After an initial foray into the 23rd Congressional District, Republican Joe Goldner says he is running against Rep. Alcee Hastings in neighboring CD 20.
"I'm staying in 20, no matter what. It's on my petition," said Goldner, who was originally ticketed for a five-way GOP contest to face Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fort Lauderdale.
Goldner said he has gathered the necessary petitions to face Hastings, D-Miramar. "I'm all alone in CD 20," he said.
Also Monday, Ozzie deFaria knocked down speculation that he might shift to the 21st Congressional District to take on Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, where Republican Anna Trujillo is gathering qualifying petitions.
"I intend to run where I live, which is the 23rd District," deFaria said. "This will be Debbie Wasserman Schultz's first serious challenge."
DeFaria's campaign reported Monday it collected $181,000 in first-quarter contributions and had more than $200,000 cash-on-hand.
Listing 1,700 individual donors from 48 states, deFaria said his campaign had nearly six times as many individual donors as it did at the end of the fourth quarter -- and more in total receipts than Wasserman Schultz's general election opponents in 2008 and 2010 combined.
Karen Harrington, who faced Wasserman Schultz in 2010, is in the race again this year, along with Gineen Bresso and Joe Kaufman. Like Harrington, Kaufman says he's in it to win it.
"With me in the general election, we have an opportunity to take this seat and place into Congress someone who has been a voice for energy independence and someone who knows how to deal with the internal and external threats America and her allies face," said Kaufman, founder of Americans Against Hate.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
