Tag: Gaetz

Gaetz, Boebert and Biggs raised big bucks off their opposition to McCarthy

[ad_1]

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo), who spent several thousand dollars on Facebook ads in January that touted the Speaker fight as having “fundamentally changed the direction of our country,” reported more than $760,000 in first-quarter receipts. That included just shy of $270,000 from small-dollar donors and $95,000 through a joint fundraising committee. The speaker fight produced several days of above-average fundraising for Boebert in January, although her top fundraising days came later in the quarter.
It’s not rare for each party’s more incendiary members to also be their most prolific fundraisers. In the age of grassroots giving, appeals to the base can generate big bucks. Less common, however, is for lawmakers to organize those appeals around direct challenges to their own party’s leadership.
The effort to capitalize on the Speaker race was not without cost, both reputational and financial. The trio burned through cash at a higher rate than most candidates in the first quarter, a POLITICO analysis found.
The Gaetz campaign spent more than $490,000 over the course of the quarter, including more than $100,000 on fundraising expenses, according to his filing. He still had more than $700,000 left in the bank due to cash left over from his 2022 campaign. In response to questions from POLITICO about the link between the Speaker battle and fundraising, Gaetz defended his fight against McCarthy’s ascension, saying that he started “firing back” after “shadow groups” peppered his district with calls asking him to support the California Republican.
Biggs’ campaign spent $168,000 over the period, including $53,000 on list rentals — a common fundraising expense — as well as $38,000 on direct mail and $14,000 on fundraising consulting.
Boebert’s campaign also spent more than $500,000 over the quarter, with direct mail, digital advertising and fundraising consulting as her biggest expenses. The Colorado Republican, who won reelection in 2022 by fewer than 600 votes, was one of the few lawmakers who opposed McCarthy’s ascension who faces a potentially competitive election in 2024. Boebert was outraised in the first quarter by Democratic challenger Adam Frisch. She did not address questions from POLITICO about whether the Speaker fight drove fundraising but said in a statement that there was “no doubt Democrats will raise more and spend more to try and steal” her seat.
While McCarthy was ultimately elected to the speakership on the 15th ballot, the fundraising successes of those lawmakers who opposed him along the way, underscore just how tenuous his hold on the majority actually is. The insight into fundraising comes as the House GOP faces new internal conflict with a high-stakes standoff over the debt ceiling approaching, where McCarthy once again will need to keep nearly all of the members of his caucus in line.
[ad_2]
#Gaetz #Boebert #Biggs #raised #big #bucks #opposition #McCarthy
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 18, 2023
Matt Gaetz had a hell of a month. What’s next for the Florida Republican?

[ad_1]

So what’s next for the congressman with a seemingly endless capacity for drawing attention?
Several colleagues and those in Florida Republican circles anticipate Gaetz could run for governor of the Sunshine State in 2026 after Gov. Ron DeSantis leaves office. DeSantis is expected to run for the White House in 2024.
GOP state Rep. Alex Andrade said this week’s news that Gaetz won’t face federal charges is “as close to vindicated to a politician can be” and, along with Gaetz’s recent tangle with McCarthy, could make him a formidable foe in a contested Florida GOP gubernatorial primary.
“His ability to win a larger primary I think is as strong as anyone,” Andrade said. “I think he’s a serious candidate for any Republican primary for any race he wants to get into.”
It would be an impressive turnaround for the 40-year-old Republican, who just a year ago was facing a barrage of salacious headlines. Gaetz, who denied wrongdoing throughout the probe, now has key positions in the GOP-controlled House and could take advantage of Florida’s seeming transformation into a red state — all fuel for him if he seeks higher office.
Gaetz on Thursday declined to comment on his political future.
Some of the calculus depends also on what DeSantis will do. The Florida governor is widely expected to announce that he’s running for president in the spring, and one former Republican lawmaker familiar with Gaetz’s thinking predicted that if DeSantis becomes president, current Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez would finish out his term and run unopposed. But that path changes if DeSantis remains governor and other statewide elected Republicans run to succeed him.
“If DeSantis finishes his term, you can imagine one or multiple current [Florida] Cabinet members in a crowded primary, or you can imagine an anointing,” said the Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the dynamics of the race. “Either way, it’s not hard to see how Gaetz comes out of the primary.”

