U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz drew no Republican opponent but Democrats Clint Curtis and Richard Thripp will face off in August. The winner of the Democratic Primary will challenge Waltz in November. Alan Grayson and John Nolan qualified as write-in candidates in this race.
Scroll down to read each candidate’s responses to News4Jax’s questionnaire, presented verbatim as submitted.
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| REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE |
Mike Waltz
Party affiliation: Republican (incumbent)
Campaign website: michaelwaltz.com
This candidate has not yet responded to our questionnaire.
| DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES |
Clint Curtis
Party affiliation: Democratic
Age: 62 in August
Candidate’s family: wife
Occupation: Government Corruption Attorney
Education: Doctorate (law)
Political experience: ran before in 2006 against Tom Feeney
What do you see as the top three issues in this race?
- Restoring America’s Values
- Ending government corruption, fraud, waste and lack of accountability.
- Ending poverty among senior citizens
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
Having been both a NASA programmer, a whistleblower and an attorney; I have an excellent grasp of the inequities in the system and the ways to correct them.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
I would like to be remembered as finally making elections fair and verifiable where every voter can be sure their vote was actually counted correctly. I would like to be remembered as a person who ended poverty among our senior citizens and who was willing to standup to make everyone's life better.
If elected how would you address the calls for racial justice?
In regards to lack of racial justice in policing is to develop proper oversight.
We need to require that every interaction with any person must be recorded by a working body cam. ANYTIME the cameras are intentionally turned off during an interaction, the officer will be permanently removed from the job.. ANY negative interaction that was not recorded will automatically trigger a federal review for federal civil rights violations. Officers who have defective equipment will be taken off duty until their equipment is replaced. All video of claims of negative interaction between the police and citizens will be made immediately available to ALL interested parties.
Both the police and the general population will behave better if they know their actions are publicly available.
We can not let a handful of bad apples destroy the police force or the public's confidence in it.
What challenges does COVID-19 present to the office you are seeking?
There would be no issues if we attacked the problem correctly. The coronavirus is an enemy like we haven't faced in over a century. Just a month ago there were 50 cases in the whole United States. Now we are approaching 2million cases and over 102,000 people have died. Worldwide 13% of the finished cases have resulted in death.
There have been many proposals to address this pandemic. Some are geared towards saving the economy even if it puts lives at risk, Others are geared to supplying cash assistance to individuals although that assistance is likely too small to provide any meaningful protection for our individual needs.
My name is Clint Curtis. I am an attorney and candidate for US Congress in Floridas 6th district. I would like to propose a solution that will both save the lives of the citizens of this country and our economy. In addition, my proposal will cost the taxpayers, the economy and the United States as a whole, a lot less.
Because we have not followed this plan we will need to make these things happen on a retroactive basis. Anything that fell behind will be erased. That should greatly help the bankruptcies that are now occurring and restore the job loss that has occurred.
I propose that during this crisis America hits the pause button on all individual and business obligations. All individuals who are not essential to providing services will be advised to stay at home. Everything you will need will be delivered to you or provided by volunteers. All bills for those individuals will not exist during this pause period. If you have 20 car payments left before the lockdown occurred, those same payments would renew once America is out of danger. There would be no defaults, no penalties, and no additional interest. It would be as if the lockdown period froze all obligations in time. The same would be true for all payments such as mortgage payments, credit cards or any other payment. During this pause, No one will be falling behind in any of their bills and no one would need to fear losing their job. The same will be true for all businesses. All of their debts will be paused without any penalties.
The government will be responsible for covering all costs associated with consumables such as food, electricity, gasoline, and medical. Any amount expended will never be chargeable to the individuals or the businesses. Since compensation will be paused also, all of those items which need to be purchased; will be purchased by the government at cost for distribution. The distribution channel will be through government volunteers. I am certain that American's will rally to help each other get through this pandemic.
