Christmas is just around the corner and as American politicians campaign for president in early voting and caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire, Florida Senate Leader Pro Tempore Jason Pizzo was in Israel assessing the death and destruction left behind by Hamas terrorists, and ducking to safety as missiles rained down over Tel Aviv.
Sen. Pizzo had just finished is listening tour of universities and colleges around the state of Florida.
According to Senator Pizzo’s accounting of his past week in Israel on “X,” he arrived over the weekend and visited survivors of the Kibbutz Be’eri, a community that saw more than 100 of its residents murdered during the October 7 terrorist attack, and then heard Israel Defense Forces tanks firing rounds “almost every minute” into Hamas-controlled sections of the Gaza Strip.
In addition, Pizzo met with the family of Hersch Goldberg-Polin, who was severely injured during the attack and still suspected of being held hostage in Gaza.
The victims of the Nova Music Festival, in Re’im. pic.twitter.com/OXyhZtxv6Y
— Sen. Jason Pizzo (@senpizzo) December 20, 2023
Goldberg-Polin had his left arm partially blown off after Hamas terrorists threw hand grenades into the bomb shelter he and others were hiding in.
Pizzo was able to see the destruction left behind by the Hamas attack, but when he had to “shelter” in a stairwell of an apartment building in Tel Aviv, the reality of where he was probably really sunk in.
The missile(s) that Pizzo sought shelter from were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
Pizzo, who is a pro-business centrist Democrat, is widely perceived as a potential, perhaps even probable, 2026 Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Kibbutz Be’eri pic.twitter.com/ghXS44V1fl
— Sen. Jason Pizzo (@senpizzo) December 20, 2023
Would Pizzo’s trip abroad be a subtle move or very, very soft launch of a gubernatorial exploratory campaign?
From the looks of it, if Pizzo were to run for governor in 2026, his candidacy could prove problematic for Republicans considering that Pizzo would be able to all-but clear any potential field of Democratic gubernatorial candidates because of the money he has, and the potential cash he could raise.
Keep in mind that he cannot be painted as a radical Leftist like former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who Republicans easily swaddled in a Democratic Socialist blanket and stuck a fork in him.
But even though Gillum was effectively labeled as a Socialist, he still narrowly lost to now-Governor Ron DeSantis.
A Pizzo vs. Any Republican nominee could a fight Florida Republicans may not want to welcome in 2026
