A debate last night between the Republican candidates seeking to succeed MAGA superstar Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for Governor of Florida, cemented John Strand as the leading conservative in the race.
The debate, hosted by the Naples Reagan Club, saw self-funding millionaire philanthropist Jim Oberweis implode his campaign with a bizarre series of answers and comments extolling the virtues of bipartisanship and working with Democrats, that stepped on his claims to be a conservative and fell flat with the event’s Reagan Republican audience.
In a field with a sharp generational divide, John Strand distinguished himself from the other young candidates in the field. While they squabbled with local media magnate Jim Schwartzel over his claims (apparently false) of support from Byron Donalds, and the firing of a popular local TV weatherman, Mr. Strand stayed focused on the issues and the MAGA agenda.
In opening remarks Strand emphasized election integrity and immigration, saying Congress should pass the Save America Act.
In a field that strangely lacks a local elected official in the race, most of the candidates leaned heavily on their resumes. Mr. Strand, on the other hand, spent his time focused on the issues, especially election integrity, American sovereignty, stopping the illegal alien invasion, the threat of Islamism, and our relationship with Israel.
Pictured above are John Strand (seated) and next to him are candidates Jim Schwartzel, Mike Pederson, Jim Oberweis, Catalina Lauf and Ola Hawatma, out of the picture frame is candidate Madison Cawthorn.
Mr. Strand also stayed focused on the issues when the debate took a somewhat weird digression into who had lived in the district the longest and what qualified one as a “native” of the newly drawn district.
While the other candidates often answered questions in vague generalities John Strand had a specific list of legislation he promised to support.
One important bill on Mr. Strand’s list that seemingly went over the heads of the other candidates on the dais is the Restoring American Sovereignty Act (H.R. 1088) introduced by conservative all-star Rep. Andy Ogles. The bill would negate a judge’s order halting President Trump’s Executive Order 14169 and direct the funds to be used for deporting illegal aliens.
Strand also endorsed legislation to rein-in the out-of-control federal judges participating in the lawfare against President Trump and the MAGA agenda – another area where the other candidates were MIA.
While the other candidates wandered away from the conservative agenda to spend much of their time talking about “bringing home the bacon” of federal pork barrel spending, Strand devoted most of his time to longtime elements of the conservative agenda, arguing for the abolition of the IRS, deregulation and protecting life, both born and unborn and national security and sovereignty.
John Strand has been endorsed by Turning Point USA Action and received public support from former President Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn, Dr. Simone Gold and Naples agribusinessman and leading MAGA influencer Alfie Oakes.
Strand rose to prominence after the January 6, 2021 protest for being targeted by the Biden Department of Justice for his peaceful participation in the protest. He refused a plea deal and was later vindicated by the Supreme Court.
Two other candidates in the field are former Representatives Madison Cawthorn and Chris Collins.
Collins, a New Yorker who resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on September 30, 2019, right before he pleaded guilty to federal insider trading and lying to the FBI was absent last night and has faced questions about his health as he has failed to participate in other debates after passing out at a previous Reagan Club meeting.
Cawthorn, who left Congress after he lost his 2022 Republican primary bid for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District to Chuck Edwards after a tenure marked by multiple personal controversies and scandals escaped any questions from the panel about those controversies.
Cawthorn’s loss in his North Carolina primary was attributed to his many scandals including allegations of insider trading, improper payments, bringing a handgun to an airport, and appearing in a leaked nude video and his bizarre and evidence-free claims about "the sexual perversion that goes on in Washington" saying he had been invited to an orgy by an unnamed lawmaker. He also claimed, without evidence, that prominent Washington figures had used cocaine in front of him.
