Ave Maria resident Richard Evans is one of seven Republicans running in the Aug. 18 primary for recently redrawn U.S. Congressional District 22.
Evans, a certified public accountant (CPA) and risk manager, says he is a pro-life and a Constitutional conservative. He says he is pro 2nd Amendment and pro 10th Amendment, “dedicated to stopping governmental overreach.” Evans said he support local control of schools and would consider school-choice enhancements.
From Chicago, Evans moved to Florida in October 2020. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Notre Dame University. He took CPA review and took some marketing courses at DePaul University.
Evans ran two years ago against Mario Diaz-Balart and two other Republicans, in a Congressional District 26 primary. Diaz-Balart won the primary and the general election and is serving his 12th term. With Gov. Ron Desantis’s redistricting this year, Collier County is no longer in District 26, where Diaz-Balart decided to remain and run again.
The new Florida District 22 crosses the state through Picayune Strand National Forest, Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County and includes all of Hendry County and parts of inland Broward and Palm Beach counties.
While the city of Naples, North Naples and part of Golden Gate remain in District 19, Lely Resort and Marco Island are now in District 22. Everglades City, previously represented by District 26, is in District 22.
Congressional District 22 currently represented by Democrat Lois Frankel, who is running in the reconfigured District 23.
The winner of the Republican primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary in the Nov. 3 general election. Two Democrats are running. Florida is a closed primary state, which means only those registered to the Republican party can vote in that primary.
Republicans and Democrats can vote in their respective races with a mail-in ballot or in-person during early voting, which begins Aug. 8, or on election day, which is Aug. 18.
Evans’ fellow Republican adversaries are Naples resident and Trump ally Casey Askar; Alva resident and realtor Micheal Thompson; Parkland resident and Keiser University Vice Chancellor Belinda Keiser; West Palm Beach resident and real estate broker David Burck; Michael Carbonara, Broward County resident and founder of Gattaca Genomics; and Palm Beach County resident Terri Hasdorff, a small-business owner and author.
Q: Why are you the best person to represent Congressional District in Washington, and what in your background has prepared you to serve effectively?
A: I can serve most effectively of the candidates and with tenacity gained through years of audit work. My work includes risk management and review of commercial insurance policies including Workers Comp, General Liability and some Specialty risks. I am ready to join with the new Governor to guide a task force that will address the catastrophe losses caused by hurricanes without penalizing small businesses and homeowners with rate increases.
My CPA practice along with audit and forensic accounting work also provide a solid skill set to apply to the key areas that affect Florida such as preserving water resources and planning for future water needs, establishing adequate and affordable electric energy, improving and innovating transportation of passengers and freight.
Q: How would you describe your political philosophy and where do you place yourself on the political spectrum? Why?
A: Actively prolife and pro-family. Constitutional conservative. Pro 2nd Amendment and pro 10th Amendment, dedicated to stopping governmental overreach. Pro local control of schools and increased student excellence and achievements. Would consider school choice enhancements, support for teachers and less federal interference.
Q: If elected, what are your top three priorities for District, and what specific legislation or actions would you pursue to accomplish them?
A: 1.) Recover the integrity of our borders, correct the invasion crisis deliberately caused by Mayorkas under the Biden Administration. Incentivize cities to work for safer streets, free from the crush of immigrants that are stressing every agency of larger cities, including the schools and social services.
Social services meant for citizens and our honored veterans are being diverted in some cases to illegal entrants into our beautiful United States. The U.S. was being invaded, and Congress did not act in a timely manner.
2) Plan to ease the pressure on Social Security. Social Security and Medicare payments comprise over 60% of the federal spending. Continue recent efforts to stop Medicare Fraud and Social Security mishandling. My program to ease the stress caused by our demographic of more retirees than workers allows high-net-worth and high-salary earners to voluntarily opt out of their earned stream of Social Security payments. In return for this easy-to-administer voluntary program, those individuals simply check a box on their IRS form 1040. This voluntary action would set them up for a tax credit for three successive years, with the remaining discounted portion of the income stream going to their grandchildren or someone in the skipped generation.
3.) Veteran’s and Service members Healthcare and Retirement Benefits Equalization Act. Service members, Veterans and their immediate families will receive healthcare and retirement benefits that are equal to and provide equivalent benefits such as those enjoyed by the 435 Members of the House, 100 members of the Senate. This equalization will include the Executive and Judicial branches of the Federal Government too.
