Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent the last year advertising Florida as ground zero for the nation’s most conservative policies. In the process, he inadvertently emboldened a Christian school founder who is now pushing the limits of the state’s right wing.
Eddie Speir wants to oust Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan, one of the wealthiest members of Congress and an elder statesman in the Florida delegation. Speir’s candidacy is a long shot. He has little campaign money outside the half million he loaned himself and no high-profile endorsements. Buchanan’s campaign isn’t taking him seriously.
But Speir isn’t a random political newcomer. He was DeSantis’ nominee to New College’s newly conservative board of trustees. More specifically, he was the only nominee not to be confirmed by the Republican-supermajority state legislature last year — an experience that inspired Speir’s run against Buchanan.