Cape attorney wins Democratic congressional primary
Democrat Victor Arias and Republican Jim Schwartzel won the primaries of their respective parties in the election on Aug. 18 to advance to the November general election, which will determine who succeeds Congressman Byron Donalds.
District 19 represents most of Lee and Collier counties.
Donalds is vacating his seat to run for governor as the Republican nominee.
Schwartzel bested a crowded field of 10 candidates in capturing 29% of the Republican vote in Lee County and Collier County. Schwartzel received 26,140 votes, topping runner-up Catalina Lauf (22%) by more than 6,000 votes.
Lauf had served in the administration of President Donald Trump’s first term. Jim Oberweis, a former state senator from Illinois, finished third.
Arias, a Cape Coral attorney, won the Democratic primary with 45% of the Democratic electorate in Lee County and Collier County, defeating Howard Sapp (41%) and Robert Neeld (13%). Arias received 15,406 votes, nearly 1,500 more votes than Sapp.
Also running are Seth Haskin, No Party Affiliation, and Cape resident Alexandra Zakhvatayev, who is running as a write-in candidate.
JIM SCHWARTZEL
Schwartzel owns several radio stations, including 92.5 Fox News, Trump Country 93.7 and 96 K-Rock. He owns and operates Fox 4 television station and a Univision affiliate. He also owns and operates Gulfshore Life Media and the Naples Press.
“I did this for our community. It’s the community I was born and raised in,” Schwartzel said. “I am completely invested in the community. My entire family is here.”
Schwartzel said he was up against “$15 million raised” by some of his opponents.
“I was able to overcome it,” he said.
Schwartzel said he wants to pass the Save America Act and to “keep up with deporting illegals.”
Transportation and infrastructure are critical for Southwest Florida, he said.
“We also need a septic-to-sewer conversion,” Schwartzel said. “To protect our estuaries and waterways.”
He said he also wants to spearhead a new interstate bypass that would go from State Road 29 on Alligator Alley through Immokalee, and then down State Road 82 “to move some of the traffic that is bypassing our area, especially the freight traffic that is going to Miami, and Miami to Tampa, and moving it to a separate interstate so it is not going through I-75.”
A proposal several years ago for a new bypass through Florida that was being considered by Gov. Ron DeSantis was shelved after opposition from environmental groups concerned about the impacts to the endangered Florida panther and the environment.
Schwartzel said “the roads are already there. Just like we are doing with 41 down in the Everglades, you could raise substantial portions of it.” He said he believes the interstate could be elevated in wildlife corridors.
“It will create more affordable housing because it will connect our inland communities, like Immokalee and Lehigh Acres, to an interstate where they can get closer to the jobs where they are located,” Schwartzel said.
He said there has to be a balance with those concerned about the pace of development and those looking to develop projects in the region.
“Development is also the source of (most) of the jobs in Southwest Florida,” Schwartzel said. “If you work in construction or if you work for many of the businesses, those are those people’s lives. You have a lot of people who are involved in that part of the business.”
He said it is up to the county commissions to set zoning standards to protect the environment.
Schwartzel grew up in Fort Myers, attending Heights Elementary, Fort Myers Middle School and graduated from Bishop Verot High School.
VICTOR ARIAS
Arias, who once served as an attorney for the School District of Lee County, knows his task will be difficult with the Republican Party registration advantage in the district.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he said. “The most important thing is for this county to unite. We are not getting the job done.”
Arias said his top issue is the economy.
“The economy is not helping everybody,” he said. “There is too much suffering. That is going to impact this area because we rely on tourism.”
Arias said his other main issues are water quality and the environment.
“We have to be better stewards” of the environment, he said. “Clean water is a huge issue for us.”
Arias said he would support legislation to put more money in the pockets of workers, and would work on bringing down the prices of groceries and gasoline.
Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York, he moved to Southwest Florida in 1999 to work for the School District of Lee County.
Arias has operated his own law firm in Cape Coral since 2003.
He will have to overcome a steep Republican voter advantage in the district. Republicans outnumber Democrats in Lee County with 246,379 registered voters, compared to 106,664 registered Democrats. There are 144,246 voters who are aligned with other parties or who are independents. In Collier County, Republicans hold an even larger advantage with 145,571 registered Republicans and 50,460 registered Democrats.
The 19th Congressional District covers Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Estero, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach, Marco Island, Sanibel and Captiva, and Naples.
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