Belinda Keiser, who is competing in the Republican primary for Florida's new 22nd Congressional District, suggested the border crisis under President Joe Biden was intentional in a new campaign ad.
The Ad Itself
The ad, posted on X, begins with Keiser saying, "It wasn't an accident; Joe Biden had a plan: Biden opened the border to anyone. Not to make new Americans. Biden wanted new Democrats."
A voiceover touts Keiser's commitment to supporting President Donald Trump's deportation agenda, and the ad concludes with Keiser adding, "We should deport Joe Biden for what he did, but we are going to start with every single illegal he let in."
The District 22 Primary
Keiser is in a crowded Republican field for the redrawn 22nd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
Her competitors include Casey Askar, David Burck, Michael Thompson, Terri Hasdorff, Michael Carbonara, and Richard Evans, and the first debate between them was held on Saturday.
As The Floridian covered, anyone expecting a Trump-style cage match was left wanting, although State Representative Yvette Bennaroch (R-81) said it was at least informative.
Still, Keiser is considered a favorite, having received the endorsements of Representatives Jimmy Patronis, Vern Buchanan, and Randy Fine.
Even then, the fact that Keiser was a registered Democrat for a good chunk of her political career and had previously donated to Democratic candidates has been a point of contention.
Keiser's Competitors
That is not to say that Keiser is the sole bearer of a potential albatross in this campaign.
Fintech executive Michael Carbonara has been part of an ongoing legal battle with the Bahamas-based Deltec Bank, which is accusing his Ibanera firm of "wrongfully withholding" $18 million.
David Burck, meanwhile, might rankle some voters with his comments on the troubling rise of antisemitism in America, even as he was denouncing it, during a podcast appearance in February.
While Burck is firmly pro-Israel, he suggested that there is "a current of people who are disenfranchised, whether they're chronically online or they feel like they don't have hope, so they look at a group that's very successful, such as Jewish people, and they want to point to them as the Boogeyman," and was "weary" of legislation to combat hate speech.
