ORLANDO, Fla. — A Central Florida native with extensive national political experience and a wealthy Lake Mary businessman are vying for an open seat representing a deep-red Republican district.

The victors of two crowded primaries, Democrat James Pericola and Republican Joe Strada, will go head to head in the general election for congressional District 11, which after a controversial redistricting earlier this year now takes in most of Lake County, all of Sumter County and a large part of west Orange County extending as far east as Hunters Creek.

The seat is open because long-time Republican Congressman Daniel Webster is retiring at the end of his current term.

Registration statistics heavily favor Republicans, with GOP voters accounting for about 44% of the district’s electorate. Democrats comprise about 27% of registered voters, according to the Florida Division of Elections.

A Libertarian candidate, Ralph Groves, also is in the mix.

The candidates

Pericola grew up in Central Florida but has spent much of his career in Washington D.C., with a resume that includes working for the administrations of former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. More recently, he was the founder of a D.C.-based government relations and consulting firm.

He said he was inspired to run for Congress after he watched his mother, who still lives in Volusia County, struggle to obtain and pay for proper health care as she grew older. He said he wants to help other people in similar situations.

“I’m not in this for me or any sort of lifetime goal,” Pericola said. “It’s standing up for people that I grew up with, standing up for my mom.”

He said he has focused on running a “grassroots” campaign and spending long hours knocking on doors, starting in The Villages — an area with a lot of Republican and senior voters.

“I’ve gotten to know a lot of the people out there, and they are afraid,” Pericola said. “They’re angry and they’re scared because they know they’re coming for their social security and Medicare.”

Strada is a political newcomer who made a splash when he entered the race and then immediately loaned his campaign $5 million, committing at least $1 million to a TV ad campaign called “Full of Crap,” which is his view of Washington, D.C.

He has declined interview requests from local outlets and dodged debates and public appearances, though he was recently profiled in a 2800-word piece published in Forbes magazine that recounted how Strada got his start in the business world at age 19 by purchasing a donut shop with his father.

Strada later became a salesman for Del-Air and started his own company, Strada Services, in 2003, the article said.

If Strada wins the November elections, Forbes estimates he would likely become the wealthiest member of the U.S. Congress, exceeding that of Republican Representative Jefferson Shreve from Indiana, who started the storage company Storage Express, and that of Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, who was involved in founding the hospital company that later became Columbia/HCA, according to Forbes.

While Pericola moved to west Orange County in the months leading up to the election, Strada lives in Lake Mary, outside of District 11. That’s allowed under to the U.S. Constitution, which requires members of Congress to live in the states where their districts are located once they are elected, but not within their districts’ boundaries.

A group of homeowners has sued Strada and his company in July, accusing the firm of installing subpar components in thousands of new homes that didn’t meet state and federal safety codes and put residents at risk.

The company used the inadequate material in homes across Central Florida and the state “to avoid delays, increase profits, and obtain a market advantage over other electrical contractors by completing projects more quickly than otherwise possible,” the lawsuit alleges.

In addition to the claims outlined in the lawsuit, Pericola said Strada’s avoidance of the press and public events should give voters pause.

“He refuses, because he’s got nothing,” Pericola said. “They have absolutely nothing to offer, other than they’re Republicans. They think the numbers are in their favor.”

Where they stand

During the primary, Strada aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump, with his website proclaiming he was a “100% supporter of President Trump.” That line apparently has been stripped from his website as many GOP candidates have sought to distance themselves from the president, whose approval ratings have reached historic lows.

Forbes reported that Strada is particularly interested in easing regulations, specifically mentioning a Florida law requiring builders to test energy efficiency in new homes. Strada’s campaign also has homed in on anti-corruption issues, including the buying and selling of stocks by members of Congress. He wants to probe suspicious transactions and enforce fines on legislators who use insider information for personal gain, according to Forbes.

Strada’s campaign website also says he supports enacting term limits for members of Congress and prioritizing passing a balanced federal budget.

Perciola, for his part, positions himself as a moderate Democrat who is particularly concerned with affordability issues. Many of the voters he’s spoken with, he said, feel they are “getting squeezed at every turn.” He said his priorities include protecting social security and Medicare for seniors; providing tax relief for the middle class; and ensuring that billionaires “pay their fair share.”

He said he has tried to avoid so-called culture wars issues, as he said he thinks some voters have been turned off by Democrats “putting a finger in their face.”

“People don’t care when they can’t feed their family,” Pericola said. “People don’t care when they can’t get to work. It’s not where I’m focused. It’s not where our campaign is focused. It is treating everybody with dignity and respect. And being somebody that’s showing on the front end, how hard we’re willing to work for them.”

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