Politician of the Year Runner-up: The Florida Congressional Delegation

Photo by Jacob Ogles

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz wasn’t the only member of Florida’s congressional delegation to have a bigger impact on federal politics than anyone anticipated. In fact, Florida lawmakers played a major role on the Hill despite a rough start all around.

After Republicans picked up four additional House seats last year, taking the GOP a long way toward its takeover of the lower chamber, many hoped the Sunshine State would be elevated in the new Congress. Instead, the 118^th Congress brought immediate disappointment as the Steering Committee passed over U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan for the Ways and Means Committee chairmanship. But the Sarasota Republican’s loss may have helped boost the status of many less-senior members. After some significant backlash to the Buchanan snub, Florida members held a number of subcommittee chairmanships even if none led a full House committee.

Pretty soon, lawmakers started helming major policy positions. Buchanan, co-chair of the Florida delegation, got to work as Ways and Means Health Subcommittee chair crafting the majority’s health care agenda in contrast to President Joe Biden’s devotion to the Affordable Care Act. U.S. Reps. Mike Waltz, a St, Augustine Republican, and Brian Mast, a Stuart Republican, led critical hearings on the Afghanistan withdrawal. U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, a Hialeah Republican and dean of the delegation, crafted the majority’s signature “Secure Our Border Act,” laying out a set of Republican demands for stopping a flood of migrants crossing the southern border. Buchanan boasts the delegation clearly punched above its weight.

“Whether it was passing HR2, the strongest border security package in history, combatting President Biden’s disastrous economic policies and cutting wasteful government spending, or giving our troops the most significant pay raise in decades, the Florida delegation was a driving force in shaping policy both at home and across the country,” he said.

The upheaval in the Speaker’s office showed Gaetz’s influence, but also created opportunities for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. The Naples Republican became a key negotiator for a rules package and ultimately breaking the January deadlock on a new Speaker. When the race for a new Speaker re-opened in October, Donalds, despite being only a House sophomore, emerged as a serious contender for the top job in the House. Now, his name gets bandied about regularly as a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump.

And of course, there’s no state in the union where the race for congressional endorsements had such an impact on the presidential campaign. Ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing his own run, fellow Floridian Trump secured the support of more than half the delegation’s GOP members, delivering the first of many humiliations to the state’s once un-mockable executive.

For that matter, don’t count out Democrats’ influence in Florida’s House delegation. Despite minority status, many continued to play a central role in national conversations. U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasseman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, and Jared Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat, emerged as critical defenders of Israel when conflict in the nation broke out in October. When Biden announced a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention, he invited U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, an Orlando Democrat, to stand alongside him after promoting the same concept in legislation. And while the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis dissolved under the Republican majority, the Biden administration continued to promote environmental policies based on recommendations released while U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, served as the board’s chair.

The party also worked together on matters as mundane as backing Florida’s farmers on trade policy and as esoteric as seeking answers on potential sightings of UFOs at a Pensacola military base. When the House Oversight Committee held a hearing in July on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, U.S. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican, and Moskowitz together pressed the government for answers and forced the most serious consideration this side of Roswell of extraterrestrial technology.

With the Farm Bill, an agriculture package passed once every five years, expect Florida lawmakers once again to move in unison on many key matters. U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack, a Gainesville Republican, and Darren Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat, must fight for the state’s needs alone on the Agriculture Committee, but the performance of Florida’s federal lawmakers this year suggests an ability to advocate for the state greater than initial vote counts suggest.

“In the new year, Florida will continue to fight for our farmers and ranchers in the next reauthorization of the Farm Bill, work to counter the looming China threat, and ensure our military remains the world’s preeminent fighting force,” Buchanan said.