The Tampa Police Benevolent Association’s endorsement for Judge, a U.S. Coast Guard and Iraq War veteran, was unanimously supported by the PAC, the executive board and the board of directors.
TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Police Benevolent Association’s leadership voted unanimously last week to endorse James Judge for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, the campaign announced Wednesday.
“We are proud to endorse Tampa Bay are native, James Judge,” said Darla Portman, president of the Tampa PBA, which represents more than 1,100 sworn Tampa Police officers and retirees. “He demonstrates a strong commitment to the men and women of law enforcement, corrections and probation, and we know he has our back.”
Having served in a law enforcement capacity as a boarding team member in the Coast Guard, and having family members in law enforcement, Judge was elated to receive the group’s endorsement.
“As the grandson of a highway patrolman and with many friends and family members who serve as law enforcement officers, I am humbled and honored to receive the support and endorsement from Tampa’s Finest; it really means a lot to me personally,” said Judge, who is the only local, born-and-raised candidate running in the race. “We know that being a police officer is often a thankless job, but our law enforcement community has my campaign’s complete support, and we appreciate everything they do to keep us safe around the clock.”
Since launching his campaign in December, one area of focus for Judge has been promoting support for law enforcement, and attacking Democrat policies, which have made it harder for police to do their job, while Tampa’s murder rate has doubled. Judge says that once he is in Washington, he will fight to protect the brave men and women in blue.
“During a time when it is particularly difficult to be a police officer, and while police are often demonized by the far-left, I will fight to ensure that our law enforcement officers have every tool and policy at their disposal to fight crime,” said Judge. “While the left wants to ‘defund the police,’ I’ll battle to re-fund the police.”
Judge’s opponent, incumbent Kathy Castor, is one of the Democrats who supported defunding the police as rioters burned and looted American cities, including Tampa.
She infamously called for “a new paradigm for policing in America,” and co-sponsored radical anti-police legislation that puts an undue burden on law enforcement officers who risk their lives each day when they leave their homes for work.
This endorsement is yet another in a growing list for Judge. In the past two months, Judge has received several significant endorsements from Florida leaders. Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard was the first to endorse Judge, followed by former Congressman Ted Yoho, who served Florida’s 3rd Congressional District from 2013-2021.
Additionally, Matt Becker, a former Congressional candidate, who challenged Rep. Charlie Crist, and also served as deputy chief of staff and White House Liaison for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), announced his endorsement for Judge earlier this month.
About James Judge:
Judge, who publicly announced his run for Congress earlier this year, is the only Tampa Bay area native running in the race, having been born in Clearwater, Florida. Judge graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, he served in Kabul, Afghanistan as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2010 until 2011. He now owns Judge Public Relations, a Tampa-based PR firm and marketing agency with clients worldwide.
Judge is married to his wife Danielle, who is the founder and owner of Rowdy’s Pet Resort, a dog daycare boarding facility near Apollo Beach. The Judges are avid animal lovers and together, they have four dogs, three cats, two horses and 10 chickens. Judge is a proud member of the NRA, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. The Judges are also active members at Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa.
For media-related inquiries, please contact the campaign’s PR firm at 813.279.8335 or by emailing news@judgepr.com.
