Republican prospects

The candidates are running for the Republican nomination in the BrowardPalm County congressional seat held for decades by Deutch, who isn’t seeking reelection, and his predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler. Six Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination to succeed Deutch.

The district leans Democratic, but with President

Joe Biden unpopular, and Republican voters wildly enthusiastic about DeSantis, Republican candidates and party leaders said they think 2022 could finally be the year to flip the district.

Congressional districts are changing this year to reflect population changes uncovered in the 2020 Census, and the Deutchheld seat is slightly reconfigured and has a new number, District 23.

The partisan voting index from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as D plus 5, which means it performed 5 points more Democratic than the nation during the past two presidential contests.

“This is a golden opportunity to not have a Democrat be your representative in Congress,” Budd said.

The debate at the Emma Lou Olson Civic Center in Pompano Beach was the first time all seven candidates appeared together in Broward County, said Broward’s state Republican committeewoman, Michele Merrell, who organized the event along with state committeeman Richard DeNapoli.

Budd and Pruden had the most support among the audience. Anyone attending was allowed to vote in a straw poll. Budd and Pruden tied with 39 votes. Swaffar received 18 votes and the other four others collectively had 25 votes.

Budd was the 2010 Republican nominee and Pruden was the 2020 Republican nominee for Congress, both losing to Deutch. Budd, twice elected by Palm Beach County Republican primary voters as the county’s state party committeeman, pointed to those successes.

Budd and Pruden both broke with a long-held belief by many Republicans that there shouldn’t be any limits on campaign spending.

Budd said he opposed the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, cheered by many Republicans, that removed limits on political spending. Pruden said he wanted limits on who can give to congressional candidates, initially saying he favored banning out-of-state contributions and then saying he wanted to ban contributions from people who don’t live in the district.