Nonprofit founder Audrey Henson is jumping into the race for Rep. Charlie CristCharles (Charlie) Joseph CristGOP leader having proxy voting struggle to Supreme Court docket DeSantis and Abbott exam unfavorable for competence and compassion Florida nonprofit founder launches bid to substitute Crist in Congress Far more’s (D-Fla.) St. Petersburg-primarily based Home seat. 

Henson, a Pinellas County businesswoman who launched a nonprofit that can help college or university students protected congressional internships, joins two other Republicans — Anna Paulina Luna and Amanda Makki — in the major to substitute Crist in Florida’s 13th District. 

In a video saying her marketing campaign on Wednesday, Henson hammered dwelling her Florida roots and cast herself as a tricky-line conservative, vowing to “support our police” and “protect the southern border and the Port of Tampa in which unlawful immigrants and medication are smuggled in day by day.”

“I’m not another carpetbagging politician,” Henson claimed. “I grew up in this article in Pinellas on meals stamps and Medicaid with moms and dads who struggled with material abuse and professional firsthand how major govt courses intended to aid us hurt us.”

“I’m operating for Congress due to the fact we require real people today keen to phase up and get the combat to Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiBidens, former presidents mark 9/11 anniversary Residence Democrats suggest earning long-lasting expanded ObamaCare subsidies Democrats make situation to Senate parliamentarian for 8 million eco-friendly playing cards Additional, ‘the Squad’ and the liberal elite who are pushing trillion-greenback socialist packages and liberal ideology that are destroying our country,” she additional, referring to the House Speaker from California and a group of liberal Democratic lawmakers.

The race for Florida’s 13th District, which encompasses most of Pinellas County on Florida’s Gulf Coast, is among the the state’s critical congressional battlegrounds in 2022. 

Crist, a Republican-turned-Democrat, is not trying to get a fourth phrase in the Residence up coming calendar year and is instead working for Florida governor, leaving his House seat open and elevating Republicans’ hopes of recapturing the district soon after getting rid of it in 2016.

A handful of Democrats are operating to switch Crist, such as condition Reps. Michele Rayner and Ben Diamond and former Obama administration adviser Eric Lynn.