Kat Cammack hits the airwaves with first ad in CD 3

Republican Kat Cammack has released her first ad in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho in Florida’s 3rd Congressional District.

The 30-second spot, “Chicken,” casts Cammack as the only candidate in the 10-person primary field that will stick to their guns on conservative issues.

“My opponents are a lot like career politicians in DC: Chicken,” Cammack says in the ad. “I’ve spent my whole life being tough. When I was younger my family was homeless. Now, I run a small business and was Congressman Yoho’s deputy chief of staff.

“I’m Kat Cammack and I approve this message because in Washington these guys will run away from President Trump, guns and the pro-life values that we care about.”

The campaign said the ad will be backed with a six-figure, district-wide buy.

Cammack entered the race last year, around the time Yoho announced he wouldn’t run for a fifth term representing CD 3.

After the new year, a flood of candidates joined the race with 10 eventually qualifying for the ballot, making the CD 3 Republican primary the most crowded in the state.

She’s up against Ryan Chamberlin, Todd Chase, Bill Engelbrecht, Joe Dallas Millado, Gavin Rollins, Judson Sapp, James St. George, David Theus and Amy Pope Wells.

Her ad drops about six weeks before the Aug. 18 primary and just a day after Sapp rolled out his first TV spot of the cycle. St. George hit the airwaves last month.

A recent internal poll from the Cammack campaign indicates she and Sapp are the top two competitors in the race, though the bulk of CD 3 Republicans were still undecided when the survey was conducted in mid-June.

Cammack and Sapp are also among the top fundraisers.

Through the end of March, Sapp had about $310,000 in the bank, second only to St. George. Both candidates have leaned heavily on their own wealth to fund their congressional campaigns. Cammack is No. 3 in both total raised and cash on hand, with about $166,000 banked on March 31. Three other candidates — Chamberlin, Chase and Rollins — cracked the six-figure mark in the first quarter.

CD 3 covers Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Putnam and Union counties as well as part of Marion. It is a safe Republican seat.

The ad is below.