The Republican nominee for Florida’s 14th Congressional District has been conducting maritime search-and-rescue operations with a Florida-based non-profit, and says the federal government has significantly failed in their response to Southwest Florida residents.
TAMPA, Fla. – James Judge, the Republican nominee for Congress in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, which makes up Tampa and St. Petersburg, slammed the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Ian, saying that from what he could see on the ground and in the water in Southwest Florida, the federal government’s response has been virtually non-existent.
Immediately following Hurricane Ian’s destructive landfall, Judge began volunteering as a boat captain and search-and-rescue team member with a non-profit, which has been conducting maritime and land-based search-and-rescue operations in the disaster zone. Since their operations began, Judge has captained his boat, the Slice of Life, aiding in more than 50 search-and-rescue missions, helping to save approximately 40 human lives, several dogs and cats, more than 275 parrots and two lemurs.
“Where we have been operating, in the vicinity of Pine Island Sound, on Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, North Captiva Island, St. James City, Bokeelia, Boca Grande, Matlacha, Pine Island and Fort Myers Beach, the federal government’s response has been entirely inadequate and virtually non-existent,” said Judge. “Besides two chinook helicopters, a couple of National Guard black hawk helicopters and some Coast Guard aircraft, the federal military’s presence has been nowhere to be found.”
According to Judge, he says the federal government has offered little help in the wake of the catastrophic storm.
“Where is and was the U.S. military?” Judge said. “Having served in the U.S. Coast Guard and with the U.S. Department of Defense, I am flabbergasted at the lack of federal military resources where we have been operating. The U.S. military has units whose sole responsibility is to build temporary bridges, including floating bridges, and conduct beach landings.”
“The military is trained for situations like this,” said Judge. “If given the order, we could have had the Sanibel Causeway operational in a day or two, allowing emergency vehicles to enter and exit the island. I’m baffled as to why these and other critical resources have not yet been deployed.”
“For six days, we operated as one of the few vessels conducting search-and-rescue operations alongside local and state vessels, without seeing a single military vessel. We did not see a single Coast Guard boat on the water or DOD vessel on the water. At one point, I called the Coast Guard’s incident command center to report a latitude and longitude for a vessel in distress, which we had safely towed back to shore and gave a spare anchor to while conducting another rescue operation, and they told me they did not have any boats in the water, as it was still too dangerous for their boats to operate. This was on day three, following the storm.”
“I want to know which military leaders are telling their subordinates it’s too dangerous to conduct missions. This is entirely unacceptable. Previous generations stormed the beaches of Normandy taking machinegun fire and mortars, and the current military leadership is worried about floating debris and COVID vaccinations,” Judge said. “During COVID, the military setup tent hospitals, which did not treat a single patient. Yet in Southwest Florida, where more than 100 people have been killed and countless more injured, we haven’t a federal military response, at least where my team and I have been operating. Where were the Navy LCACs (landing hover crafts)? Where were the tent hospitals?”
Judge is unsure whether to ascribe incompetence or malfeasance to the lack of federal government response.
“I’m not sure whether the United States no longer possesses the operational readiness capability to accomplish these tasks, or whether the executive branch is simply refusing to order them to help. Either way, it’s entirely unacceptable,” said Judge. “People are losing their lives, and many of those who survive will have lost everything. If the federal government won’t help them now, what exactly is the purpose of the federal government?”
In any case, Judge is asking for less talk and more action from the federal government. He is particularly disgusted by the comments of Vice President Kamala Harris, who said the federal government would be directing relief funds to “communities of color,” which she says are “most impacted by these extreme conditions.”
“Why the hell is she bringing race into this? For her to make this about race, when Americans of all ethnicities are suffering and dying, is utterly despicable,” Judge said.
Judge is facing off with Democrat Rep. Kathy Castor, who has mostly avoided commenting on the storm.
“These are the exact reasons why I am running for Congress. My opponent supports these failures at the federal level 100 percent of the time and her voting record proves it. This administration continues to fail to get a single thing right. From the failure in Afghanistan, to the failure of foreign policies, which allowed the invasion of Ukraine, to the failure of a response for Hurricane Ian, the federal government needs a complete overhaul,” said Judge.
Judge recently earned the recommendation of the Tampa Bay Times and has been endorsed by several high-profile local and national figures.
Judge’s other endorsees include Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ), retired Republican Congressman Ted Yoho, the Tampa Police Benevolent Association, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, the Community Patriots Tampa, Chris Chambers, a former Congressional candidate and community leader, and Matt Becker, a former SBA White House deputy chief, 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.
