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James Pericola, who served in the second Clinton Administration and as legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, emerged victorious with the Democratic nomination from the three-person primary this summer and now faces Republican nominee Joe Strada and Libertarian Party nominee Ralph Groves in the Nov. 3 general midterm election for Congressional District 11. The district includes all of Sumter County and parts of Lake and Orange counties.
The winner succeeds former U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, who retired after 16 years in Congress.
U.S. Representatives serve two-year terms and earn $174,000 annually.
A Catholic University-trained attorney Pericola, 50, is the founder of the Seward Square Group, a Washington, D.C.-based government policy consulting firm. The married father of three also briefly worked as a researcher for a Member of Parliament in Britain’s House of Commons.
Pericola jumped into the Congressional race in June, shortly after Mount Dora candidate Barbie Harden Hall ended her campaign, citing health reasons. As of July 29, the last filing date, he's raised $119,754 in contributions.
“ It’s not something I would really care to do in most cases, but I just truly believe our country's at stake,” Pericola told VoxPopuli in a phone interview.
“When you make capricious and arbitrary cuts that result in the death of children and you have services that we've been providing for decades around the world and that we are the beacon of light for many of these countries and as a democracy that has led the world for as long as we have, I’m heartbroken,” he said. “ I love my country. I’m not going to have anyone steal my flag or think that they're more patriotic because they yell USA more than I do — but they don't. We have to show the world that we are the United States of America. Because traveling overseas a lot with my family to visit family members, you get a mixture of laughter and sadness.”
On the home front, Pericola said he is witnessing everyday Americans floundering — including his mother, who he described as suffering in “a broken healthcare system” and brother who lost his health insurance. That’s why he hopes that even after being courted by his opponents for the last year, voters will be willing to give him a look. Trump supporters too, he said, adding that’s why he launched his campaign in heavily Republican Sumter County.
“ Because a lot of the people I grew up with who voted for Donald Trump, they're hurting. They can't put gas in the tank. They can't afford healthcare. They're losing it. And I know I have the experience to make changes."
Here, Pericola answers questions from VoxPopuli and the News Collaborative of Central Florida.
Affordability. Affordability is the number one issue facing families in Florida’s 11th District. The cost of groceries, gas, housing, healthcare, and insurance has stretched working families and seniors too thin. Trump promised to lower costs “on day one,” but all families have seen are higher costs, more uncertainty, and more tax breaks for those already at the top.In Congress, I will fight to lower housing and insurance costs by securing federal funding to expand affordable housing and reduce pressure on Florida’s property insurance market. I will work to cut taxes for working and middle-class families, including eliminating federal income taxes for people making under $100,000 a year. I will also take on price gouging, hold corporations accountable when they raise prices to pad profits, and oppose giveaways to billionaires and corporations.
Healthcare. Healthcare is personal to me. My mother is navigating our broken healthcare system right now, and I have seen firsthand how confusing, expensive, and exhausting it is for families trying to get care. No one should have to fight through red tape, delay treatment, or risk financial ruin because they got sick or because someone they love needs help. In Congress, I will fight to lower healthcare costs, protect Medicare and Social Security, restore Medicaid funding, and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. I will support expanding premium tax credits, allowing Medicare to negotiate more prescription drug prices, cracking down on price gouging, and protecting long-term care for seniors, people with disabilities, and caregivers. Florida families deserve healthcare that is affordable, reliable, and centered on patients, not politics or corporate profits.
Protecting our democracy. We are losing sight of who we are as a country. My wife is an immigrant, and our family’s story is rooted in the promise of America: freedom, opportunity, equal protection, and the right to have a voice in our democracy. In Congress, I will fight to protect voting rights, pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, end partisan gerrymandering, and defend free and fair elections. I will also stand up for constitutional rights, including due process, equal protection, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy. Democracy is whether every citizen can cast a ballot, every person is treated fairly under the law, and government remains accountable to the people. These freedoms should not depend on your zip code, income, background, or political party.
I have the experience to be effective for Florida’s 11th District on day one. I have spent more than 30 years in public service, law, and advocacy, including serving as a Presidential appointee, congressional staff, attorney, and senior government affairs executive. I understand how Washington works, and I know how to navigate the system to deliver results for the people I represent. This race is not about gimmicks or empty talking points. It is about lowering costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, strengthening access to healthcare, and standing up for working families, seniors, veterans, and communities across this district. Voters deserve a representative who is serious, prepared, and focused on solving problems. That is the leadership I will bring to Congress.
Floridians are being squeezed from every direction, and people are tired of hearing politicians talk about affordability without doing anything that actually lowers costs. Families need relief they can feel in their monthly budget, not more excuses from Washington.My approach is to attack the cost-of-living crisis from multiple angles. I will push for federal housing investments that help increase supply and support storm hardening and mitigation efforts that can help bring down insurance pressure over time. I will support tax relief for working people and middle-class families, including eliminating federal income taxes for individuals making under $100,000 a year.I will also fight to lower everyday costs by cracking down on price gouging, increasing competition, and holding corporations accountable when they raise prices while posting record profits. Florida families should not have to choose between paying rent, buying groceries, filling a prescription, or keeping their insurance. Government should be focused on lowering costs and helping people keep more of what they earn.
