Arias, Cape Coral attorney, wins Democratic congressional primary
Schwartzel takes Republican primary; two to face off in District 19 in General Election
Democrat Victor Arias and Republican Jim Schwartzel won the primaries of their respective parties on Tuesday to advance to the November 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, who runs several media companies in Southwest Florida, 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.
Schwartzel could not be reached for comment.
In a statement posted by his campaign on social media, Schwartzel said “We had a hard-fought, spirited primary but now it is time to unite our party and turn our focus to November and beyond. I am ready to get to work supporting President Trump and his America First agenda and delivering results for Southwest Florida.”
Schwartzel owns several radio stations, including 92.5 Fox News. He owns and operates Gulfshore Life Media, and the Naples Press.
Arias 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.
Arias, a Cape Coral attorney 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,” Arias 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,” Arias 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, Arias moved to Southwest Florida in 1999 to work for the School District of Lee County.
He has operated his own law firm in Cape Coral since 2003.
Arias 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 Naples.