US Rep. Laurel Lee faces two Republican challengers for her House District 15 seat

Two Republican challengers will attempt to unseat Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Brandon, in a three-way race for the party's nomination in U.S. House District 15.

Former President Donald Trump called for Republicans to challenge Lee in March, after she supported Gov. Ron DeSantis' brief presidential campaign. Jennifer Barbosa, of Plant City, and James Judge, of Dade City, both stepped forward to present themselves as alternative candidates.

Trump reversed himself in June, issuing an endorsement for Lee on his social media platform.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Pat Kemp, who currently sits on the Hillsborough County Commission representing District 6. The primary winner does not need to obtain the majority of votes cast.

District 15 encompasses western Polk County, including Lakeland west of South Florida Avenue, along with parts of Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

Mail-in ballots have already been sent out to voters and may be requested through Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office through Aug. 8. Early, in-person voting will run Aug. 10-17, with the traditional precinct voting on Aug. 20. Only registered Republicans may cast a ballot in the U.S. House District 15 primary.

Here is an overview of the candidates:

Jennifer Barbosa

Barbosa is a paralegal from Plant City who filed to run for District 15 on April 24, two days before the qualifying deadline. She said she answered Trump's call for a challenger, and the district needs a strong Republican in office.

"I'm the kind of Republican who believes 2020 [election] was stolen, that Jan. 6 was a set up and the COVID lockdowns were a scam," she said. "Those are the things I want voters to know."

Born in Rhode Island, Barbosa said her family moved to Florida while she was a child and she grew up in St. Petersburg. One of her first jobs was working at her father's medical clinic in Lakeland. Barbosa graduated from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee before moving to Los Angeles.

In California, Barbosa ran for Congress as an Independent against Democratic incumbent Adam Schiff for House District 28. She lost in what's called a "jungle primary" with multiple challengers.

Barbosa said despite running on the ballot as an Independent, she's been a lifelong Republican.

"I was running in a district that doesn't have enough Republicans to win. There were enough Republicans to win a primary, but not a General Election," she said. "I figured I'd try something different. There were many more registered Independents than Republicans, so I decided to run as an Independent."

Barbosa said she identifies as an America First candidate who prioritizes strong border security and reduced involvement in overseas conflicts. She supports lower taxes for all Americans.

"I believe there will be another attempt [against Trump], there will be another election scam," she said. "We need representatives who realize when we are being hoaxed, scammed and speak up about it, who call for immediate investigations."

Barbosa criticized Lee for not calling for an immediate investigation into the attempted assassination against the former president. In recent days, Lee has been appointed to the Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump.

If Barbosa were to be elected to Congress, she said she's highly concerned about the spiking costs of homeowners insurance and flood insurance on Florida residents. She said she would support a set of companion bills that proposed tax breaks be provided to Florida residents who are required to purchase flood insurance.

"For older people on a fixed income, it's terrible and has stressed them out, scares them and has put some of them into debt," she said. "We can do something to help."

Barbosa proposed further investigations into whether the free market is operating properly in areas of property insurance and flood insurance, making sure there are no barriers preventing companies from entering Florida's market and offering competitive pricing.

Her endorsements include: Sheriff Richard Mack, founder and president of Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association; and Pastor Don Hazen, founder of United Pastors of America.

As of June 30, Barbosa reported raising more than $28,600 in donations with a little less than half coming from individual donors, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings.

James Judge

Judge, of Dade City, originally started his first political campaign to challenge incumbent Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-New Port Richey, in District 12 then switched his candidacy to challenge Lee.

"I would like a seat at the table to have a conversation," Judge said. "I'm frustrated with how things have been run. It's like an oligarchy. I would fire every Democrat and 190 Republicans."

A Clearwater native, Judge is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and owner of a public relations and marketing firm, Judge Public Relations.

The challenger enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard from 2003 to 2007, volunteering to go on three tours of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After the Coast Guard, Judge said he had the experience of serving as public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In 2010, Judge said he returned as a member of the U.S. Department of Defense's Civilian Expeditionary Workforce to serve at the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command under Gen. David Petraeus in Afghanistan. He acted as a spokesman for NATO and the Department of Defense.