No. I do not support a constitutional amendment that slashes local revenue without a responsible plan to replace it. If it passes, local governments will be forced to make difficult choices, and my priority would be protecting essential services like public safety, emergency response, roads, infrastructure, libraries, parks, and services for seniors and families.I would not support replacing lost revenue primarily through higher fees or service cuts that shift the burden onto working families, renters, seniors, and people on fixed incomes. Instead, I would push for a full audit of local spending, stronger budget transparency, pursuit of state and federal replacement funding, and fair revenue options that do not gut essential services or make everyday life more expensive. Tax relief should lower costs for families, not create new costs somewhere else or weaken the services communities depend on.
Floridians should not be stuck paying higher electric bills because massive data centers and large corporations are putting new pressure on the grid. If a company creates major new energy demand, that company should help pay for the infrastructure needed to support it. Families and small businesses should not be left holding the bill.Florida’s utility regulators need to press utilities harder before approving rate hikes. That means demanding clear proof of need, forcing more transparency, rejecting excessive profit margins, and making sure costs are assigned fairly. A reliable grid matters, but affordability has to matter too.Congress does not set your electric bill, but I would still use every federal tool available to lower long-term energy costs, including strengthening oversight, expanding energy assistance for low-income families and seniors, funding grid modernization, and addressing federal policies that drive up costs.
The biggest environmental issue Florida must address is protecting our water while building resilience against extreme weather and climate change. I have spent many years working on climate legislation, so I understand that these challenges require serious policy, long-term planning, and practical solutions.In Congress, I will support federal investments in water quality, Everglades restoration, stormwater infrastructure, flood mitigation, and disaster resilience. I will work to hold polluters accountable, reduce harmful runoff, and help communities modernize infrastructure so they are better prepared for stronger storms, flooding, extreme heat, and long-term climate risks.
They're a co-equal branch of government, and it's a bad joke. They haven't done a damn thing. And that needs to change. This district's had an absentee landlord for 20 years. I don't think most people have even seen their member of Congress.
I've never seen a more corrupt or inept group of people in charge of our government.
It was supposed to be no wars, prices down on Day 1. Has he lowered costs on Day 1? No. They've gone up in every facet of your life. Have we stopped foreign wars? No. We've become goons around the world intimidating people with our awesome military power. That's in no way meant to disrespect our military. My grandfather served bravely in the Pacific, and I love the military. But it's not fair to the military and to have dead service members because we don't have thoughtful policy and as we alienate allies. We're also seen as a very arrogant nation now too. You go into Sweden, and you start telling them how they should handle their issues … and they said, Thank you very much. You're a guest in our country, and if you don't like it, you can leave.
Immigration is a very personal issue, as is healthcare. My wife's an immigrant. Our kids are dual citizens, and when I hear people in the community, just foolishly, for cheap applause lines on their end, say we're going to deport 30 million people that are here legally, that's my family you're talking about. You wanna pick a fight with me? I'll be as credible and fight as hard as I can possibly fight for my family. Above all else, that's what matters to me. But what else matters to me is my fellow citizen and this country, which is on a path that is unsustainable, both in spending and how we're perceived around the world based on this failed experiment that is the Trump administration.
We've really hurt ourselves in the last 10 years in particular, and it likely is not going to end with Trump because it's so ingrained. But I think at a certain point, there has to be an understanding that if we are to be the United States of America, the one that the world has always looked to, we have to be humble. We have to work to re-secure our allies, and we need to be a lot smarter about how we wield our power around the world.
I think it's wrong. I think it is crazy, and I think it's indicative of the failed foreign policy of this administration, which Joe Strada and others support 100 percent of the way. Canada is one of our closest allies, and, you know, I was thinking about the movie Argo. You think about what the Canadian ambassador did to protect our citizens at a critical time, which also involved Iran, and how quickly we forget. We just get into this nonsensical, illegal, tit for tat, and it makes absolutely no sense. And it's hurting Americans worse than it's hurting Canadians. It’s having an impact here in the district. I mean, you see the tourism is down from Canadians significantly, and that impacts the [theme] parks. That impacts the local economy and the country as a whole.
No. I think it's been a failure from the beginning. I don't think strength is starting a war. It's knowing how to prosecute the war and how to get out of a war. And the president has never made the argument to the American people or Congress for that matter. We've annoyed or upset all of our allies by demanding after the fact that they come along. It has been a debacle from the beginning. When you have 18 dead service members, 800 injured or severely injured, bases destroyed all over the Middle East, our partners absolutely unsure if they can trust the United States moving forward. No, I think it's been a complete and total abject failure, starting from saying it was gonna be four-to-six weeks, and now there's no end in sight.
