Florida MAGA bastion draws comeback from ex-lawmakers who once represented other states By David Mark Washington Examiner Magazine Jan. 30, 2026
FORT MYERS, Florida
The Sunshine State is famously a place where people go for a fresh start. In the political realm, a looming Florida congressional Republican primary is testing the outer boundaries of that adage.
The 12 Republican candidates, so far, for Florida’s 19th Congressional District include a pair of former House members from other states: Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Chris Collins of western New York. Both left office under less-than-ideal circumstances.
A former state senator in Illinois, Jim Oberweis, is running to represent the 19th District, covering the Fort Myers and Cape Coral area, plus Naples to the south. So are businesswoman Ola Hawatmeh, who lost a 2020 congressional bid in New York, and Catalina Lauf, a Commerce Department official during President Donald Trump’s first, nonconsecutive term. She twice lost House bids in Illinois, including a 2020 Republican primary defeat at the hands of Oberweis.
A candidate gaining some political momentum is a MAGA activist and radio station owner whose stations strongly promote the president’s agenda, Jim Schwartzel.
The candidate field also includes a convicted Jan. 6 rioter, John Strand, who previously gained exposure, so to speak, as an underwear romance novel cover model. Trump’s January 2025 pardon pen sprung Stand from prison.
The House seat is coming open because Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is running for governor, where he’s favored in the red state. The district is full of picturesque white-sand beaches and is a haven for retirees, particularly from the Midwest.
The GOP candidate field in the 19th District could still grow, ahead of the June 12 filing deadline and Aug. 18 primary. Winning the Republican primary is tantamount to being the next member of Congress for a district with a long and deep Republican pedigree, and where Trump beat 2024 Democratic rival Kamala Harris 64%-35%.
“This Trump Country, by 100,” Collins said in an interview. “It’s solid red territory.”
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Florida MAGA bastion draws comeback from ex-lawmakers who once represented other states
FORT MYERS, Florida — The Sunshine State is famously a place where people go for a fresh start. In the political realm, a looming Florida congressional Republican primary is testing the outer boundaries of that adage.
The 12 Republican candidates, so far, for Florida’s 19th Congressional District include a pair of former House members from other states: Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Chris Collins of western New York. Both left office under less-than-ideal circumstances.