A prominent local trade organization has endorsed James Judge for U.S. Congress in Florida’s 14th Congressional District.
TAMPA, Fla. – The Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf Coast has endorsed James Judge, the Republican nominee for Congress in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, the Judge campaign announced in a news release on Wednesday.
“Coming from a construction family, we know that James Judge is the right voice for builders, contractors, and American workers as a whole,” said Steve Cona, President and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf Coast. “Like our organization, James believes in free enterprise and market competition, which leads to the highest quality products being bought and sold across all sectors. He doesn’t believe that the government should be meddling in the private sector, let alone handing out contracts based on anything other than merit. He has ABC’s full backing, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with him when he is elected on November 8.”
ABC describes itself as “the merit shop construction industry’s voice with the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government and with state and local governments, as well as with the news media.”
Judge thanked the group for the endorsement.
“I’m thrilled to have ABC’s endorsement as we continue to battle against Kathy Castor and other anti-free market forces within the Democrat Party,” said Judge. “Growing up, I worked in my dad’s construction business, and as a small business owner, I know just what it means to not only receive a paycheck, but also the hard work it takes to be able to sign the front of one, as well. We can’t have the government nannying businesses and sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong. If private enterprises ran like the federal government, they would all be out of business. We must protect them at all costs from government overreach.”
The general election will be held on Nov. 8.
Judge recently won a straw poll conducted by the Riverview Chamber of Commerce by a margin of nearly five points over his incumbent Democrat opponent Kathy Castor.
Judge has earned the endorsement of several prominent figures and organizations.
They include:
- Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL)
- Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
- Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) retired
- Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard
- Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri
- The Tampa Police Benevolent Association
- Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats (retired)
- Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf Coast
- The Community Patriots Tampa
- Republican strategist Roger Stone
- Chris Chambers, former Congressional candidate and community leader
- Matt Becker, small business owner, former SBA White House Deputy Chief, and former Congressional Candidate
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 vote@judgeforcongress.com.
