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This is the most crowded Republican Primary in South Florida.
U.S. Congressional District 23 is a newly redrawn district covering much of the area represented currently by Ted Deutch who isn't seeking another term.
Seven Republicans are running for the right to face the winner of the 6-candidate Democrat Primary.
They are Joe Budd, Dr. Steve Chess, Christy McLaughlin, Myles Perrone, James Pruden, Darlene Cerezo Swaffar and Ira Weinstein.
Joe Budd is Palm Beach County's Republican State Committeeman.
"This is a seat that is now winnable for a Republican. The Democrats, according to Cooke Political Report, only have a five percent advantage."
He's a financial advisor and President of Club 45, which was organized to support the agenda of President Trump. Budd has taken up the "America First" agenda for his own campaign.
"I Think that ties in my values as a Christian because that's a Biblical concept to take care of those at home first before you take care of outsiders. So America First agenda is taking care of all Americans ahead of any other priorities overseas."
Hear more from Budd on the issues below.
Retired chiropractor and U.S. Army veteran Dr. Steve Chess entered the race prior to Democrat Congressman Ted Deutch announcing that will not be seeking re-election to the U.S. House in roughly the same area that this district covers.
"I was writing articles concerning what he was doing relative to the representation of our area and how he was not standing up to the Democrat party who had become so Left, the 'Lunatic' Left. And they had been so antisemitic in Congress, and I didn't feel his response was strong enough."
Chess says he left the Democrat party six years ago partly because of what he calls a lack of civility.
"There are many Democrats who became Republicans because of what the Democrat party had become. I was a Kennedy Peace Corps type guy. I never asked what the country could do for me. I was always trying to do something for the country, my country that I love."
He also talks about key issues like inflation and energy independence in the conversation below.
Christy McLaughlin is another one of seven candidates in this primary.
"I am actually, in my opinion, the most likely to be able to flip the seat because I can be very neutral on some social issues that Democrats are convinced Republicans are against them when we're really not."
She's an attorney who worked with legal teams investigating possible voter fraud in the Nevada election in 2020. McLaughlin spoke on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on January 5th, 2021 and was at the White House to watch Trump's speech the following day.
"I never set foot on Capitol grounds but I am an avid advocate for election integrity."
She says we will "never really know whether Joe Biden is just the sworn-in president or the elected president."
McLaughlin's family is from Cuba and she points out that they came here legally in 1961, fleeing the communist government.
In addition to abolishing the U.S. Department of Education, she wants to see the Internal Revenue Service go away.
"The problem is when you overcomplicate the IRS it's really just to fund these special interests that the federal government is funding."
McLaughlin claims the IRS has been "weaponized against conservative political organizations" and refers to it as a "corrupt agency."
Myles Perrone is a 28-year old newcomer to politics who owns an irrigation company. Among the reasons he cites for running...
"I've seen what happened in the 2020 Election where it was rigged and stolen."
Perrone adds to his reasons, in his words, "a wide open border," inflation and he says American people are fed up.
Perrone was born and raised in South Florida and says he is the right candidate to defeat the eventual Democrat nominee come November.
"We need fighters in Congress. We need people that are gonna stand up and actually defend this Constitution, because the Democrats...they don't care about the Constitution. I will fight for this country like no other until my last breath I will fight for this country."
Candidate James Pruden is a business attorney who was the Republican challenger to Ted Deutch two years ago and captured 41 percent of the vote.
"I got more votes than any Republican candidate in this area over the last 30 years with the sole exception of Clay Shaw's re-election in 2004."
It's because of that performance that Pruden says he has the community's support.
He calls himself a "Constitutionalist" and talks about 2nd Amendment rights. Pruden says this about Florida's red flag law.
"They made an error there and again that's one of the reasons why I say that, you know, somebody with you know a background in law really needs to be involved with crafting legislation. I expect sometime somewhere down the road that law will actually get turned over on due process violations."
Darlene Cerezo Swaffar ran in the GOP Primary for District 22 two years ago.
"I'm an entrepreneur. I have a small business in Deerfield Beach. I've been serving the senior community for eleven years and I'm trademarked as 'The Medicare Lady.' I run a Medicare health insurance brokerage company."
She adds that her business background includes business banking and other areas of finance.
And one of the reasons Swaffar cites for being able to court Democrat votes in November...
"I'm the first Hispanic woman to ever run for Congress in Broward and Palm Beach County's histories and I believe that that could be a strategic advantage going into the General (election)."
She refers to herself as an "America First" candidate and part of a coalition of others with similar platforms.
"We have our goals aligned in that respect and we intend to go to Congress as an Army because that's what we need. We need an Army of patriot candidates to push back against this progressiveness that has taken over."
Swaffar talks more about her platform in the audio player below.
Ira Weinstein is an attorney and owner of multiple businesses spanning from e-commerce to importing and real estate management. On why he's running.
"I'm concerned over what's happening with due process in America. Highly visible people are being incarcerated. We had speedy trials. I see too much going on in the Congress itself with hearings where there's no right of cross-examination."
He points to the Democrat-led January-6th House Committee...
"There's a problem in the House and if I get in I will do my best to try to make things more open and more inclusive...in the House itself."
Weinstein is running on what he calls a "Priorities First" platform, talking about controlling inflation having to take priority over concerns about climate change.
"I acknowledge that there is some warming going on, but I don't believe that it's such an emergency that we have to put our economy in jeopardy, close down fossil fuels, create this massive inflation which is causing so many Americans to suffer, both Democrats and Republicans."
He shares more details on his platform in the audio player below.
In addition to the seven Republicans and six Democrats, there are two NPA candidates running for this seat.