Florida 19th U.S. House Republican primary — Aug. 18

Six of the 10 Republicans have served in or run for Congress in another state. The seat is open because Rep. Byron Donalds is running for governor; Trump carried the district by 30 points in 2024, putting the GOP nominee in an overwhelming position for November.

ContextThe official field. Florida lists 10 qualified Republicans: Greg “Tex” Bukowski, Madison Cawthorn, Chris Collins, Ola Hawatmeh, Catalina Lauf, Jim Oberweis, Mike Pedersen, Linda J. Sawyer, Jim Schwartzel and John Strand. Florida Division of Elections Why the field is unusually outsider-heavy. CNN identifies six candidates with congressional histories elsewhere: former Reps. Cawthorn (North Carolina) and Collins (New York), former Illinois candidates Oberweis and Lauf, former New York candidate Hawatmeh and former Michigan candidate Sawyer. Two candidates to know. CNN describes Schwartzel as a lifelong local resident and owner of Southwest Florida television and radio stations. Lauf co-founded a health startup, was appointed by Trump as a Commerce Department adviser in 2018 and previously ran for Congress twice in Illinois.