Chris Collins seeks political comeback, seeks House seat in Florida
Former New York congressman Chris Collins, seeking redemption, announces his run for Florida’s 19th congressional district.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Former Western New York Congressman Chris Collins is attempting a political comeback, this time in Florida.
Collins announced Friday that he plans to run to represent Southwest Florida’s 19th Congressional District, which covers Fort Myers, Sanibel, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Naples, and Marco Island.
The deep-red seat is opening up with the district’s current Congressman, Rep. Byron Donalds, announcing his run for governor.
Collins’ political career in New York collapsed in 2019 when he resigned from Congress and later pleaded guilty to two felony counts for insider trading. He served only part of a 26-month federal prison sentence before being pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.
Collins first discussed his political future and the federal case that landed him in prison during a “United We Stand Trump Flotilla” event in the summer of 2023.
“I never would have been convicted by a jury, which they also knew,” Collins told the crowd. “So they leveraged my 24-year-old son with a promise of leniency if I agreed to plead. And I did what any loving father would do. I gave the DOJ what they wanted: my resignation from Congress, which silenced my voice supporting Donald Trump on cable news.”
Collins previously represented WNY’s 27th Congressional District and defeated now-Governor Kathy Hochul to win the seat.
“She was the congresswoman. It’s the only election she ever lost,” Collins added three years ago. “She ended up as lieutenant governor and is now the most woke governor in New York, and I have to plead guilty. I’m the one that created that monster by defeating her and kicking her out of Congress. In 2012. I was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump on February 24, 2016.”
Collins is known as the first member of Congress to support President Trump’s 2016 run.
The Republican field for FL-16 is crowded with candidates and credentials. Former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn, business magnate and former Illinois state senator Jim Oberweis, and two previous Congressional candidates are also vying for the seat.
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