Candidate Profile: Nizam Razack

First-time candidate, Dr. Nizam Razack is the founder/president of the Spine & Brain Neurosurgery Center in Orlando and teaches healthcare law at Florida A&M University College of Law’s Orlando campus where he is an adjunct professor.

“ Because of Obamacare, I became involved with the Tea Party movement 20 years ago, and I was very against it,” Razack told attendees at the July 3 Candidates & Coffee forum sponsored by the Sumter County Republican Party. “… over the last 25 years, I've seen over-regulation and bad policies destroy our healthcare system. That's why I'm running to be your congressman. The number one employer in District 11 is healthcare. The most fraud and abuse in government is healthcare. That's what I'm running on.”

Razack, 60, was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1967 — legally, he emphasizes — when he was 3 years old. Now he’s running in the crowded Aug. 18 Republican Primary for the FL-11 District, long represented by the retiring Congressman Daniel Webster.

A member of the Florida Republican Freedom Assembly and a board member at the Islamic Center of Orlando, Razack faces former state legislator and property appraiser Carey Baker of Lake County; Ivette Paolomo of Bushnell; businessman Joe Strada of Lake Mary; and Christian media producer Tim Wilkins of Windermere.

The district encompasses parts of Orange County (including Winter Garden, Ocoee, Oakland and Windermere) and Lake and Sumter counties. U.S. representatives serve for two years and earn $174,000.

Here, Razack answers questions from VoxPopuli and the News Collaborative of Central Florida. Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

‍

‍

Elijah Rakha-Sheketoff contributed reporting.