19th Congressional District candidates share views
In the race for the 19th Congressional District seat being vacated by Congressman Byron Donalds (R-Naples), GOP Primary victor and media executive Jim Schwartzel faces Democratic candidate and attorney Victor Arias.
Arias, a 65-year old Cape Coral attorney, says he believes he can win the race based upon people’s frustrations with the economy and President Donald Trump. “The leadership has been failing the people,” Arias said. “We need to stop fighting and intimidating each other and work together,”
Schwartzel, the 50-year-old owner of Sun Broadcasting, supports Trump’s policies on immigration and believes Amendment 3 will help drive his supporters to the ballot box.
A Lee County native, Schwartzel said “This place means the world to me. It’s given me a lot and now I want to serve it,” he said.
Immigration
The two candidates differ most widely on immigration. Schwartzel is a big fan of President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration, while Arias said Trump’s crackdown has split up families and mixed up people with documents, or who are awaiting finalized documents.
Schwartzel said he believes AI can assist the government with document issues. He said Trump’s immigration policies are “the single biggest success of Donald Trump.” Schwartzel called the cost of immigrant care a “catastrophe.” Schwartzel said the recent riots in France, which involved a large migrant population, is an example of the dangers of illegal immigration. “If you don’t know who is coming into your country and have porous borders, you are just setting yourself up for trouble. I realize there are some good people who came in but you have to do it the right way,” he said.
Arias said the crackdown on illegal immigration over the past two years has had an effect on families he has represented in court, families that have been split up. Arias said he is representing women who are going out and doing construction jobs now to make up for a loss of income from the father in the family being deported. “Most of the people being deported are men who haven’t had any brushes with the law. They are being deported and they are leaving behind their wives and children. So this is impacting everybody,” he said.
“They are just targeting everybody who has documents who are waiting to go before a judge. Their due process rights are being violated,” he said.
Arias said families are now going on public assistance due to the loss of the primary income earner. “You are dividing and separating the family,” he said. “The biggest impact is on the children and the mothers.”
Arias was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States as a child, growing up and attending college 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.
Schwartzel grew up in Fort Myers, attending Heights Elementary School. He graduated from Bishop Verot High School. Schwartzel grew up around the radio business with his father Joe, who ran Sun Broadcasting. While attending college at Stetson University, he worked in former Sen. Connie Mack’s Washington, D.C., office answering constituent mail and building databases to track how senators voted. He took over Sun Broadcasting from his father in 2011. He has since expanded the company from radio to television and news print. As head of Sun Broadcasting, he owns several radio stations, including 92.5 Fox News, Trump Country 93.7, and 96 K-Rock radio stations. Schwartzel’s television stations include WFTX-TV – FOX, WXCW-TV – CW (which includes WINK News), WUVF-TV – Univision, and WLZE – UniMas. He purchased Gulfshore Life Media in 2018 and started the Naples Press.
Environment
On the environment, Schwartzel said water issues are key. He wants to remove one of the man-made islands near the Sanibel Causeway, which he said is disrupting the estuary going into the Pine Island Sound. He is concerned about the rate of releases from Lake Okeechobee and for the health of the water in Estero Bay.
On the pace of development, Schwartzel said “You are not going to stop people from moving here.”
In Collier County, where environmental groups are concerned about major proposed development projects that are near the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Schwartzel said he has concerns. “I am concerned about the panther,” he said. “They have been endangered for as long as I have been alive.” Schwartzel said that panthers are endangered by vehicles, which are their top cause of death. “If you are putting more people closer to where panthers go, we will have issues,” Schwartzel said.
Arias said he is concerned about overbuilding, and cited the expansion of the Southwest Florida International Airport. “They are building too fast,” he said. “There is not a heck of a lot of planning because we are having problems with congestion on the roads.” Arias said that fast growth will lead to the need to build more costly roads and bridges.
The next congressman from Southwest Florida could have the ability to have a say on the environment at a time when President Donald Trump has been filing a number of executive orders which have threatened to overturn protections for endangered species and to speed up permits for projects that would encroach on federally protected wetlands.
