Jacob Ogles
Financial adviser David Holden has staffed up his congressional campaign and announced two kickoff events.
The Naples Democrat also ran in Florida’s 19th Congressional District in 2018, but now will run for an open seat after U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney’s retirement.
“It was with your help last year that David was able to run and create the momentum that will propel us to victory in 2020,” read a campaign email to supporters.
Holden will hold a Collier County kickoff at 4 p.m. Friday at Fleischmann Park in Naples. Then he will host a Lee County event Saturday at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater at 10 a.m.
The campaign also made several key hires.
Allison Sardinas joined the campaign as Deputy Campaign Manager. She previously worked as political director for Mary Barzee Flores when she challenged U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart in the neighboring 25th Congressional District. While unsuccessful, the race managed to generate significant buzz and national attention. Sardinas most recently worked for the Miami Foundation.
Isaiah Carter joins the campaign as field director, after working in Collier County as part of Democrat Andrew Gillum’s gubernatorial campaign.
Nate Catey was announced as finance director for the campaign. He has held similar positions with federal campaigns across the nation, including for Michigan U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and U.S. Rep. Ellen Lipton.
Tanner Vandenbosch and Jonathan Infante also join the campaign as organizers.
Holden in 2018 won the Democratic nomination over Todd James Truax, now a Lee County Commission candidate. But Holden went on to lose to Rooney, who took more than 62 percent of the vote in the deep red district.
Many expected Holden to sit the 2020 cycle out, but after Rooney announced he would not seek a third term, Holden filed to run in November.
The financial adviser and his wife, Streeter Holden, run a financial planning practice in Naples.
Right now, Holden faces Florida Gulf Coast University professor Cindy Banyai in the Democratic primary.
