Politics
CD 22 Primary candidate field spans 9 contenders, millions in campaign cash
Nine candidates will appear on the Aug. 18 Primary ballot in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. The seat is open, with no incumbent, uncertain partisan leanings, and significant campaign spending already shaping the contest.
The District emerged from a mid-decade redistricting effort led by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature in May, following a request from President Donald Trump. Once centered in Palm Beach County and represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, CD 22 now stretches nearly coast to coast, covering western Broward and Palm Beach and extending through Hendry and Collier counties, areas that tend to favor Republicans.
Trump won this expansive district, which covers four counties, three media markets, and is the largest agrarian Congressional District east of the Mississippi, with about 54.6% of the vote in 2024.
Four years earlier, Joe Biden carried the District with 51% of the vote.
Both parties are treating CD 22 accordingly. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added the seat to its target list in July, and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) did the same days later.
Political analysts expect the GOP to win in November, as the party continues to expand its presence in Florida, adding nearly 40,000 new registrants last month. Both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report rate CD 22 as ‘Lean Republican.’
The District’s default Democratic defender doesn’t want it. While Frankel moved her candidacy to Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, where she lives, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who lives in the new District, chose to run in Florida’s 20th Congressional District instead, despite pressure from Black political leaders to stay and make the seat competitive.
Here are the candidates.
Republican Primary
Seven Republicans qualified for the ballot, but three have emerged as the leading contenders.
Michael Carbonara leads in fundraising. The fintech entrepreneur began his congressional campaign about 18 months ago, initially challenging Wasserman Schultz, before switching to CD 22 in May after redistricting.
And he’s betting big on himself. Of nearly $5.9 million raised, including almost $1 million in cryptocurrency, $3.77 million was self-loaned. And by the start of last month, he’d spent all but $1.34 million of the total.
Carbonara has drawn significant negative attention. A website funded by primary opponent Belinda Keiser has spotlighted the Dubai business activities of both Carbonara and fellow GOP candidate Casey Askar. Another attack site has publicized multiple lawsuits involving Carbonara’s company, Ibanera.
The super PAC behind the site, American Pact, has also targeted Belinda Keiser for her previous Democratic donations and her university’s connections to China. Carbonara has faced criticism for supporting bitcoin mining while opposing a data center in Palm Beach.
He says his campaign is focused on boosting American prosperity, strengthening U.S. security at home and abroad, and promoting educational freedom, affordable healthcare, stronger borders, and constitutional rights.
Keiser, Vice Chancellor of Keiser University and a former appointee to Space Florida and the Constitutional Revision Commission, has raised $3.21 million, with $3 million coming from her own funds. She reported $1.89 million on hand at the end of the second quarter.
She describes herself as an ‘America First conservative’ and pledges, if elected, to lower costs for families, support first responders and the military, protect constitutional freedoms, and expand economic opportunity.
Keiser previously ran for state Senate in 2018, losing the Republican primary to Gayle Harrell.
This cycle, American Pact, the same PAC that targeted Carbonara, has also criticized Keiser for her previous Democratic donations and her university’s partnerships with China.
Askar, a Naples real estate executive and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, is making another run for Congress after finishing third in 2020 behind U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, whom he later sued over campaign messaging.
He says his campaign aims to create a ‘prosperity society’ in America and reduce government debt and overspending. His other priorities include strengthening election integrity, increasing domestic energy production, and continuing to deport criminal illegal immigrants while securing the U.S. border.
Askar is largely self-funding his campaign, loaning $2.5 million to his effort and reporting $2.24 million remaining at the end of the second quarter of 2026.
An anonymous website, traced to servers outside the country, has raised questions about his military records and divorce. Keiser’s campaign has denied any involvement.
The rest of the GOP field includes David Burck, a Marine veteran and former West Palm Beach gang crimes detective now working in real estate; Terri Hasdorff, a Loxahatchee consultant and former faith-based initiatives director under President George W. Bush; Michael Thompson, a former Lee County GOP Chair; and accountant Richard Evans, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024 for Florida’s 26th Congressional District.
Burck has raised about $205,400, more than six times the campaign cash of his nearest competitor among the remaining candidates.
Democratic Primary
Pia Dandiya leads the Democratic field in both fundraising and institutional support. She is a first-generation American, former educator, and has served as Director of public-sector initiatives for Apple and as a White House Fellow.
She shifted her campaign from challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast after the district lines changed in May, but her priorities remain focused on lowering healthcare and utility costs and addressing congressional corruption.
Late last month, the DCCC named her to its “Red to Blue” program, making her only the second Florida Democrat added to the list this cycle.
Dandiya reported raising nearly $2.1 million through June 30, with about $1.37 million on hand and support from more than 11,000 individual donors.
Kaysia Earley, considered the underdog in the Democratic Primary, is a Parkland trial attorney and legal analyst. She founded the nonprofit Seeds of Manna and previously ran for a Broward County judgeship.
Her platform, under the theme ‘Faith. Family. Future.’, centers on a middle-class tax credit, measures to improve housing affordability, and lowering prescription drug prices.
Federal Election Commission records show she raised about $15,700 by the last reporting deadline, with $3,150 remaining.
The General Election is scheduled for Nov. 3.
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Jacob Ogles contributed to this report.
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