This will allow all individuals to stay safe and eliminate the growing threat of covid19 fairly quickly. We should be able to wipe out this virus in less than three weeks. Most importantly, citizens will have the knowledge that they will not be made worse off than they were before the pandemic began. They will not lose their jobs, their houses, their cars or their lives. Businesses that must close their doors will be able to do so without fear of losing their businesses or incurring massive debt.
It will also allow us to have a plan if the virus starts back up in the fall.
A great man once said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. My proposal can remove most of the fear and uncertainty that this pandemic has caused today. If we can promote our government accept this proposal all of our lives will be the same or better than before the crisis began. All the businesses that existed before will exist when the pandemic is over. Once it is safe for American life to return to normal it will be as it was before.
Campaign website: www.clintcurtis.com/cc4congress2020
Campaign’s social media pages: (none listed)
Richard Thripp
Party affiliation: Democratic
Age: 28
Candidate’s family: Not notable
Occupation: Adjunct Faculty
Education: PhD in Education
Political experience: Neophyte
What do you see as the top three issues in this race?
- Change for the Many: Restore the American Dream for All Americans
- Protect and Expand Our Social Safety Nets: Social Security, Medicare, & Beyond
- Look to the Future: Fully Fund Education & a Green New Deal (A Bright Future for Our Kids)
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
I am well-organized and disciplined. I'm a published author and academic editor with an eye for details. I work well with others and get stuff done. I'll take the same skills and work ethic to Congress. I'm an advocate for hard-working Central Floridians. I've studied our government, and I've researched financial education and our economy.
I talk with Ambassador Nancy Soderberg regularly. I take advice from experts. I adjust course and apologize when I'm wrong. We need to expect this from our politicians!
I'm a local born and raised in Daytona Beach who actually knows the district, unlike the incumbent. I will put a district office in mid-town Daytona Beach to help our underserved communities there. We won't be hiding in an unmarked office building in DeLand like the incumbent. We will set a national example for constituent service!
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
Turning the tide on the climate crisis so kids and grandkids have an inhabitable earth. Restoring the American dream through progressive reforms such as universal healthcare and fully funding K–16 education.
If elected how would you address the calls for racial justice?
I will be a champion for racial justice. We need to do it comprehensively. People of color have the deck stacked against them from the beginning. In addition to overhauling the way we do policing, we need bold federal funding and action on items like healthcare, education, childcare, and housing. We need to fully staff and fund our IRS, close our $450 billion annual tax gap, repeal and replace the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, and end insane military campaigns. Wealth inequality is out of control in this country and has only gotten worse in the past few years. I support a universal basic income for all Americans (Andrew Yang's freedom dividend), which is a part of the 2016 Black Lives Matter platform.
What challenges does COVID-19 present to the office you are seeking?
COVID-19 is a wake-up call. We can't elect incompetent blowhards who lie, attack everyone, and treat a pandemic like a public relations problem. Politicians should not be for sale to the highest bidder. We need facts, truth, and expert advice, not division, hatred, and propaganda.
I would be doing big events, shaking hands, and meeting thousands of voters if COVID-19 didn't occur. We're a scrappy underdog campaign with enthusiastic volunteers all over the district and country. We've had to improvise with a big focus on social media, text banking, and contactless canvassing (items like door hangers).
We could have contained COVID-19 early if this administration would have listened to reason. Instead, it spread to every county and state, costing us trillions of dollars, tens of millions of jobs, and hundreds of thousands of American lives. Locking down our economy was a last-ditch maneuver. We didn't do it right, and it should never have been an unfunded mandate for our middle class and small businesses. When we needed leadership, we got abdication and destruction. I'm running for the congressional seat our failed excuse for a governor, Ron DeSantis, previously held. All of America, and Florida in particular, is now seen as pitiable, weak, and pathetic due to failed Republican leadership. We must never let this happen again!
Campaign website: www.thrippforcongress.com
Campaign’s social media pages: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram