Phil Ehr blasts Carlos Giménez’s temporary Speaker fix: ‘No more chaos and half measures’

After more than two weeks without a Speaker in Congress, U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez and other Republicans should have something better to offer than a short-term fix, according to Giménez’s new Democratic challenger.

Phil Ehr, who switched this week from a Senate bid to running for Florida’s 28th Congressional District, said the GOP’s inability to select a new Speaker is emblematic of GOP dysfunction.

Giménez’s push to install U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry as interim Speaker is “dangerous, irresponsible and an insult to the people of South Florida,” Ehr said.

“Carlos needs to work with the Minority Leader to find a PERMANENT SOLUTION and get on with the business of the people,” he said in a statement.

“Anything short of a permanent solution to this crisis is dangerous, irresponsible and an insult to the people of South Florida — and the Constitution of the United States. No more chaos and half measures.”

In a historic move, a contingent of hard-right conservatives led by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz forced then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy out of the job.

Giménez voted with Gaetz, a fellow Donald Trump ally, and 145 other Republicans on Jan. 7, 2021, to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Two years later, he backed McCarthy’s bid to be Speaker, which took five days and 15 ballots to succeed.

Gaetz was the only House member from Florida not to support anybody in the final vote. He’d previously nominated Trump and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, who on Friday failed to win the House Speakership in a third vote.

“Without a permanent solution, for the remainder of this Congress MAGA extremists will be able to take the House hostage whenever Trump or people like Matt Gaetz demand,” Ehr said. “Giménez’s lack of leadership and inability to work in coalition to pass a budget or provide aid to Israel and Ukraine are a show of political cowardice.”

Ehr ended his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Rick Scott on Wednesday to instead challenge Giménez. It’s his third run at Congress, following 2018 and 2020 losses in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, which Gaetz represents.

Democrat Marcos Reyes is also running in CD 28, which covers a southern portion of Miami-Dade County and all of the Florida Keys in Monroe County.

Giménez, the immediate past Mayor of Miami-Dade, won his seat in 2020 by defeating then-incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Mucarsel-Powell launched a campaign against Scott in August.

In November, Giménez comfortably won election to a second two-year term, defeating former Democratic state Rep. Robert Asencio and GOP write-in candidate Jeremiah Schaffer with 64% of the vote.

As of Sept. 30, he held $890,000 to defend his seat. Ehr’s Senate campaign raised more than $690,000 since July, but heavy spending left him with just $89,000 of it by the end of last month.

Reyes, who entered the CD 28 race this month, won’t have to report any financial activity until next year.