The Democratic Party's political campaign machine has kicked into high gear, as the House Majority PAC (HMP) has just made a whopping $9.7 million advertising buy in support of Progressive congressional candidate Pia Dandiya, but mainly against Republican congressional candidate Casey Askar in Florida's highly contested 22nd District.
Dandiya, a millionaire lobbyist and former teacher who crushed her Democratic primary opponent, left the race unscathed, while Askar, another millionaire, fought a bruising primary but still defeated his opponent by 13 percentage points.
While Askar self-funded his primary campaign, Dandiya raised a bunch of cash, but still personally dropped in a pretty penny to help raise her fundraising totals.
We expected this race to get ugly. Very ugly.
Dandiya and HMP are already hitting Askar over some alleged business lawsuits, calling him "shady." Askar has, in turn, started to define Dandiya as being a pro-tax, anti-middle-class tax cut candidate.
Dandiya recently came out against middle-class tax cuts and the child tax credit, and is against the current property tax cut proposal in Florida.
National Republicans and Dandiya are running against Askar on the back of the anti-Trump sentiment.
So the line of attack against Askar is Trump and that he is "shady."
Outside groups have already begun to hit Dandiya, calling her a "hypocrite" for saying she is against Data Centers and military use of force, while being heavily invested in AI data centers and owning stock in military contracting companies like Palantir and Honeywell. Dandiya has invested in an EFT exclusively invested in Communist Chinese-owned or operated companies.
Dandiya's husband worked for a company that bought one of the biggest data center companies. She still owns stock in that company.
The one issue Democrats will have a hard time negotiating around is the fact that a large faction of their base of support is in line with or somehow tied to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
According to just about every poll out there, having any tie, direct or indirect, to the DSA is the kiss of death.
Dandiya has yet to denounce Florida Democratic Senatorial nominee Angie Nixon's DSA background and support for defunding the police. Dandiya has also expressed her distaste for federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Immigration reform and enforcement rank among the top 3 issues that Americans polled support.
In addition, Dandiya may hit a wall with voters on the election integrity issue. Dandiya is currently registered to vote in both Florida and Illinois. Dandiya is registered to vote in Chicago.
Again, hits on Askar will be about Trump and some lawsuits he and his companies have been named in over the years. Republicans may see Dandiya as a target-rich candidate considering her background and progressive leanings.
This congressional primary race leans Republican, and most politicos believe that Askar will win the race. President Trump won this race by 10 points in the 2024 presidential cycle.
This could be Askar's to lose, but both sides believe that they can pick up this toss-up seat. That is why money is being thrown at this race.
