Republican Casey Askar faces Democrat Pia Dandiya in the U.S. House race in Florida's 22nd Congressional District.
The redrawn district shifts west and to the south from its former coastal Palm Beach County configuration and encompasses four counties, including inland Palm Beach County, Hendry County, part of Broward County and Hendry and Collier counties.
Dandiya won the Democratic primary in August over Kasiya Earley. Askar defeated Michael Carbonara and five other challengers in the Republican Primary.
The general election is Nov. 3.
What does the office do, what does it control?
The U.S. House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, working with the Senate to create federal laws and provides oversight over government spending.
District map
Why this race matters
The winner will succeed incumbent Lois Frankel,
who is seeking election in the Palm Beach County-centered U.S. House race for Florida Congressional District 23. The race could help determine whether Republicans will maintain a majority in the chamber, or Democrats will take control for the first time in four years.
Candidate bios
Pia Dandiya
∎ Age: 39
∎ Occupation: Dandiya, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, is currently working fulltime on her campaign. She previously has worked in public service, education and technology.
∎ Education: Masters of Education, Boston University; B.A. in Government, Harvard University
∎ Incumbent or challenger: Dandiya is seeking her first term in the U.S. House. She has never held public office.
∎ Campaign websites: piaforcongress.com
∎ Top three campaign priorities:
- Bring down what it costs to live Property insurance and housing are the two bills driving people out of Florida, and both are within Congress’s reach — through reinsurance, flood-risk reduction and housing supply. cap prescription costs, make childcare affordable, and end the tariffs raising prices at the register.
- Dandiya said she will oppose cutting into Social Security benefits or raising the retirement age, reverse the Medicaid cuts, and defend Medicare. The fairest way to keep these programs strong is to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share, she said.
- Dandiya, a longtime educator, said she will support full funding for public schools, real support for teachers, universal pre-K, and apprenticeships for young people who are not headed to a four-year degree.
∎ Why should people vote for you: Dandiya said she has spent her career helping people expand their opportunities and achieve economic independence. "The measure of that is not a slogan: at the school I founded, eighty-six percent of my students lived below the poverty line and all of them earned admission to college.
My opponent’s record is a business record, and it is the part of his career he talks about least. It includesa federal wage lawsuit brought by hourly employees, a Federal Election Commission matter in which theCommission found reason to believe his campaign filed incomplete and inaccurate reports, a contemptfinding against one of his companies, and a lawsuit from a widow denied her husband’s life insurancebenefits."
"Voters are entitled to ask which of those two records is the better preparation for representing them."
∎ Community involvement and service: She worked as an intern for then-U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. She served on the Democratic National Convention’s Women’s Executive Network and on the White House Fellows AlumniBoard. While at Apple, she was appointed by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to serve on a state board.
∎ Experience that prepared her for office: As a principal, she led a low-income school where every graduate earned admission to college. "Working with those students and ensuring that they could achieve economic mobility shaped how I approach leadership, focused on outcomes and accountability. A principal is accountable in a way few jobs are: the results are public, they arrive every year, and there is nobody else to blame."
"Serving inside the federal government showed me how a policy becomes a rule and how a rule reaches,or fails to reach, a family — and serving under administrations of both parties is why I don’t believe theother side is the enemy."
∎ What she hears from voters: "The problems I hear about most in this district don’t belong to one party," Danidiya said. "Property insurance, hurricane and flood resilience, the cost of prescription drugs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, restoring the Everglades, and expanding apprenticeships and job training all affect every family here regardless of how they vote — and those are exactly the areas where I’d look to build partnerships first."
Casey Askar
∎ Age: 57
∎ Occupation: Askar, who lives in Naples, is chairman and founder of Askar Brands' Askar Management Group, LLC, a multi-brand franchise management and restaurant operating company with its corporate office in Commerce Township, Michigan, and a regional office in Naples.
∎ Incumbent or challenger: Askar is seeking his first term in the U.S. House. He has not held public office before.
∎ Campaign websites: caseyaskar.com
∎ Top three campaign priorities: Askar did not respond to a questionnaire from The Palm Beach Post. In a sit-down interview with the Fort Myers News-Press and the Naples Daily News, Askar, a Naples resident, stated that his top priorities are:
1. Addressing the economy and Florida's insurance costs
2. Working with private engineers and the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that projects in the Everglades are completed
3. Investigating in infrastructure to promote growth across Florida.
Key differences/issues
The candidates have most notably clashed over healthcare, with Askar saying on his campaign website he wants to end the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, "once and for all" and replace it "a vehicle that works for All Americans." Dandiya said she wants to preserve the ACA, arguing that ending it could negatively impact hundreds of thousands of Floridians.
Campaign money and endorsements
Dandiya's endorsements include District 22 incumbent U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James and former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg. Askar's campaign page lists endorsements from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn.
Election dates to know
∎ Oct. 19-Nov. 1: Early voting. For early voting sites, go here
∎ Oct. 22 (5 p.m.): Deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot
∎ Nov. 3: General Election (polls open 7 a.m.-7 p.m.)
∎ Nov. 3 (7 p.m.): Vote-by-mail ballots due at Supervisor of Elections headquarters
Go to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website at VotePalmBeach.gov for all voting information.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Two political newcomers vie for U.S. House District 22 in Florida
