The incumbent Democrat in Florida’s 14th Congressional District agreed to debate Republican challenger James Judge “anytime.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The incumbent Democrat in Florida’s 14th Congressional District agreed at a Wednesday forum for the Historic Kenwood neighborhood hosted by Metro Inclusive Health in St. Petersburg to debate James Judge in the future.
Rep. Kathy Castor told Judge’s campaign manager that she would be happy to debate Judge “anytime,” and said to call her office to schedule the event.
On Oct. 6, Judge called Castor’s office as requested, but has not heard back yet.
“I’m glad Rep. Castor has agreed to debate me,” said Judge. “The people of the Tampa Bay area deserve to hear directly from both candidates before they make their decision in November. Now we just need to get the debate on the books, and I’m calling on Rep. Castor to agree to schedule the debate before early voting begins on Oct. 24.”
Judge has offered to debate Castor several times and said she can choose the time and location of the event.
“Whenever and wherever Rep. Castor wants to debate, I will be there,” said Judge. “My only condition is that the debate is open to the public. Public debates are a traditional and crucial part of the democratic process, and we should not deviate from that process here in Florida’s 14th Congressional District. I’m looking forward to sharing a stage with Rep. Castor and showing the voters what I stand for.”
Judge won his Aug. 23 primary election by 24 points, despite being outspent 10-to-one by his closest competitor.
He recently 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, 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.
