3 Republicans qualify against Darren Soto as national Republicans eye CD 9

Three Republicans have qualified to challenge U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat.

The candidates are conservative activist Jose Castillo, former Osceola School Board member Thomas Chalifoux and former state Rep. John Quiñones.

Officially, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has no preference who wins the GOP Primary, but Republicans remain confident that they can unseat Soto this fall.

The party has had their eye on Quiñones for months. He was the first Republican of Puerto Rican descent elected to the Florida Legislature. Following the once-a-decade redistricting process in 2022, CD 9 officially became a Hispanic-majority district.

Quiñones boasts endorsements from a number of sitting members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. Aaron Bean, Carlos Giménez and Bill Posey. He also has experience running for Congress, seeking the GOP nomination in CD 9 in 2012 under different boundaries, though he lost the nomination to Todd Long.

He has attacked Soto and President Joe Biden over economic conditions.

“Biden and Darren Soto have consistently made it more expensive for Central Floridians!” Quiñones posted. “Groceries are up more than 21% and electricity is up more than 28%. Bidenomics’ inflation is hurting Central Floridian pocketbooks!”

The Kissimmee Republican qualified less than 24 hours before the deadline after raising $105,000 through March.

But it’s Chalifoux who boasts the most cash on hand of any candidate. Chalifoux had almost $1 million in cash on hand for the race at close of the quarter, pretty much all of it courtesy of a candidate loan. If he’s willing to spend it, that could go a long way in boosting name recognition.

And he already starts with some familiarity to voters. Chalifoux served on the School Board in Osceola County from 2000 to 2008. He also served as Osceola County’s Republican State Committeeman from 2000 to 2004.

“I’m an Army veteran, a successful business owner and I know how to win,” Chalifoux noted in a campaign launch video in March. The retired Army Colonel said he now wants to continue his service to his country.

Castillo gained some national notoriety when, while working for The Walt Disney Co., he criticized the company’s stance on Florida’s parental rights bill. He spoke about the issue on Fox News multiple times.

“I’m not afraid of losing my job,” he told then-host Tucker Carlson. “I’m afraid of losing my country.”

He reported $57,000-plus in cash on hand at the end of March.

Whoever wins may still have an uphill climb to challenge Soto. While the NRCC has repeatedly hit the Congressman on economic issues, including running billboards in the district about the price of gas, the district has more Democrats than Republicans.

As of Feb. 20 book closings, the district had nearly 166,000 registered Democrats and fewer than 114,000 Republicans, with another 150,000 voters having no party affiliation. In the 2020 Presidential Election, Democrat Joe Biden won 58% of the vote to Republican Donald Trump’s under 41%.

But Republicans took notice in 2022 when Republican Scott Moore came within 8 percentage points of beating Soto with no real party support.

A Republican Primary will be held Aug. 20. The winner will face Soto and no-party-affiliate candidate Marcus Carter in November.