This election year, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs — and one of those seats is for Florida’s third congressional district.
The district encompasses 12 counties in north central Florida — Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Levy, Suwannee, Union and a majority of Lafayette and Marion counties.
And when residents of these counties head to the polls Nov. 5, the choice is between incumbent Republican Kat Cammack and her Democratic opponent Tom Wells.
Both candidates have been down this road before.
Kat Cammack
Cammack, 36, is running for reelection to a third term in the U.S. Congress. She has served on the committee on agriculture during her two terms. From 2021 to 2022, she was a ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery. She currently serves on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and the House Agriculture Committee.
Cammack’s involvement in environmental and agricultural issues doesn’t come as a surprise. According to her campaign website, she was raised on a Colorado cattle ranch and participated in 4-H, an agricultural youth outreach program.
However, the congresswoman is better known for her outspoken support of conservative ideologies and colorful language when addressing Democrats.
Earlier this year in July, Cammack was pressed during an appearance on PBS News Hour about her claim at the Republican National Convention that Democrats were to blame for the first assassination attempt made on former President Donald Trump. Although she doubled down in her speech and stated that she did not regret her comments, she did follow up by saying “both Republicans and Democrats for the last several years have engaged in rhetoric that is not helpful in unifying us as a nation.”
In February, she compared a proposed bipartisan border security deal with selling knock-off Gucci merchandise, claiming that the “garbage package” was intended to be pushed on Americans by President Joe Biden.
Former president Donald Trump has endorsed her.
In January last year, Cammack was met with boos and heckles by her congressional colleagues while addressing Congress to nominate Kevin McCarthy as speaker. The negative reaction followed her accusation that the Democratic representatives were drinking on the floor during the nomination process.
Cammack has been criticized by conservatives as well. In 2022, Cammack was denounced in an Instagram post for being one of the 47 GOP representatives who voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA), a bill that would codify the right to interracial and gay marriage nationwide. The poster tagged Cammack as “not a true conservative,” and the congresswoman responded with a lengthy message, stating that “The Constitution is not a la carte. True conservatives don’t pick and choose which amendments they want to uphold. They are either all in or not.” She also said that the 157 House Republicans who did vote against the RFMA are “horribly racist.”
A glance at Cammack’s House voting record supports her conservative stances. She had voted against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021 and the Equality Act.
Cammack has a history and heart for community involvement. She serves on an extensive list of caucuses, is often pictured participating in community events and supporting non-profit organizations.
Lately, Kat Cammack has been active on social media, updating constituents and supporters following her discussions with FEMA, the FAA and the White House regarding assistance for Floridians affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton. She shared that she’s pushing for the White House to add Alachua County to the individual assistance and debris removal declaration and that she had been visiting impacted areas throughout Florida.
Cammack did not respond to several requests from WUFT to comment for this story.
Tom Wells
Wells, 74, has a doctorate degree in theoretical physics and is a former business owner. He advanced to Florida’s general election after his Democratic opponent, Anthony Stebbing, dropped out ahead of the August primary.
Wells had proven himself persistent as he's been pursuing this House seat since 2016, when he ran as an Independent and lost. He also lost the Democratic primaries in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
During his 2022 election bid, Wells was arrested and found guilty of resisting arrest during a University of Florida campus event. He acknowledged that his campaign was negatively affected by it.
Law enforcement was called on Wells after he refused to leave a student gathering at the University of Florida despite the organizer’s requests that he go. Danielle Hawk, his Democratic primary opponent at the time, was also videotaped attending the event and allegedly addressed the crowd after Wells’ arrest and removal.
“Local Democrats who seen it ask, ‘Tom why didn't you just leave?’ I'd still have been trespass-banned,” he said. “To which I reply, ‘If I do not stand up for my rights, how should I convince you I'll stand up for yours?’”
The incident earned Wells a three-year ban from the university, which he said hampered his ability to reach the youth voter demographic in Gainesville. Wells remains adamant that he is not guilty, claiming he was well within his rights to exercise freedom of speech at a public event on public property. He said he is appealing his case and awaits a retrial.
In the meantime, Wells said he remains focused on the future. His main campaign points are centered around the environment and how they will negatively affect the generations to come.
Wells is passionate about climate issues.
“I have grandchildren, 8 billion as I counted. If we do not all learn to live together as brothers,” Wells said, paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “we will die together as fools and idiots.”
His campaign website touts Wells’ stances, including being in favor of legalizing marijuana, codifying women’s reproductive rights and terminating the use of fossil fuels. He has openly spoken against former President Donald Trump.
Wells said he is busy preparing for Saturday's candidate’s forum sponsored by the NAACP 5114 Marion County Branch in Ocala at the Mary Sue Community Center at Reed Place, 1821 NW 21st Ave., from 2-5 p.m. The event is open to the public. Florida candidates running in races for federal and local offices have been invited.