TRUMP CRITIC EXITS RACE TO REPLACE FRANKEL
Delray Beach businessman Kurt Jetta faced long odds in his 2018 campaign for Congress.
He hoped to win the Republican nomination in District 21 as a critic of President Donald Trump. If he succeeded in that, he faced the tough task of unseating three-term U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, in a heavily Democratic district. Jetta concluded it couldn’t be done and ended his candidacy last week. “I could keep grinding away in some hope of a breakthrough, but the odds of success are low and the opportunity cost of me not attending to my company, TABS Analytics, is high,” Jetta said in a recent email to supporters.
Jetta put $250,000 of his own money into the campaign and said he received $114,000 in contributions. He pledged to refund donors.
“You did not invest in this campaign to see me quit so early in the process, so I will be putting in enough money to the campaign account so that you will receive your donation back by the end of the year,” Jetta told supporters. “While I don’t regret taking a run at this office, I am very disappointed that it will end like this, and I’m sorry to disappoint you, as well. Going forward, I will be dedicating my public service efforts to organizations that are addressing the opioid epidemic, the issue that propelled me into this campaign in the first place.”
Republican Derek A. Schwartz remains in the District 21 race. Frankel, first elected in 2012, won in 2016 with 62.7 percent of the vote to defeat Republican Paul Spain.