Congressional candidates hit the campaign trail a week before primary

With only one week to go to the primary election, you’re probably seeing endless attack ads on TV, but congressional candidates say the one thing that can’t be equaled is talking with people in person.

Each candidate has his or her own unique strategies, giving it their all in the final days before the Aug. 18 primary.

This week, they’re going face to face, boots on the ground to meet the voters.

“There’s a lot of dirt flying around and if it was all true, I certainly wouldn’t vote for me, so I figured we’d say hi to the voters,” said Dane Eagle, one candidate for the District 19 congressional seat.

“Hi, I’m Byron Donalds, candidate for congress. How are you doing? Pleasure meeting you. Don’t know if you’ve made a decision on who you’re voting for yet, but I just wanted to come and hopefully earn your vote,” Donalds said as he greeted a voter.

“My team is on the ground every day, all day, for this week,” said Randy Henderson, who resigned his post as Fort Myers mayor to enter the race.

These candidates are gearing up for the final battle.

“You can’t make everybody happy. Sometimes you knock on a door and there’s a vote here and there they didn’t like that you have to answer for but that’s part of service,” Eagle said.

If you turn on the TV, it’s hard to ignore the countless attack ads on District 19 candidates.

“It’s ridiculous, they’re misleading,” Eagle said.

“Unfortunately there are candidates who think this is the only way they can win,” Donalds said.

With one week to go, how do they all feel?

“I’m feeling good. At the end of the day, I’m going to look in the mirror and say I did what’s right,” said Christy McLaughlin.

“You’ll see when I get elected, you’re going to call me. ‘Darren, can I have an interview?’ Sure,” said Darren Aquino.

Henderson said he’s feeling “strong and robust, and anxious and excited.”

“We feel very confident in our position in this race, but you can’t take anything for granted,” Donalds said.

“I think our campaign is going very well,” said Dan Severson.

“The minute you think you’re confident, you’ve got it in the bag, is the minute you’re losing,” Eagle said.

Of course, the other two big names you see all over TV for this race are Casey Askar and Dr. William Figlesthaler. WINK News reached out to their campaigns several times and neither responded.