Steele\u2019s Cabinet haul is as much about the Primary as the General. He entered the race last month<\/a> and went on offense fast, lending his campaign $2.5 million \u2014 he had already sunk $5 million into a short-lived CFO bid \u2014 and launching a TV ad<\/a> titled \u201cForged.\u201d He is not alone in a crowded field. Former Hillsborough state Rep. Mike Beltran jumped in the same week, pledging at least $1 million of his own money and carrying his own roster of legislator endorsements; former White House staffer Bea Valenti, once a domestic policy adviser to Sen. Ashley Moody, is running; as are attorney Dan Weldon and 2024 nominee Rocky Rochford, among others.<\/p>\n The Cabinet officers leaned into Steele\u2019s conservative profile. Ingoglia called him \u201can America First Fighter,\u201d and Simpson said Steele was \u201cforged in Tampa, comes from humble roots, and is exactly the kind of MAGA conservative Florida needs.\u201d The trio adds to earlier support from Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister and Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco, reinforcing the law-enforcement theme Uthmeier stressed in praising Steele\u2019s record on prosecuting violent criminals and protecting parental rights.<\/p>\n Steele called the support humbling. \u201cTogether we\u2019re going to retire Kathy Castor, put an end to the political games she\u2019s played for twenty years, and give the families of Tampa Bay a Congressman who answers to them, not the swamp,\u201d he said. The Aug. 18 Primary winner will face Castor in November.<\/p>\n
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