BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Former Western New York Congressman and Erie County Executive Chris Collins is running for Congress in Florida, he announced Friday.
Collins, who served the now-inactive 27th District from 2013-2019, resigned from Congress in October 2019 amid an insider trading scandal, which resulted in him pleading guilty to federal charges. He served a little more than two months of a 26-month sentence in prison before he was pardoned by President Donald Trump in December 2020.
Collins: Abbreviated federal prison sentence ‘was hell’
Before Congress, Collins, 75, served one term as Erie County Executive from 2008-2011. During his tenure, the county was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged repeated civil rights violations of inmates at county facilities. The DOJ and Erie County co-signed an agreement to dismiss the case in 2011.
“I was the first in Congress to endorse [Donald Trump],” Collins wrote in a social media post on Friday morning. “From DAY ONE, I had Trump’s back … I helped President Trump start the fight in 2016. I’m running for Congress to help him finish it.”
Florida’s 19th Congressional District, a Republican stronghold that includes Fort Myers, Naples and Marco Island, is having an open election. Byron Donalds, who has held the office since 2021, is not running for re-election as he focuses on running for governor. Also running for the congressional seat is former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn.
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