A straw poll conducted Thursday by the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce shows James Judge defeating incumbent Democrat Kathy Castor by a wide margin.
TAMPA, Fla. – Republican frontrunner in Florida’s 14th Congressional District primary James Judge on Thursday won a straw poll conducted by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, not only defeating his primary opponents, but also handily beating Democrat incumbent Kathy Castor.
Judge won 83 out of 142 votes, equating to 58.45% of the total vote. Castor placed second with 36 votes (25.35%). The other candidates in the race only garnered single digit percentage points.
“Americans nationwide and right here in the Tampa Bay area couldn’t make it clearer: they are done with the disastrous Democrat policies of the past two years that have made them poorer and less safe,” Judge said. “With gas prices hitting all-time highs, food prices soaring, the federal government spending money it doesn’t have and Democrats fomenting civil unrest through movements to ‘defund the police,’ voters are rightfully moving away from the Democratic Party.”
Judge is confident in his ability to defeat Castor in the November general election.
“We are going to flip this seat from Blue to Red in November,” said Judge. “Florida’s 14th Congressional District is going to be one of a multitude nationwide that rid Democrat incumbents from office in favor of Republicans, and help the Republican Party retake control of Congress. Democrats have shown that they have no business being anywhere near political power, and I expect the voters to treat them as such.”
The straw poll is the third Judge has won in the past week, and another positive sign as his campaign continues to gain momentum with less than two weeks before the primary election.
Judge recently earned the recommendation of the Tampa Bay Times, and has been endorsed by Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ), retired Republican Congressman Ted Yoho, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, The Tampa Police Benevolent Association, Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, the Community Patriots Tampa, Chris Chambers, a former Congressional candidate and community leader, and former SBA White House Deputy Chief Matt Becker, who previously ran for Congress against an incumbent Democrat in St. Petersburg.
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 also a small business owner in Hillsborough County. 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.
