The Republican nominee for Florida’s 14th Congressional District has called on his Democrat opponent to debate him since Sept. 12.
TAMPA, Fla. – Today marks the 37th day that Democrat incumbent Kathy Castor has refused to debate James Judge, the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, the Judge campaign said in news release Wednesday.
According to sources inside Tampa Bay area media outlets, Castor and her communications director, Rikki Miller, have also refused to respond to requests from the media for information about a potential debate.
Judge has challenged Castor to square off with him in a public debate before early voting begins on Oct. 24 and has offered to allow Castor to choose the venue, day and time.
One venue has already offered to host the debate. La Teresita, the popular Tampa Cuban restaurant, has offered to provide their venue free of charge.
“First and foremost, I am grateful to La Teresita for offering us a venue to host this important debate. I was excited when Kathy Castor told us she would be happy to do a debate two weeks ago and to contact her office. So, we have contacted her office time and time again, and they have refused to schedule a debate.” Judge said. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that a career politician like Kathy Castor failed to keep another promise.”
Judge won his Aug. 23 primary election by 24 points, despite being outspent 10-to-one by his closest competitor.
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.
