Five Republican candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn presented themselves to members of the Capital Conservatives Club July 14 as supporters of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Their message? They’re in a battle against “crazy” Democrats.
Following a buffet dinner at the Elks Club, Iraq War veteran Luke Murphy, attorney Austin Rogers, businessman Keith Gross, Republican Party of Florida chair and lobbyist Evan Power and retired law enforcement officer Audie Rowell revealed only slight differences of opinions on policy initiatives. (The other declared GOP candidates – Lee Jones, Nick Lewis and Jim Norton – did not attend.)
That left the candidates to push their credentials as they made their case that they would be the most effective supporter of the Trump agenda in Washington to about 100 people on a rainy summer night. And for much of the evening, the candidates agreed on nearly everything.
Dunn, R-Panama City, set off a scramble for the seat that stretches from Panama City to Tallahassee when he announced in January he would not seek a sixth term. It has since become known that the 73-year-old Dunn has been diagnosed with heart disease.
Rallying around Trump in race to replace Dunn
Each man praised the president’s leadership, supported tougher immigration enforcement, favored reducing the size of government, endorsed the SAVE America election-integrity proposal and called for rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, often referred to as DEI or “the woke agenda.”
Republicans are largely expected to hold the seat in November; Dunn never received less than 59% of the general election vote in five elections. The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the district either “solid Republican” or “safe Republican.”
But the race draws interest because it comes at a politically uncertain moment for Republicans and at a time when they hold just a three-vote majority in the U.S. House.
Trump carried Florida’s 2nd Congressional District in each of his three presidential campaigns. But the president’s approval ratings have fallen into the mid-30% range nationally, while Democrats have scored a string of overperformances in special elections and this year flipped two Republican-held seats in the Florida Legislature, including a Palm Beach County district that includes Mar-a-Lago.
The GOP candidates made clear, despite Democratic gains elsewhere, that they believed voters of the 2nd Congressional District will reject what they described as an increasingly radical Democratic Party.
Candidates unite in opposition to Democrats, DEI
Power said he attended a debate of the Democratic candidates a couple days earlier and that “the things the Democrats said was absolutely crazy.”
“There are people who live here in Congressional District 2 who think we need ‘Medicare for All,’ that we should abolish ICE, and all kinds of things I won’t even get into. The President is right to call them communists,” Power said.
When the discussion turned to gender policies and transgender athletes, Murphy said “the Democrats are crazy” to advocate for transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
And when the question was about diversity and inclusion initiatives, Gross described himself as a defender of merit-based advancement and that “the Democrats are crazy,” to oppose meritocracy.
The repeated attacks on Democrats became one of the forum’s dominant themes and culminated with Rowell warning of threats from “socialism,” “communism” and “woke ideology,” which he said must be “eradicated from our culture.”
Leon County Democratic Party chair Ryan Ray later dismissed the attacks: “An extreme far-right President enriching himself, disastrous war in Iran and harm to North Florida’s economy speaks for itself.”
Candidates emphasize different backgrounds
With little daylight on policy issues, candidates sought to distinguish themselves through their backgrounds.
Power leaned heavily on his political resume, describing his record of leading Florida Republicans, which includes growing the party’s voter-registration advantage over Democrats by a million and a half, and helping Trump to carry Florida by 13 points in 2024.
“I’m running for Congress because Washington has too many talkers,” Power said. “They don’t have enough fighters.”
He argued that election integrity should be Congress’ top priority and said Democrats “continue to rig elections” and “continue cheating.” Passage of the Trump-endorsed SAVE America Act, he said, would be his first priority in Congress.
Murphy, a Purple Heart recipient who lost a leg during his second Iraq deployment, presented himself as the group’s outsider candidate.
“I never wanted to be a politician, but when Neal Dunn said he was stepping down, it was like lightning going off inside of me … I truly felt called to do something,” Murphy said.
Rogers, a former general counsel to U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and former Senate Judiciary Committee aide, argued that his Capitol Hill experience makes him the most effective candidate.
Gross framed himself as a constitutional conservative who wants to reduce the size of government, balance the federal budget and restore what he called “constitutional values”: “Every time our government gets bigger, our freedoms get smaller,” he said.
When asked how he would shrink the size of government, Rowell, a former Walton County Sheriff’s major, said he would start with the elimination of the IRS and the Department of Education.
The candidates also found common ground on Medicare and Social Security. While Rogers called for “thoughtful reforms” to preserve long-term solvency, Gross pledged to oppose benefit reductions and argued benefits should increase to keep pace with inflation.
The forum ended with a lightning round in which candidates identified Trump policies they most admired.
Gross praised Trump’s trade policies, Rowell cited his approach toward Iran, Rogers credited him with creating the MAGA movement, Power pointed to border security and support for the SAVE America Act, and Murphy said Trump was the first president since Ronald Reagan to consistently “put America first.”
Tallahassee resident Joel Thornton left the debate impressed with all five candidates. “All of them are articulate, good on their feet,” he said afterwards. “The only difference was some have a little bit more experience, but in different ways.”
He added that he was especially impressed by Rogers’ work on Capitol Hill. “But I didn’t know anything about him when I walked in the door. So, I got a lot to think about, basically,” Thornton said.
As the Aug. 18 Republican primary approaches, the central question facing GOP voters in one of Florida’s safest Republican districts is not which candidate supports Trump, but which one is best equipped to represent his movement in Washington.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on X: @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Republicans debate over who’s best to replace Neal Dunn in Congress
Reporting by James Call, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Call, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