Q: Affordability remains a major concern for Southwest Florida residents. What should Congress do to address the cost of housing, insurance, health care, energy and other everyday expenses while promoting economic growth and fiscal responsibility?
A: My work would include a plan to advise the new governor and his five appointed public service commissioners to achieve more abundant electric power, off grid initiatives and innovations, and a significant investment in MMR and SMR nuclear options. Energy Secretary Wright is fast tracking nuclear regulatory permitting so that nuclear power is a great option for our Congressional District 22 and all of Florida and the U.S. Lower electric rates and more abundant power sources are definitely good for overall affordability.
Gas prices will settle lower when the Iranian crisis is completely solved.
Insurance rates for Homeowners can be addressed with the various carriers so that losses can be handled without all of the premium increase being born by individual Florida homeowners. Much like the various property tax proposed reallocations to have investors and developers bear appropriate costs in line with their profit in certain areas.
Health care insurance should trend toward following the individual, not tied to specific jobs. Competition across state lines could help. Consumers of health care should receive medically accurate and detailed informed consent before major procedures, surgeries or treatments. Consumers should also by law receive the cost of the healthcare in total along with the cost after insurance is applied.
Q: Southwest Florida faces ongoing challenges involving growth, infrastructure, environmental protection, water quality, hurricane resilience, and disaster recovery. What role should the federal government play in addressing these issues?
A: Assure that FEMA funds are not misdirected or politicized. I believe that getting the federal funds more quickly into the hands of the people on the ground, (like DeSantis did after Ian), would improve the timeliness of catastrophe recovery. Trump administration floats the idea of funds just being passed on like a block grant to the ogvernor instead of the red tape of FEMA combined with local recovery decisions.
Q: What are your views on border security and immigration reform, including deportation policies, ICE and border patrol regulation, birthright citizenship and the role of states, especially Florida, in immigration enforcement? What is your opinion about Alligator Alcatraz?
A: Secure the borders. Investigate and punish those members of government who were purposely neglecting the invasion and resulting crisis in every city, town and county in the U.S. End birthright citizenship – that was not the intent of the 14th Amendment. Alligator Alcatraz was a stop gap measure to assist in fixing the crisis that the prior administration created. I do not see that the adjacent areas or the Everglades in total suffered any harm.
Q: What should U.S. policy be regarding major international challenges, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela, and what role should Congress play in decisions involving military action and foreign spending?
A: I support Trump’s action to assure that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. Russia and Ukraine should sit down to a binding arbitration to stop the needless loss of life. My fervent hope and prayer is that through the extraordinary efforts of our great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, that Cuba will be free within this calendar year. Venezuela liberation is underway, but the earthquakes have caused a food shortage. Maduro is gone but the people still need to be freer, and the earthquake catastrophe is being addressed locally by many charitable initiatives.
Q: What are your positions on the major cultural and governance issues facing the country today, including abortion, gun rights, education, LGBTQ protections, artificial intelligence, social media regulation, term limits and government accountability?
A: Actively prolife! This issue should be greatly decreased as parents learn to teach their children how devastating this can be for a woman and a couple. No Federal funds should subsidize this procedure. Amendment 4 was defeated but could return in a different form. Abortion is not true healthcare and of course should not be used by couples to avoid an unplanned birth.
Adjust the rules for AI use and Social media use, these devices can be quite harmful to youth.
Absolutely in favor of term limits.
Q: What is your stance on the SAVE Act, election security and voter rights?
A: Absolutely support work that cleans up the voter rolls and the SAVE Act better pass soon.
Q: What specific policies or actions of President Donald Trump do you most support? Which would you seek to advance or expand in Congress, and why?
A: I would favor line-item veto, no more gigantic 2,000-page omnibus bills. This is something Trump asked of Congress at the end of his first term. Also, I would favor a more active and efficient Congress that would more fully be the power of the purse branch to stop reckless spending!
Also, almost every day, I have a conversation about the One Big Beautiful Bill and that repeated talking point – no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security. The actual law has a $25,000 cap on tips and a cap on tax-free overtime. The ease of taxation on Social Security is done with an additional exemption. So, make the bills readable and vote on smaller parts to achieve accountability.
J. Kyle Foster is a senior growth & development reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her by emailing jfoster1@usatodayco.com.
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Meet Florida Congressional District 22 candidate Richard Evans – Naples Daily News
