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 12th 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 Friday.
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.
“I think it’s truly a shame that Castor is refusing to participate in a long-standing tradition, particularly one that helps educate voters on where we as candidates stand on certain issues,” said Judge. “I again call on my opponent, who continues to lie to the Tampa Bay area about me by calling me an extremist, to have a civil debate.”
Judge won his Aug. 23 primary election by 24 points, despite being outspent 10-to-one by his closest competitor.
In the Primary, Judge earned the recommendation of the Tampa Bay Times and has been endorsed by several high-profile local and national figures.
Those figures include 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, Republican strategist Roger Stone, 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
