TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—A Florida House candidate who once used taxpayer money to recruit New Yorkers is now attacking his opponent for being one.
The candidate, a former Florida mayor, authorized public funds for print and digital ads in New York City urging residents to relocate to his city. The campaign launched after Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the New York City mayoral primary. Now running for the U.S. House, the same candidate is targeting his opponent's New York background as a political liability.
The about-face is direct: he paid to bring New Yorkers to Florida, then turned their migration into an attack line.
The tension over who counts as a real Floridian—or a real New Yorker—has become a recurring feature of politics in both states. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sharpened that edge in 2022, telling critics of her party to leave.
"And we are here to say that the era of Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro—just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, OK?" Hochul said. "Get out of town. Because you do not represent our values. You are not New Yorkers."
Hochul has since reversed course, appealing to wealthy former New Yorkers to return to the state.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who left Congress before the House Ethics Committee completed its investigation into him, has inserted himself into the Florida race, introducing one of the candidates during an appearance on One America News Network.
