Republican Candidate and retired CEO Curt Clawson won Trey Radel’s former seat in Congress Tuesday night.
Despite a low turnout, Clawson beat Democrat April Freeman with 67 percent of the vote.
His win was largely expected. Florida’s 19th congressional district, which includes Lee and Collier Counties, is solidly Republican.
Clawson told a crowded room of his supporters that his victory is unifying following a heated primary.
“After the primary on the 22nd of April, we said that one of our priorities was to bring back unity within our party in Southwest Florida,” he said. “I say tonight is a pretty good step in the right direction.”
The district has been without representation in the U.S House since late January when former Congressman Trey Radel resigned following a cocaine bust. Clawson said he's headed to Washington first thing this morning.
“I think that the House is in session,” he said. “So, I think there’s active votes. So, we need to get up and get educated as quickly as we can. We haven’t done too much of that because we didn’t want to act presumptuous in terms of the outcome. So, we got to get up there and get our feet on the ground as quickly as we can."
Clawson made a lot of money during his time in the private sector as the CEO of a major tire supplier. He spent millions of his own money on a pricey campaign, which included an ad during Super Bowl halftime.
