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Anthony Sabatini running for Congress in Florida’s 11th district

Caden DeLisa

Anthony Sabatini, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, declared on Monday his candidacy for the Congressional seat in Florida’s 11th district. Sabatini served as a state representative from 2018 to 2022.

The firebrand Republican will challenge Rep. Dan Webster in the district’s primary race, making his announcement just months after losing to Rep. Cory Mills in the election for Florida’s 7th congressional district.

Sabatini’s time in office was marked by hard-right beliefs, serving as a close ally to former President Donald Trump. In his announcement video, Sabatini indicated that his forthcoming campaign will mirror those ideals.

“Send me to Congress and I’ll vote to build the wall, stop China from buying American land, and fight to enact Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda,” he said. “Woke corporations and special interests are going to do everything they can to defeat me in this election. When I’m in Congress, God, country, and family will always come first.”

In 2021, Sabatini attempted to transition from state to federal politics, initially declaring his intent to challenge the incumbent Webster for the Congressional seat in Florida’s 11th district. However, he subsequently expressed uncertainty about his candidacy, citing the impact of redistricting. In June of the same year, he announced his bid to challenge the Democratic U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy in Florida’s 7th congressional district, though he eventually lost to Mills in the primary elections.

In anticipation of a potential division among the far-right voter base with Laura Loomer’s possible entry into the race, Sabatini strategically positioned himself as a strong adversary of President Joe Biden in his campaign announcement, denouncing him as the “most corrupt president in American history.” and that his “radical, woke, insane agenda must be stopped.”

First elected to the state House in 2018, Sabatini remains one of the most followed lawmakers in the state of Florida, with a growing social media presence. At the time of writing, the Howey-in-the-Hills Republican is nearing 169,000 followers on Twitter and boasts an additional 35,000 followers on his public Facebook page. Sabatini regularly uses his platform to promote his agenda, casting a major political footprint that has earned him a fair share of supporters — and detractors — in the Sunshine State.