MIAMI – Internet personality and retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Phil Ehr has announced his candidacy for Florida’s 28th Congressional District in the 2026 gubernatorial elections, aiming to unseat Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez and help Democrats regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In an interview with The Floridian, Ehr criticized Gimenez as being out of touch with his constituents and issues in South Florida.
“Where is he on issues that are relevant to a neighborhood in Miami Dade, there's having overdevelopment being pushed out? Where is he on transportation in Kendall? Where is he on water quality in the Florida Bay?” Ehr said. “He's nowhere to be seen on things that matter. Where is he on the cuts — the irresponsible cuts — to NOAA and the Weather Service and our safety and hurricane, on FEMA, on and on and on.”
Ehr also sought to distance himself from the national Democratic Party, emphasizing a centrist platform rather than aligning with the far left.
“I ran last time with a centrist attitude. And I will point as evidence to that one of my premier points that I wanted to talk about and that I campaigned on, was that we want to stop all illegal border crossings and enforce rational immigration laws. That's what people want. But it was not enough to overcome the D by my name for the average voter. So, I recognize that the Democratic brand is tarnished.” he stated.
Ehr took aim at Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott as well, accusing him of using his brief military service for political gain. He said he’s “witnessed people like Rick Scott, who wears this navy cap on — 'I'm Navy.' You know, he served one little term. I served a little bit more than that — 26 years active duty. He's sitting down at some rallies going ‘communist, communist, socialist’ — pointing at me and other people.”
He finished the interview by condemning President Donald Trump’s response to the riots in Los Angeles, saying it was politically motivated and divisive.
What the president has done is he's inflamed the situation because of his ego in wanting to pick a fight with that leftist state. Ehr said. That's wrong. And he's not picking the same fight in the state of Florida… It's because he's picking and choosing. He's wanting to inflame our national discourse.”
