Making his third bid for Congress, former state Rep. Fred Costello reeled in the support of state House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Lutz, in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who is running for governor.
Corcoran and Costello were elected to the Florida House back in 2010. While Corcoran went on to become House speaker, Costello left the House after a term to run for an open congressional seat in 2012 but lost to DeSantis in the Republican primary. Costello bounced back to return to the Florida House in 2014 but decided to run for Congress again when DeSantis turned his attention to the U.S. Senate race in 2016. When U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., decided to run for a second term, DeSantis decided to keep his congressional seat and beat Costello again in the primary.
On Monday, Corcoran praised Costello in his endorsement.
“It was my pleasure to serve with Dr. Fred Costello in the Florida House of Representatives,” Corcoran said. “Representative Costello was best known for his integrity, his belief in home rule and his willingness to promote bold reforms in health-care, pensions, ethics, growth management and taxes.
“Florida taxpayers have now saved over $1 Billion in direct response to Fred initially standing alone for transparency in taxation and against Tallahassee raising property taxes,” Corcoran added. “When Fred goes to Washington, I know he will stand up for and well serve the residents of CD6, support cutting and balancing the federal budget and do what he believes is right no matter the political consequence ... because that is what he did in the Florida House. I am honored to enthusiastically endorse Fred Costello for Congress!”
For his part, Costello had kind words for the House speaker who faces term limits this year.
“When I first considered leaving the Florida House to run for Congress, Speaker Corcoran assured me he would continue his focus on the bold reforms he and I discussed and planned to champion,” Costello said. “One of my few regrets related to my service in the Florida House is that I did not have the opportunity to serve in the Florida House of Representatives while Richard Corcoran was speaker. Speaker Corcoran has left a lasting positive impact on Florida. He will be long remembered for his bold agenda including fiscal restraint, emphasis on school choice, promotion of transparency and high ethical standards, adherence to conservative principles and his political acumen.”
Costello faces veteran Mike Waltz who served as an aide to Dick Cheney and businessman and veteran John Ward in the primary at the end of August.
