Fort Myers’ Howard Sapp seeks to break GOP hold in district 19 race

Howard Sapp has announced his candidacy to represent Southwest Florida in Washington, D.C. Sapp, a Democrat, aims to succeed Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, who is running for governor of Florida.

Sapp is a Fort Myers native and former air traffic controller. He is also the nephew of Veronica Shoemaker, the first Black member of the Fort Myers City Council.

Winning Florida’s District 19 as a Democrat will be challenging. Last year’s numbers show the district is 70.3% Republican and just 29.6% Democrat. No Democrat has held this seat since before the last redistricting in 2014.

“One of the things that I see is that right now, a lot of people are afraid to trust,” Sapp said. “Some people are so engraved in tradition, you know, that they in spite of what they see, they don’t want to veer from anything outside of what their norm has been, or what they’re used to.”

Sapp emphasized that his campaign is about the people and their voices being heard. “It’s not about a particular party, it’s not about a particular stance on something,” he said.

When asked about the biggest issues facing Southwest Florida, Sapp pointed to the environment and infrastructure.

“We do have to talk about the environment, you know, because Florida is known for, of course, its beaches, its tourism, and all of these things,” he said.

Sapp also highlighted the importance of addressing growth and infrastructure in the area. “How are we going to sustain? What’s the infrastructure? How is that set up? Is the infrastructure prepared for the increased growth?” he asked.

Regarding reaching across the aisle to Republicans, Sapp acknowledged the challenge but stressed the importance of meeting people where they are.

“You have to make sure that you meet the people where they are,” he said.

He added, “For those that have the open mind to say, ‘Well, maybe you know, what he says is, you know, you know, let’s at least think about that.’ And that’s the thing, not trying to convince someone to totally change what they’ve done for so long, but at least give them an opportunity to think, well, maybe we can do something a little bit different.”

Sapp previously ran for state representative last year but lost to incumbent Jenna Persons Mulicka. He said that experience emphasized the need to be in the community and to really listen to the people he aims to represent.