While Gaetz was once part of DeSantis’s inner circle and served on his transition team before his first term, he has endorsed Trump in the 2024 race.
The serious allegations against Gaetz — centering on whether he had sex with a minor — could play a pivotal role in any future statewide campaign. But the accusations didn’t stop voters in his district from giving him another overwhelming victory in 2022 even though his GOP primary opponent aired television ads in northwest Florida about the allegations.
But 2026 is still far away. For now, Gaetz remains an energized member of the House’s slim majority.
Gaetz was critical to McCarthy’s ascent to speaker — even though he didn’t vote for him. After helping deny the California Republican the gavel through a historic 14 rounds of voting, including almost coming to blows with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Gaetz and his five allied holdouts all voted “present” on the 15th round. That allowed McCarthy to secure enough votes to win the speakership with just 216 votes, without Gaetz technically voting for McCarthy.
That vote came after McCarthy had agreed to many of the concessions Gaetz and his group of hardliners asked for, including the ability for any one member to try to oust the speaker, which the Florida Republican compared to a “straitjacket” to the speakership.
Despite nearly thwarting McCarthy’s dreams of becoming speaker, Gaetz has seen his stock in the House rise.
In addition to Gaetz keeping his seat on the high-profile Judiciary Committee, he also secured a spot on a subcommittee that will probe Republicans’ claims of a government weaponized against conservatives. The panel, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), will lead a sweeping probe into some of the party’s favorite targets, including the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence community. That perch will undoubtably provide Gaetz a steady stream of publicity.
“I think Kevin McCarthy won and I think Matt Gaetz won,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who is friends with Gaetz.
Burchett added: “I feel like his role has increased.”
John Roberts, chair of the Escambia County Republican Party, said that some GOP members in Gaetz’s home district were “upset” about Gaetz’s opposition to McCarthy and “weren’t happy with the name-calling.”
Roberts, however, predicted the storm would pass and Gaetz could always stick hang around in Congress if he decides against running for higher office.
“It’s a strong safe Republican seat,” Roberts said. “I think he could hold it for a long time if he chooses.”
Matt Dixon contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
#Matt #Gaetz #hell #month #Whats #Florida #Republican
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 17, 2023
DOJ won’t charge Gaetz in sex trafficking probe, lawmaker’s office says
[ad_1]
Gaetz’s congressional office on Wednesday also said that the DOJ confirmed to his attorneys that authorities have completed their probe and won’t charge Gaetz with any crime.
The news was first reported by CNN. POLITICO reported in September that the DOJ’s investigation was winding down and that prosecutors weren’t likely to file charges against Gaetz.
Officials at the DOJ declined to comment.
```
Speaking Wednesday night on “System Update,” a program hosted on video platform Rumble by Glenn Greenwald, Gaetz said the DOJ’s decision isn’t a surprise but is certainly welcome.
```
“While the two years haven’t been the most comfortable of my life, I have been very focused on my work here in Congress representing my constituents and never really looking past the task at hand,” Gaetz said.
Federal prosecutors and the FBI began investigating Gaetz in late 2020 during the Trump administration over potential sex trafficking crimes related to allegations he’d paid women for sex and traveled overseas on at least one occasion to parties attended by teenagers who were not yet 18.
Federal authorities also looked into whether Gaetz had obstructed justice due to a call Gaetz and the lawmaker’s girlfriend had with a witness. Exact details of that phone call are unknown.
Gaetz repeatedly denied having sex with anyone who was underage.
Gaetz has been a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and frequented appeared on conservative media to defend the president. His national profile grew even more this year when he was part of a group of conservative Republicans who refused to back GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker. In one notable moment, another Republican confronted Gaetz on the House floor and had to be held back by fellow members.

The investigation into Gaetz came in the aftermath of federal authorities charging Joel Greenberg, a Florida county tax collector who once was close friends with Gaetz. Greenberg was sentenced in December to 11 years in prison.
He had been charged initially with more than two dozen criminal counts, but in May 2021 he pled guilty to six — including sex trafficking and fraud — in exchange for his cooperation in multiple cases, including the probe in into Gaetz.
Greenberg’s sentencing was delayed multiple times as he cooperated with authorities.
[ad_2]
#DOJ #wont #charge #Gaetz #sex #trafficking #probe #lawmakers #office
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
February 16, 2023