The Congressional seat held by Democrat Kathy Castor for the last 20 years has been put into play this election because of redistricting.
That has enticed eight Republicans, who will be in the August primary.
Six of them attended a debate last week at the Egypt Shrine Events Center in Tampa, hosted by the Hillsborough GOP and Tampa Bay Young Republicans.
They are former State Rep. Mike Beltran, retired Navy Commodore Robert "Rocky" Rochford, businessman John Peters, businessman Gavriel Soriano, Ergin "Batman" Tek —who describes himself as a builder — and congressional advisor Bea Valenti.
Other Republicans who didn't take part in the debate are Pasco County state Rep. Kevin Steele and Michael Marcel. Marcel's website says he's a "Florida dad running for Congress to fight for the families and Floridians that politicians in Washington have left behind."
Beltran served three terms in the Florida House and calls himself "MAGA Mike" and an ultra-conservative. He did not seek re-election in 2024 to focus on his private legal practice.
"I'm the only candidate in the race who's ever won an election in Hillsborough County, the only candidate in the race to ever represent a single square inch of Hillsborough County," Beltran said. "I am the only candidate in the race who's ever voted against a budget. I'm the only candidate in the race who repeatedly voted against his own leadership when his own leadership infringed individual liberty, hurt consumer protection, or increased the size of government and spending."
Rochford won the 2024 Republican primary but lost to Castor in the general election by 15 percent. But that district had a Democratic majority at the time. Now — based on the 2024 presidential election — about 55% of voters in the newly drawn district backed Donald Trump, while about 44% supported Democrat Kamala Harris.
Rochford, a retired Navy commodore, said if elected, he would focus on affordability.
"The problem is too many people can't get into a home. The average price of a home is $415,000 here in Tampa Bay, and you have to make $107,000 to afford that, and that's the problem," he said. "Affordability is killing all of us, every one of us, and in my opinion, Congress has failed you."
Valenti served as advisor for U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody and helped write legislation in Congress. She has deep roots in Hillsborough County.
"There's not a good bill that Kathy Castor has brought to us. She's not doing anything for Hillsborough County. Here are the top three bills that are most egregious," she said. "She voted against (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and ICE funding. That's a nonstarter. She voted against the Laken Riley Act to protect our girls who are suffering and who have been criminalized against the illegal immigrants that have come over this country."
"And most recently, she voted against the farm bill. We have Plant City in our district and our Florida farmers are the backbone of our state and of our county," Valenti said.
Peters described himself as a problem solver, not a politician, who will outwork anyone.
"When we're talking about government inadequacies — that's the problem. Government is the problem," he said. "We need independent thinkers that solve problems, not politicians."
Soriano is a businessman who lost the Congressional District 11 Republican primary in 2022.
"I will not be bought. I will not fail. I will not yield to anybody, whether it's our party or some other one," he vowed.
All the candidates uniformly attacked Obamacare, saying it should be repealed.
Tek is a businessman who vows to bring common sense into the office. He wants to focus on infrastructure and reducing the cost of healthcare.
"We have the best healthcare, yet we can't have it," he said. "I think healthcare should be totally like a business, renovated from inside out, because we have the best healthcare, well, we can't have it. Why do you want to go to the hospital for two days and have a $100,000 bill? Who can afford it? No one."
Valenti said Americans are being overcharged for medications the rest of the world can get much cheaper. She also doesn't believe in vaccinations.
"I am the only MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) candidate on this stage who believes that we need make sure that the poison in our food is not contributing to the cause," she said. "What are all these pollutants in our food system that is making us sicker and sicker and sicker? We need to take a very close look at that.
Beltran said the government should get out of regulating most private businesses.
"Every area of the economy that's heavily regulated — food, education, medical care, all of those things — are more expensive and they go up faster than other areas of the economy where the government stays out of," he said. "So the idea that the government's going to do something to fix the problem that the government created, I reject that premise. The government needs to get out of these businesses."
The Republican winner in the August primary faces Castor in November, along with Libertarian Brian Lambert and write-in candidate Keith Varian.
