Jesse Scheckner
Andrew Gutmann, a self-described “anti-woke education activist” who drew national headlines two years ago for decrying race-based “indoctrination” at his daughter’s private school, is running to unseat six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel next year.
Gutmann filed paperwork Tuesday to run for Florida’s 22nd Congressional District and announced his candidacy the day after.
“Congresswoman Frankel has served this district in multiple capacities for almost 30 years, but she represents a progressive wing of American politics that aims to indoctrinate our children, sow division among us, and destroy the very values that made America the freest and most prosperous country in the world,” Gutmann said in a statement.
“Addressing the issues of our time — critical race theory and radical gender ideology in our schools; parental rights; diversity, equity and inclusion in our universities and institutions; censorship and the attacks on free speech; high inflation and out-of-control deficits; crime; and rising antisemitism — requires the kind of courage, honesty and seriousness that we are not seeing from Lois Frankel and the Democratic Party.”
He added, “It is time for new leadership.”
A former Federal Reserve analyst and investment banker-turned-entrepreneur, Gutmann became something of a minor celebrity among the “anti-woke” conservative movement in April 2021, when several news outlets reported on a scathing letter he sent hundreds of fellow parents at the Brearley school in New York City in which he explained why he was unenrolling his daughter.
The 1,700-word diatribe, mailed to 650 families, took aim at the school’s adoption of many of the educational policies Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida Republicans have targeted in recent years. Brearley, he wrote, had “completely lost its way” through its “obsession with race” and “vacuous, inappropriate and fanatical use of words such as ‘equity,’ ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusiveness.’”
He blasted the school for “trying to usurp the role of parents in teaching morality” and called on parents to speak out against what he described as inauthentic antiracism policies that most believed were “misguided, divisive, counterproductive and cancerous.”
Gutmann has written more on the subject for the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, among others. He also co-hosts a weekly podcast called Take Back Our Schools that has released 49 episodes since November 2021.
A press release announcing Gutmann’s campaign for CD 22 describes him as a “political refugee” who “fled from the progressive mismanagement of Democratic-controlled states and settled in the free state of Florida.” He now lives in Palm Beach County, the release said. However, he hasn’t yet bought property there, according to the county Property Appraiser website.
Beyond the issue of education, Gutmann’s campaign website lists several other priorities. He vows to curb the “excessive power of Big Tech,” work toward making American energy independent, combat climate change, support Israel and take a stronger foreign policy stance, leave the decision about abortion rights to the legislative process and not the courts, and not allow the media or the “far-left to hijack (mass shooting events) to push a progressive, anti-safety and anti-American agenda.”
He also wants to turn West Palm Beach and its surrounding area into a new U.S. financial capital “as financial service companies continue to exit deteriorating New York City.”
Gutmann is the third Republican to enter the race this election cycle, following Deborah Adeimy and Daniel Franzese. Both also ran for CD 22 in the Midterms last year. Franzese won the Republican Primary, losing to Frankel by 10 percentage points.
Frankel has about $776,000 on hand in rollover funds to defend her seat.
14 comments
Far Right Hippie Ed 👍
April 26, 2023 at 6:52 pm
He will be subjected to the far left mob. Brave man. In the end, he will wish he was never born.
It Never fails
May 7, 2023 at 7:40 pm
In a few years he will be caught in a seedy motel with a underage boy.
Always consistent on that lol
Bert Stimson
April 26, 2023 at 10:52 pm
He‘s not a garbage man, he’s a garbage person.
Dont Say FLA
April 27, 2023 at 11:00 am
“Anti-woke” is the code word for “white nationalist historical revisionist.” Got it. Thanks for the tip. Just the tip.
Gutmann the Gunman
April 27, 2023 at 11:07 am
I’m a politician, so what I wrote is politely referred to as my “diatribe.” If I were a gunman and wrote the exact same nonsense, it would be called my “manifesto.” The reason the press no longer waste time covering active shooter and domestic terrorist manifestos is because those manifestos have typically just been personalized copies of the GOP’s platform. That said, the culture wars in Tennessee recently drove a trans person, sadly, to active shooter-ism. Maybe the news will have to start reporting which cultural platform was supported by which active shooter, but can still safely avoid rehashing the already-well-known details.
What is race-based indoctrination?
April 27, 2023 at 11:32 am
What is race-based indoctrination? Is that when state government tries to make everybody act white? If Mr Guttmann did not like the private school he himself chose for enrolling his daughter, why didn’t he assert Conservatism and act as a man of the market sorting it out, picking a different private school to which he would voluntarily pay to send his daughter? Seriously, what a stoopid cracker, omg. If you don’t like what YOU chose to buy, next time buy something else.
Beth
April 27, 2023 at 6:42 pm
Just what FL needs another ignorant corrupt pathetic racist creep. Yes he will fit in perfectly with little boy dictator Ronnie and his wack job nazi followers. Hope the decent intelligent people in FL will wake up and send these low life scumbags to the trash heap of history which is the only place they belong.
Diane
April 27, 2023 at 11:51 pm
Wow fraud Gutmann registered Republican only a week ago! A New Yorker with 7 months knowledge in Florida wants to represent Palm Beach County? Another obvious Democrat plant, but they may fall for it.
Michael
April 27, 2023 at 11:58 pm
records show Andrew Nerdmann lifelong NY Democrat, then NPA suddenly registers republican in Palm Beach County a week before he launches a Republican congressional campaign! Haha just another carpetbagger publicity stunt to play in Trump town.
Jesus Christ
May 7, 2023 at 5:58 am
Christians are loose cannon, members of a child-grooming gun cult.
70% of the US except in prison where Christians are 96% because they are born criminals.
flprogressive
May 10, 2023 at 9:58 am
..or “Born Again” criminals. The real indoctrination that needs reigning in is the biggest hoax/con ever perpetrated-A belief in an invisible sky boss aka “God”. More specifically the “God” of Christianity.
PeterH
May 7, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Grifters sometimes must work to pay the rent. Republicans will sell their soul to the devil to win elections and spread the grift around.
Tom
May 8, 2023 at 8:51 pm
The same Andrew Gutmann who was arrested in New York for beating up a male prostitute he “allegedly” was paying for?
That’s why he left and had to re-start his career here.
Look it up. This guy is trash.
Mr. Haney
May 10, 2023 at 7:01 am
Gutman is a scumbag. A perfect Republican candidate.
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