Florida House Majority Leader Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, formally announced his candidacy Wednesday for Florida’s 19th Congressional District, in Lee and Collier Counties.
U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, announced last month he will not be seeking a third term in 2020. Eagle’s announcement comes days after State Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, announced via Twitter that she will not be seeking the congressional seat.
Eagle was first elected to represent Cape Coral’s State House District 77 in 2012 and was reelected in 2016. He’ll be term limited out of the Florida House next year. In a written statement, Eagle said his priorities will include border security, protecting gun rights, water quality and jobs.
Eagle’s announcement explicitly aligns him with President Donald Trump, stating “I am running for Congress because the future of our nation is at stake, and I will not sit on the sidelines while our country, our Constitution, and our President are under attack.”
Eagle has served as Florida House Majority Leader since 2018 and prior to that appointment he served as House Majority Whip beginning in 2016.
Before holding elected office, Eagle served as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Governor, and then-Republican Charlie Crist. At that time Eagle was 24-years-old and the youngest person in Florida history to hold that high-level position in the executive branch.
Prior to serving in government, Eagle worked as a licensed real estate agent and commercial real estate broker in his hometown of Cape Coral.
Fellow Republican State Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, is also rumored to be considering a run for the Congressional seat U.S. Rep. Rooney will vacate next year.
