Jim Schwartzel, a local media mogul, won the Republican nomination in Florida’s 19th Congressional District on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, prevailing in a crowded field for an open seat that included a rival endorsed by President Trump.
Mr. Schwartzel defeated Catalina Lauf, a health care entrepreneur who received Mr. Trump’s endorsement last week. He also bested two former House members and several candidates who had previously run for Congress and lost — all in other states before moving to Florida.
During a wild primary, many of the candidates tried to prove their Florida bona fides as well as their alignment with the president.
Mr. Schwartzel is heavily favored to win the November general election in the solidly Republican district, which is based in the Fort Myers area in Southwest Florida. The seat was previously held by Representative Byron Donalds, who decided to run for governor rather than seeking re-election.
Among Mr. Schwartzel’s rivals were two former lawmakers: Madison Cawthorn, who lost his re-election bid in North Carolina in 2022 after a deluge of salacious accusations, and Chris Collins, who resigned from office in New York in 2019 as he prepared to plead guilty to insider trading charges. Mr. Trump pardoned him in December 2020.
Mr. Schwartzel also ran against Jim Oberweis, who served two terms in the Illinois State Senate, and Ola Hawatmeh, who lost a Republican primary in New York in 2020.
A total of 10 candidates ran in the primary. One of them, John Strand, served prison time for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, before being pardoned by Mr. Trump.
