{"id":365705,"date":"2026-08-07T23:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/365705\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:06:08","slug":"hillsborough-republicans-vie-to-try-to-defeat-kathy-castor-after-20-years-in-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/365705\/","title":{"rendered":"Hillsborough Republicans vie to try to defeat Kathy Castor after 20 years in Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Former GOP state Rep. Mike Beltran speaking in Plant City on Aug. 4, 2026. Credit: Mitch Perry\/Florida Phoenix<\/a><\/p>\n

Among the congressional districts Florida Republicans most ardently hope to flip this year after they approved a highly partisan redistricting map is the 14th District, which Democrat Kathy Castor has held for two decades.<\/p>\n

Eight Republicans filed to run for the dramatically reconfigured seat in the Aug. 18 primary, including Mike Beltran, who represented parts of the district in the Florida House from 2018-2024, and Kevin Steele, who has represented a state House district in Pasco County since 2022.<\/p>\n

Castor won the seat by 15 points in 2024. As redrawn by Gov. Ron DeSantis this spring, its population voted by more than 10 points for Donald Trump that same year.<\/p>\n

While Florida Republicans believe redrawing the district to make it much more GOP-leaning should guarantee them the seat, not everyone looks at it that way. One of the nation\u2019s most respected political analysis websites,\u00a0Sabato\u2019s Crystal Ball<\/a>, last week moved the CD 14 race from leaning Republican to a \u201ctoss-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative true believer<\/p>\n

Beltran is a hardline conservative who would prefer Florida banned all abortions, instead of the existing six-week ban. He says that if elected to Congress he\u2019d push for a constitutional amendment \u201cto end birth tourism and anchor babies.\u201d<\/p>\n

An attorney originally from New York City, Beltran was never afraid to challenge Gov. DeSantis or GOP leadership during his six years in Tallahassee. In 2023, he filed an amendment to push for the open carrying of firearms, but withdrew it after the House speaker and Senate president opposed it (that ban on open carry was found\u00a0unconstitutional<\/a>\u00a0by a state appeals court in 2025).<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also emphasizing his bona fides as a true representative of the district, which has been torn up to remove all parts of Pinellas County and significant areas of Tampa, as well. It now encompasses parts of South Tampa, extends east to the Polk County line and south to the Manatee County line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deserve somebody from East Hillsborough who\u2019s represented East Hillsborough. Won elections in East Hillsborough. And with a track record of representing this community so that we can win in November,\u201d Beltran told an audience at an event hosted by the Plant City Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n

That was a dig at Steele, who has represented Pasco County for the past four years in the Florida House.<\/p>\n

While Beltran has received several big endorsements, Steele is the preferred choice of the Republican Party of Florida establishment, including all three Cabinet members \u2014 Wilton Simpson, Blaise Ingoglia, and James Uthmeier.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also one of the wealthiest members of the Florida Legislature. A former health care tech executive, he founded the software company DataLink in 2021 and retired after selling it to a private equity firm in 2022. He listed his\u00a0net worth<\/a>\u00a0at more than $156 million at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Plant City Tuesday, he said he was motivated to run for public office because he saw Gov. DeSantis \u201cget beat up\u201d during the COVID-19 crisis as \u201cnobody stood by his side.\u201d He added that during the pandemic, when the COVID vaccine was made available, \u201cthe feds\u201d were going to provide it to his employees, with a mandate that they must be at his company\u2019s office to receive it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that day, every single one of my employees worked from home. Because I was not going to mandate that my employees take the COVID shot,\u201d he said to scattered applause. \u201dYou can either stand for something or stand for nothing at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emphasizing Hillsborough roots<\/p>\n

Among the legislation Steele passed while in the House was\u00a0a property rights bill<\/a>\u00a0creating a process for removal of squatters on real property.<\/p>\n

Steele has emphasized that he grew up as a Hillsborough County resident and attended Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida. But he has lived in Dade City and represented that portion of Pasco County in the Florida House since he was elected in 2022, prompting some of his opponents to emphasize their more direct connection to the community.<\/p>\n

Steele told the Phoenix this week that he does\u00a0own a residence in Hillsborough County<\/a>\u00a0and voter registration records show he is registered to vote there. Yet he continued to represent a part of Pasco in House District 56, before resigning from his seat on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Another try<\/p>\n

The only candidate in the race who\u2019s run against Castor is Rocky Rochford, a retired U.S. Navy captain who served for more than 33 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been there, done that,\u201d he says of his 2024 race against the Tampa Democrat, which he lost by double digits. He jokes that Ron DeSantis is now on his Christmas Card list \u201cforever\u201d after the governor\u2019s office drew up the district to make it a Trump +11 seat.<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019s totally prepared to take office and has drafted more than 40 bills he is prepared to file if elected. Those include separate \u201cbill of rights\u201d proposals for children and seniors.<\/p>\n

And, he promises, \u201cI came up with the solution to fix Social Security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navy reservist<\/p>\n

The only female in the race is Bea Valenti, a Navy reservist proud of her work as an intern and later staffer in the first Trump White House. She also has worked as a legislative assistant for Mississippi U.S. Rep Mike Ezell and North Florida U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn before becoming a senior domestic policy adviser for U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody.<\/p>\n

She too, referenced the COVID pandemic in her comments in Plant City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI refused the vaccine as an active-duty person, because of what they were doing to our troops,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was the beginning of my career, and I had a lot to lose, but not like our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

She worked with Dunn on\u00a0The TROOP Act<\/a>, which would have required military departments to reinstate individuals removed from their ranks because they refused the COVID vaccine (the measure did not pass).<\/p>\n

She referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci\u2019s invocation of the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a Senate hearing on the origins and handling of the pandemic. Fauci led the country\u2019s COVID response and headed President Trump\u2019s White House Coronavirus Task Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cY\u2019all see [Anthony] Fauci this week?\u201d she asked the crowd. \u201c\u2019I plead the Fifth. I plead the Fifth. I plead the Fifth.\u2019 It\u2019s treason what that man has done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valenti referenced several policy items she worked on while serving on Capitol Hill, and said she was the only candidate who already has the \u201con-the-job training\u201d to serve immediately if elected.<\/p>\n

The other Republicans in the race include Michael Marcel, John Peters, Gavriel E. Soriano, and Ergin \u201cBatman\u201d Tek.<\/p>\n

Florida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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