Judge said his first real interaction with politics was working on Frank Hibbard's campaign to be reelected as Clearwater mayor, which he won by a landslide. In 2020, Judge decided to launch a podcast during the COVID pandemic, begging DeSantis not to go into lockdown, in part fearful for the survivability of his own business. He used this platform to question claims about COVID, including its death rate and restrictive measures being imposed.

"Part of why I'm running is my love of the truth and personal frustration with where we are at," he said.

Politically, Judge said he identifies as a Christian conservative who wants to get back to focusing on decent family values. He said he believes there's a need to secure the nation's southern border, restore law and order, balance the budget and stop runaway inflation.

Judge said he thinks Lee is not upholding conservative values based on rankings from various organizations such as Heritage Action for America, a conservative grassroots organizations that ranks representatives based on votes and sponsorships. Its scorecard currently ranks Lee at 71% in line with conservative values.

"If Republicans are looking for a true conservative, I'm the only candidate," he said. "I'm the only veteran. I know what's wrong with our federal government because I saw it firsthand."

His endorsements include the National Republican Liberty Caucus; Florida Faith Foundations; Community Patriots in Hillsborough; Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligross; Roger Stone, a political consultant and adviser to Trump; and the Born to Ride for 45 national motorcyclist club.

As of June 30, Judge reported raising more than $76,300 with the vast majority coming from individual donors.

Laurel Lee

Lee beat investigative TV journalist Alan Cohn, a Democrat, in November 2022, claiming nearly 59% of the vote to serve her first term representing House District 15. Now she seeks a second, two-year term.

Lee, Florida's former secretary of state, said she ran to focus her attention on a larger, national scale. Prior to serving in Congress, she grew up in a military family with her father as a two-star general in the U.S. Air Force and mother working as a public school teacher. Lee said she settled in the Tampa area after law school, where she has lived since with her husband, Tom. They have three children.

Previously, Lee was a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, investigating a wide range of white-collar and violent crimes. In 2013, she was appointed as a circuit court judge by then-Gov. Rick Scott, before being reelected to the position in 2014.

Lee said one of her proudest accomplishments in the past two years was seeing the Revising Existing Procedures on Reporting via Technology (REPORT) Act signed into law by President Joe Biden. The measure required websites and social media platforms to report federal trafficking with increased penalties for failure to report exploitative content.

"It fights against exploitation of children online by strengthening existing reporting procedures for child sex abuse and exploitation to law enforcement and The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," she said.

To her challengers' criticism of voting in favor of the $866 billion National Defense Authorization Act, Lee said she approved the bill because it provided critical support measures for the nation's military, including training and supplies.

"In the 15th Congressional District, there's a very large portion of the population that's active duty military and veterans, retired military members," she said. "Voting in support of the NDAA is very important for anyone who understands the needs and priorities of the 15th Congressional District."

Lee highlighted she voted against the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, even though it ultimately passed the House.

Earlier this week, Lee was appointed by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to the Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump. She said her experience as a former federal prosecutor will be useful in understanding the crime scene and getting to the bottom of what happened.

"It's important we quickly understand how this security failure happened and what can be done in the short term to bring about transparency and accountability so candidates on the campaign trail and others under professional Secret Service can be assured they will be kept safe," she said.

If reelected, Lee said she plans to continue fighting for economic issues to put the country back on the right path by cutting spending, reducing the national deficit and getting inflation under control. Assigned to the Homeland Security Committee, she said she plans to continue focusing on security at the southern border, with further work to develop legislation to help combat human trafficking.

As of June 30, Lee has the largest war chest with more than $1.6 million in campaign contributions, nearly $400,000 coming from individual donors, according to FEC filings. A few noteworthy local donors including Hoyt Barnett and his son, Wesley Barnett, of Publix Supermarkets; developer Wesley Beck of Aspyre Properties of Florida; and developer Gregory Fancelli. Her endorsements include DeSantis, Trump and U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio.