‘Faith, freedom, family’: Jackie Toledo releases new campaign video

State Rep. Jackie Toledo has released a second campaign video to promote her run for Florida’s 15th Congressional District.

Toledo, a Tampa Republican, embraces the theme of freedom in the new (nearly four-minute-long) video. The video follows recent rhetoric championed by conservatives, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, condemning “fear” in a nod to COVID-19 pandemic mitigation protocols, and instead marketing “freedom” as the alternative.

“Fear is not an American value,” Toledo narrates in the video as images of people wearing face masks and a news article of Dr. Anthony Fauci urging people to stay home flash on the screen. “Faith, freedom and family are. Those values have seen America through her darkest days.”

The video continues with clips of the American flag and military scenes and lightens with footage of businesses reopening and people taking off face masks.

“Together, we endure and emerge stronger. Together, we are stronger because we are all in this together,” Toledo states, inspiring images of unity, perhaps in a nod to Toledo’s past feats in bipartisanship. “We will never take freedom for granted. And while my son fights for us abroad, I’ll fight for us at home — I’m (in) a mom mission to win back our country, secure our children’s future and rise above these ashes.”

While not without clear conservative rhetoric, this video from Toledo’s campaign seems to have a more unifying tone than her initial announcement.

In a video announcing her candidacy, Toledo kicked off her campaign with a solid conservative edge, hoping to “stop Joe Biden from destroying America,” secure the border with the rule of law and fight for parental rights.

During her time in the Legislature, Toledo garnered a reputation as a moderate Republican, willing to put partisan politics aside in favor of bipartisanship — a reputation she seems to be tapping into in the latest campaign video. She has been unafraid to tackle issues her party might not like. In 2019, she spearheaded efforts to pass the Competitive Workforce Act, an effort to provide workplace protections for members of the LGBTQ community.

And that may benefit her campaign in the open swing district that covers North Tampa into areas of Pasco County. Although CD 15 leans slightly Republican, with 50.86% of voters there voting for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election and 47.74% supporting Democrat Joe Biden, she’ll have to set herself apart from the slew of influential GOP leaders vying for the Republican nomination.

In addition to Toledo, the crowded GOP Primary field includes former U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, state Sen. Kelli Stargel, former Secretary of State Laurel Lee and veterans Jay Collins, Demetries Grimes, Mac McGovern and Jerry Torres.