Knives out as scandal-scarred Republicans pile into one Florida race: 'You went to prison'

Despite a colorful slate of contenders that includes candidates who have served federal prison sentences, previously left Congress under clouds of scandal, or tried and failed to run for Congress elsewhere, the contest to replace Rep. Byron Donalds in Florida’s 19^th Congressional District has so far remained relatively quiet.

The potent combination of wealth and conservatism makes southwest Florida an attractive spawning ground for Republican candidates aspiring to national, or at least statewide, prominence.

Donalds’ victory in the 2020 congressional race propelled him onto the national stage, where his track record as a loyal MAGA soldier briefly put him in contention as President Donald Trump’s running mate during the 2024 election. Now, with Donalds running for governor, 11 candidates are scrambling to fill his open seat.

Matt Gaetz, a former House member who himself was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sex trafficking when he left Congress, introduced one of the candidates during his show on One America News Network earlier this year with a telling quip.

“They say if you want to be rich, go to New York. If you want to be famous, go to LA. If you want to be powerful, go to Washington, D.C,” Gaetz said. “And if you want to be someone else, go to Florida.”

The 19^th district, near the southern end of the Gulf Coast, is an attractive target for candidates who have their sights set beyond Congress, pollster Ben Galbraith told Raw Story.

“Just as aspiring entrepreneurs go to Silicon Valley to raise funds for their companies, aspiring political figures go to Naples to raise funds for their campaigns,” he said. “That’s the real superpower of FL-19 — it’s fundraising potential. Of course, that can be extremely useful when running for higher office.”

The leading candidate in the race, according to a polling report authored by Galbraith for Victory Insights, is Jim Schwartzel, a 50-year-old Florida native who owns a conservative talk-radio station and media company.

Schwartzel is trailed by Jim Oberweis, an 80-year-old former dairy owner who previously served in the Illinois state Senate.

The poll found that 12.8 percent of voters said they would vote for Schwartzel, who has loaned $1 million to his campaign, followed by 11.9 percent for Oberweis, who has put up $4 million of his own money for his run.

No other candidate broke double digits, and 53.8 percent said they remain undecided less than two months out from the Aug. 18 primary.

“This race is wide open,” the report concluded.

Galbraith said the 2020 Republican primary won by Donalds is likely the best guide for how this year’s race will unfold.

“Several candidates had big money, but ultimately, Donalds won by making the most compelling appeal to voters,” he said. “The concept of a self-funder walking into FL-19 and buying it with a couple million dollars is a thing of the past.”

Some of the candidates have tried, with limited success, to boost their name recognition by attacking rivals.

Catalina Lauf, a former advisor in the U.S. Commerce Department during the first Trump administration, took to social media on Wednesday to react to the primary victories by socialist candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, warning that “the threat of communism has infiltrated every aspect of our culture and politics.”

Lauf went on to lament that in her own race “there are two people who have spent time in jail,” adding that “the Republican Party needs to get out of its way.”

Lauf’s takedown was aimed at John Strand, a former “international underwear model” and anti-vaccine activist who was convicted of obstruction and other offenses for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Chris Collins, a former congressman from New York who was convicted of insider trading and lying to the FBI. Both men received full pardons from Trump.

Collins, in turn, has unleashed a broadside against Lauf and a host of other rivals by highlighting their losses in past congressional runs elsewhere in the country.

Lauf unsuccessfully ran for Congress in the Chicago suburbs in 2020 and 2022.

Oberweis defeated Lauf in a Republican primary in 2020, but lost in the general election. He previously lost a 2014 challenge to Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin.

Madison Cawthorn served one term in Congress representing a district in North Carolina before losing his 2022 primary to a Republican challenger. His scandal-plagued term included the revelation that he lied about getting accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy, accusations of sexual harassment, and citations for carrying loaded guns through airports.

Cawthorn was also investigated by the House Ethics Committee for insider trading on cryptocurrency, resulting in a finding that he violated the chamber’s code of conduct and an order to pay $14,237 to charity. Since leaving Congress and relocating to Florida, Cawthorn has rear-ended a state trooper in a traffic accident, and last year, he was jailed for failing to appear on a driving while license suspended or revoked charge.

Ola Hawatmeh, a former congressional aide, unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. House seat from New York in 2020.

“So, you think about these people,” Collins told a Florida news site earlier this month. “I know how to win. I win. They know how to lose. Catalina Lauf — she’s lost twice. Ola’s lost once or twice. Oberweis has lost so many times they call him Milk Dud. Madison Cawthorn couldn’t win his own primary.”

“Chris, you went to federal prison,” Lauf responded. “I’m not sure how much lower the bar for ‘loser’ can possibly get.”

Lauf has also claimed, with corroboration from a Florida conservative news outlet, that Collins dozed off and then fell out of his chair during a Republican luncheon in Naples last month.

Lauf chastised the Florida GOP for excluding Mike Pedersen, a retired Marine Corps flight officer and former youth boxing coach, in a debate scheduled for Saturday. Pedersen should have been invited “instead of liars & criminals like [Madison Cawthorn] and Chris Collins,” Lauf said. “Both should be disqualified from even running for office due to all the dirt on them. Florida GOP, our Founders are rolling in their graves, and both ‘candidates’ are embarrassing Florida.”

Sean Tyler Ewing, an assistant professor of political science at Florida Gulf Coast University, said the scandals might not hurt Collins and Cawthorn that much in the Republican primary.

“It’s not that voters want a candidate with scandals, but in this polarized political environment, scandals can be turned by candidates into ‘the left is targeting me, and you should support me,’” he said. “There’s research that indicates candidates don’t pay a penalty for scandals like they used to, say 30 years ago.”

Cawthorn, an unabashed imperialist who favors conquering other nations and extracting their resources, has leveraged engagement with influencers and podcasters to get his name out.

Last month, Cawthorn sat for an interview with Andrew Tate, who has been the target of criminal investigations for rape and sex trafficking in three countries.

“My message is we need a moral, masculine class in this country of young men who are willing to hone their mind and hone their ability for violence, and also have a moral just cause where they say, ‘Hey, I reject evil,’” Cawthorn said, as Tate murmured in agreement.

“There are evil dragons and leviathans that need to be slain,” Cawthorn continued, elaborating on a theme of male grievance and conspiratorialism that he shares with Tate. “And it’s gonna get really dark. Because we’re in the death throes of the machine trying to hold on to power.

“And they tried to arrest you,” Cawthorn said, gesturing towards Tate. “They tried to arrest me. They tried to destroy our names. Because you try and get a good, positive message out.”