FL-15, northeast of Tampa, used to stretch almost all the way to Orlando. The partisan lean was R+14. Under the new map, the district became much more compact and the partisan lean is within reach of a Democrat in a good year— R+7. The PVI is R+4. Trump won the district, but only by 3 points— 51.0% to 47.9%. Now the district is mostly Hillsborough County with a chunk of Pasco and a tiny bit of Polk. (Previously it also included most of Brevard, all of Indian River and most of Osceola.) It’s a very different district and last year the one-term incumbent abandoned it to run in a redder district. An open seat, DeSantis ally Laurel Lee beat frequent candidate Alan Cohn— who can’t quite decide what to tell the voters about where he stands— 58.5% to 41.5%.
Recently, Air Force veteran and former Lake Wales city commissioner Kris Fitzgerald announced she’s running for Congress and this announcement video tells her whole fascinating story. It’s worth watching:
Fitzgerald has bachelors degrees in criminology and psychology and masters in mental health counseling and business administration.