Former U.S. Rep. Chris Collins is out with a new television ad promising to “crush radical communists” and tying the former New York Congressman closely to President Donald Trump.
Collins is one of 10 Republicans battling in Florida’s 19th Congressional District to succeed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who vacated the seat to run for Governor.
The 30-second and 15-second spots allege that “communists are threatening our way of life” and include sound bites of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talking about trans issues, raising taxes and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The ads also say that while in Congress, Collins “protected Florida taxpayers from bailing out liberal states like New York.” Collins represented the now-obsolete New York’s 27th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019 and was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Collins resigned from Congress in 2019, pleading guilty to insider trading and lying to the FBI, after which he changed his residency to Florida. Two months into his 26-month prison sentence, however, Collins was pardoned by Trump.
Notably, Collins is not the only former out-of-state Congressman in the race attempting a political comeback. Former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who became one of the youngest people ever elected to Congress in 2020 before losing to a Primary challenger just two years later, is also running.
Another GOP candidate, businessman Jim Oberweis, spent eight years in the Illinois Senate and narrowly lost the race for Illinois’ 14th Congressional District in 2020 before relocating to Florida. He has put $4.9 million in loans into his campaign and boasts more cash on hand than any of his opponents.
Collins has the next most cash on hand, fueled by $2.6 million in candidate loans. Former U.S. Commerce Department special adviser Catalina Lauf has raised the most from individual contributors at $1.3 million, while businessman Jim Schwartzel and Cawthorn have each loaned their campaigns $1 million and $800,000, respectively.
Three Democrats and a no-party candidate have also qualified to run. Donalds won the heavily Republican district in 2024 with 66% of the vote.
