Residents in Florida’s Congressional District 14 are more likely to support a candidate – namely, former Florida House of Representatives member Mike Beltran (R) – upon hearing the candidate maintains unwavering support for President Donald Trump.
Breitbart News had an exclusive look at a Guidant Polling and Strategy survey examining the race in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, currently held by Democrat Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL). Several Republicans have jumped into the mix, hoping to unseat the Democrat incumbent, including Mike Beltran, who served as a state representative in Hillsborough County, representing roughly 25 percent of the newly drawn congressional district.
He served during the primary presidential election, when an internal war bubbled as Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s then-presidential campaign tried to rally Florida legislators to back him instead of Trump. At the time, the vast majority of legislators — nearly 100 — ultimately backed DeSantis. However, Beltran did not. Instead, he went on to endorse Trump in November 2023, one year ahead of the general election.
The survey shows Beltran leading his GOP competitors with 23 percent support. State Rep. Kevin Steele (R) follows with five percent support. Navy veteran Rocky Rochford comes in third place virtually tied with Steele with 4.5 percent, and all other candidates see even less support.
However, the survey found that when voters are informed that one candidate (Beltran) stood as only one of two legislators in the entire state that “never abandoned President Trump,” they overwhelmingly back that individual compared to the other (Steele), who initially endorsed DeSantis but later backed Trump.
With this knowledge, 68.8 percent of respondents said they would back the candidate who never abandoned Trump. Of those, 50.4 percent said they would “definitely” support that candidate. Just 13 percent said they would either definitely or probably back the other candidate, and 18 percent remain undecided.
The survey also asked:
Mike Beltran was inspired to seek elected office by Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. Since then he has supported and defended President Trump at every step: campaigning for him in 2016, 2020, and 2024, defending him during his sham impeachment, calling out the 2020 election fraud, and serving as a convention delegate for Trump in 2024. Does reading the following statement make you more likely or less likely to vote for Mike Beltran?
When given this information, 49 percent indicated they would be more likely to support Beltran, and another 21 percent said they are “somewhat more likely” to vote for him. Further, 7 in 10 said they are more likely to support Beltran when presented with the fact that he resisted political pressure to endorse someone else in the 2024 presidential election.
The survey was taken May 25-28 among 302 likely FL-14 GOP primary voters.
Beltran has put in $1 million of his own money to kick-start his campaign.
The state of the race comes as House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) threatens “maximum warfare” in Florida for the midterms over Florida’s redistricting efforts.
“You want to come down here and spend money and in Florida? Roll the dice and take your chances, but don’t think that you can come down here, issue threats to us, and somehow you’re going to make us flinch,” DeSantis said in response to Jeffries’ threats.
“That is not happening. And in fact, it did not happen, because as soon as he came out and started doing that last week, Florida legislature turned around and they passed a new map,” he added.
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