A lone challenger has appeared to take on GOP U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds of Naples in the District 19 election.
Cape Coral Democrat Kari Lerner wants to unseat the two-term Republican incumbent.
Neither candidate was opposed in their respective primaries .
About U.S. Congressional District 19
Some 802,000 people live in the 674-square-mile majority-Republican district, which includes portions of Lee and Collier counties and stretches from north Cape Coral to the Ten Thousand Islands in Collier and includes Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero and barrier islands along both counties. The two-year job pays $174,000 annually.
It hasn’t elected a Democrat since incumbent Ted Deutch won in 2010, in a differently configured territory; before the most recent redistricting in 2014, it covered covered areas of West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. In 2012, Republican Trey Radel won the district, followed by fellow GOP members Curt Clawson and Francis Rooney.
Lerner is trying to change that, and points out she pulled off something similar up north: in New Hampshire’s conservative state District 4, she became the second Democrat elected to that seat in 120 years.