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Tuan Le, the Republican candidate for House District 40, bounced his check to pay the $1,781.82 fee to qualify to run for state representative, according to a letter from the Florida Department of State.
Dated Sept. 14, 2026, the letter states “…your check for the amount of your filing fee that you submitted during the 2026 State Representative qualifying period was returned dishonored on September 14, 2026.”
The letter goes on to say that Le had 48 hours from notification to pay the fee with a cashier’s check from his campaign account or he would be disqualified as a candidate.
In a Saturday afternoon phone call, Le described the situation as a “mistake” and said that he “screwed up.”
“It’s my mistake. It’s a new account and when they deposit [the check], the bank call [to] verify, and I don’t respond to the phone,” Le told VoxPopuli. “So I get screwed up that I didn’t respond, so they reject[ed the check].”
He said he “immediately” sent another check. He texted VoxPopuli a photo of the cashier’s check dated Sept. 18.
Le was a late entry into the HD 40 race. He was drafted in late August by the Orange County members of the Republican State Executive Committee to run against State Rep. RaShon Young after Ocoee resident Nate Robertson withdrew from the race. Le and Young squared off in last year’s special election after a cascade of events following State Sen. Geraldine F. Thompson’s death left a vacancy. Young won with 75 percent of the vote.
Since becoming a candidate this year, Le has also missed two campaign finance report filing deadlines: one on Sept. 11 and the other on Sept. 25, according to letters from the Department of State. The state candidate database shows no campaign finance reports have been filed for the Le campaign.
Florida election law requires that campaign finance reports be filed even when no funds have been raised. The Florida Elections Commission can impose penalties of up to $2,500 per violation for failure to file campaign finance reports and for filing reports late, according to Florida campaign finance laws.
Le has a track record of making a thorough hash of his financial obligations. But this time, he told VoxPopuli, he’s been out of commission for the last three weeks dealing with kidney stones.
“Now I know why my wife say or my mom say when give birth, it’s pain. Now I feel the pain,” he said, laughing.
Le, who is his own campaign treasurer, said he would finish the campaign finance reports. He has done no fundraising and plans to fund his campaign with $5,000 to $10,000 of his own money.
“I try to catch up everything now… I know it's my mistake. I’ll pay the fee if I have to, but, like, the whole entire campaign, I funded myself. I paid everything.”
