant who understood what it’s like to go to your representative and say I need your help.