I don't think we're seeing enough outrage in our own country on these issues. You know, we were promised America First, but we're America Alone at this point. It's just weakened us internationally, and it's gonna take us decades to fix.
With Congress not doing its job and, and not performing its role as a co-equal branch of government with no oversight, I don't. That's one of the reasons why I'm running. I think we need a new team on the field and people that are going to ask the tough questions. That includes Democrats as well who will not just go along with the status quo. Congress needs to do its job.
Another lie that was told. You know that a tariff is a tax, and it's not on the foreign country, as we were told, that they need to pay their fair share. It's a tax on the consumers, and there's no doubt about it. And we're even seeing now, as the tariffs were declared illegal, the companies are getting the money back.
Trump's billionaire friends and the head of Apple and the big companies that negotiated side deals with him to be exempt from these tariffs that allowed him to play king, they're getting money back, and it's on the backs of working people and consumers, and it's another cost. Instead of lowering costs on Day 1, Donald Trump and Joe Strada are having these costs put on the backs of working people, and it needs to stop.
I think through middle-class tax relief and other things, but in terms of a voucher or a COVID-style check? I mean we see the downside of what happens when you do something like that.
I would not support a national ban of abortion, and it only makes what happens at the states even more important and significant because that is where they're headed.
No, of course not. And it's also a question for the Supreme Court. You know, stare decisis is not what it used to be. Used to be that when a question was settled, it was respected and left alone, and we're seeing just the opposite now. I certainly think it's likely the court will examine this in the near future, and I don't think there's any question where they want to go.
As a parent, that's what I worry about the most. In other countries, you don't have to worry about gun-related tragedies like we have in this country. That said, the, the Second Amendment is something that I believe in, but I believe that it should be in the hands of responsible gun owners, and we should have sensible gun laws. Sadly, the Supreme Court has likely ruled on this to a point where it has to be done on the state level as well. But I mean, I worked during the Clinton administration where there was common sense, where we could say things like Individual gun owners don't need to have assault weapons. Somehow that's seen as a bridge too far these days, and I think that's nuts. We should strengthen background checks, crack down on illegal gun trafficking, invest in mental health, not assume that everything is related to video games or mental health, but that we have a gun crisis in this country and need to acknowledge it.
The people I grew up with [who had] guns, they're some of the most responsible gun owners you can find, and I imagine that's most people in CD11. And I think responsible gun ownership and responsible gun laws are consistent and go hand in hand. It doesn't have to be this adversarial thing that the NRA has created over time.
Parents should absolutely be held responsible if they've created an environment that contributed to the death of anyone. I mean, just based on a straight legal standard, yes. But I'm encouraged by what we've seen out of Michigan and some other [places], where you have irresponsible parents, oftentimes giving their kids guns, where there have been red flag after red flag after red flag, and somehow they seem surprised when their child then commits the most horrific thing one could imagine. It's not hard to figure out sometimes that if the kid's crying out for help and is having major issues at school, probably the last thing they should do in that situation, especially when they're discussing threatening their classmates or anyone else, is provide them a firearm.
I don't think there's any question that we're putting ourselves behind and that we've lost good-paying green jobs as a result. The fact that they wanted to eliminate anything that said green or, sacrifice tens of thousands of veterans because they were considered DEI, it is just a really dumb approach to governing that we've seen out of this administration, where it's playing to the cheap seats without any thought or reasoning as to what the implications of those decisions are.
And you mentioned China. Certainly, we've yielded all of our soft power to China as well, and Africa and other developing countries, while we just cut funding to needy kids in Africa and seen a half a million or more children die because we walked away from our responsibilities. They could cherry-pick in whatever they wanted to come up with as part of their rationale, but I think most people know that was a lie, like everything else out of this administration. And we are cutting our noses off to spite our own faces because any one of these policies, whether it's renewables, whether it's soft power, all we're doing is elevating China and sadly Russia and even Iran with some of the policies of this war and international diplomacy, if that's what we want to call it. But our standing in the world, all this administration has done is elevate China and make America weaker on the global stage.
I just think we should, as a country, be able to say things like It's wrong to bomb innocent women and children, and they shouldn't be starving. We should be able to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. We should acknowledge that they were attacked on the 7th, and that's wrong. But we should also be able to say we stand with Israel, but not the Netanyahu government and some of the atrocities that he's carried out. I don't think that makes you an antisemite. If it does, then I think we need to reevaluate what the word means.
It’s one of those issues meant to divide, and it's away from now we're seeing on, on the far left that if you say anything in favor of Israel, then you're the problem. I don't agree with that. Israel is our ally, and we need to maintain those relationships.
Special Assistant to Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board, 1997-2001
Legislative Staff Assistant, U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, 1994-1996
Senior government affairs, public policy executive
Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, J.D., 2005
Catholic University of America, B.A., Political Science, 1997