Arias believes Trump’s environmental policies are eroding local rule over environmental protections.
“People are upset,” he said.
“We have to be better stewards (of the environment),” he said. “We have to have clean water, because we rely on it.”
Economy and war in Iran
Arias said his top issue is the economy. “The economy is not helping everybody,” Arias said. “There is too much suffering. Inflation has gone up, food is more expensive for everybody, and gas is a lot more expensive.”
Schwartzel said this region is in better shape than others. “I think we are in a better spot in Southwest Florida overall,” he said. “We are better off if we can get this war wrapped up and get fuel prices lower.”
Schwartzel was referring to the war with Iran, which led to increased gasoline prices after Iran blocked important shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, attacked oil tankers and its oil-producing neighbors. Schwartzel thinks Trump is navigating the war better of late. The U.S. has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz to allow shipments to go through though Iran continues to attack vessels passing through, and has continued to attack its neighbors. “I am hopeful,” Schwartzel said. Schwartzel said he is also hopeful that the war between Russia and Ukraine will end.
Schwartzel blamed the “hyperinflation from the Biden administration” as another hurdle to getting the economy on track.
Arias said he wants to end the war in Iran “as soon as possible” to lower gas prices, which he thinks will help the economy. “It’s becoming a logistical nightmare,” he said. He doesn’t think there was enough planning. Arias said he is running to “put money in people’s pockets” to help people struggling economically.
Arias believes that Trump is failing Ukraine in its defense against Russia, while waiving sanctions that the U.S. had on Russia exports. Ukraine, he said, “are not the ones who started the war. They are just defending themselves.”
The 19th Congressional District covers most of Lee and Collier counties, including Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Estero, Bonita Springs, Sanibel, Marco Island and Naples.
Data Centers
Arias recently took part in a press conference denouncing Donalds for accepting donations form companies tied to data centers. Arias appeared at the press conference with fellow Democrat Phillip Carter, a candidate for the State House seat occupied by Rep. Vanessa Oliver.
Arias said data centers are bad news for Floridians.
Arias warned of rising electricity costs due to the high use of electricity from the data centers, and expressed concern for the large amounts of water which would be needed. “Here in Florida, we rely on our water,” Arias said.
Arias said he doesn’t believe many people yet understand what data centers do.
“We really don’t understand what data centers are all about. We don’t really understand what A.I. is all about,” Arias said. “We still don’t know their purpose.”
Arias said he would vote for a moratorium of “at least one year” on data centers if elected to Congress.
Schwartzel said data centers “are critical for national security.” Schwartzel said data centers will provide “revolutionary help for health care” through the use of artificial intelligence to help doctors treat patients and identify health issues earlier. He said the data centers will “lead to much better care.”
Southwest Florida “might not be the right place” for data centers, Schwartzel said. He is concerned about the amount of energy they use. “I think they need to bring their own power to the table so they are not on the grid so not only are they not using any power we already generate for residents, it also doesn’t use the transmission lines. They also need to protect our water. They need to have systems that don’t use large amounts of water or they have recycling systems were the same amount of water through some type of cooling system o they are not just draining water.”
On the issue of government surveillance, which some are concerned the data centers will enable, Schwartzel compares the use of Flock Safety cameras to property appraiser websites that show a person’s home. “It’s an invasion of privacy,” he said.
Schwartzel said if a private community wants Flock Safety cameras or a private business wants them, “that’s fine” but said he objects to the widespread use of license plate readers by the government.
Arias is against the use of Flock Safety license plate readers.
“Good thing there was an outcry by the public against these cameras. Otherwise, we would still have them out there. When you have this information out there, it can be exploited and it was exploited,” Arias said.
Also running are Seth Haskin Candidate Connection, No Party Affiliation, and Alexandra Zakhvatayev, who is running as a No Party Affiliation write-in.
To reach NATHAN MAYBERG, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com