A Palm Coast city councilman running for Congress has gotten a boost, announcing that he has been endorsed by a former acting secretary of defense.
Charles Gambaro, who represents District 4 on the City Council, is a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve and a former Pentagon adviser. He issued a press release on Tuesday, Sept. 2, announcing the endorsement of Christopher Miller, a former Green Beret who served as President Donald Trump’s acting defense secretary for 72 days in 2020-2021. Gambaro worked closely with Miller during that time.
“I have seen Charles Gambaro in numerous pressure-filled and life-and-death situations,” Miller said in the Gambaro press release. “He’s unflappable. Florida is lucky to have him as a citizen, and America is fortunate that he has decided to continue his service by entering the arena of politics.
“A man of profound courage, commitment, high personal and professional standards, Charlie will give voice to those that all too often aren’t heard and selflessly serve the citizens of Florida with integrity, empathy and fortitude,” Miller said. “I am honored and humbled to endorse this great military officer and American.”
Miller could not be immediately reached.
Gambaro served as chief of the Secretary of Defense Action Group at the end of Trump’s first term, traveling with Miller to Mogadishu, Somalia, where the secretary made decisions on repositioning forces, Gambaro said. The two also worked together in the three months prior to Miller’s tenure as defense secretary, when he served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
In an interview on Sept. 3, Gambaro called Miller “a close friend, an absolute patriot and an American hero.”
Gambaro is challenging U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, Flagler County School Board Chairman Will Furry, Shohreh Fontaine, and Aaron Baker for the Republican nomination in the 2026 race for Florida’s 6th Congressional District.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast candidate for U.S. House lands endorsement from former Trump Cabinet secretary
Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
