Michael Carbonara shifts candidacy to CD 22

Republican Michael Carbonara will shift his candidacy to Florida’s 22nd Congressional District following passage of a new congressional map. That moves him from challenging U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, to a seat with no natural incumbent.

“The lines may have changed, but the cause and the community I am running to represent are still the same,” Carbonara said. “Democrats have taken away our freedoms, and I am running to restore them.”

That makes him the first candidate to jump into the CD 22 contest since Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed new cartography for congressional districts in Florida. Under Florida’s existing congressional map, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat, represents CD 22. But the new map, which hasn’t been signed by DeSantis yet, has much of her seat now in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.

Wasserman Schultz, for her part, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel she will seek re-election but has not decided where she will run.

Carbonara said he’s still prepared to face Wasserman Schultz. Under the new lines, he may boast some advantages he did not enjoy before.

Under the new cartography, around 54.5% of voters supported Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election, though four years prior, Democrat Joe Biden carried 51% of the vote there, according to an analysis by MCI Maps.

But the new CD 22 covers a geographically massive region, stretching from Marco Island in Southwest Florida nearly to the Atlantic coast. The northeast corner of the district includes Wellington and Belle Glade, while the interior includes Ave Maria, Immokalee and the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Carbonara’s Southwest Ranches also sit in the district.

While running against Wasserman Schultz, Carbonara raised more than $2.5 million through March, slightly outraising Wasserman Schultz’s total haul during the cycle. He closed the first quarter with just over $633,000 in cash on hand.