Republican Mike Beltran, the GOP nominee for Florida’s 14th Congressional District, is challenging 20-year Democratic incumbent Kathy Castor with a campaign built on federal spending cuts, skepticism of foreign military aid, and criticism of what he calls the Democratic Party’s drift toward socialism.
In an interview, the former Florida state representative and Hillsborough County attorney argued that Castor’s long tenure in Washington has produced little for Tampa Bay residents. “People in Tampa Bay have precious little to show for Kathy Castor’s two decades of incumbency. She’s had no major legislative initiatives. All she’s really done is rename post offices,” Beltran said.
Beltran said Castor votes with her party more than 90% of the time and is poised to help elect Hakeem Jeffries as House Speaker, which he warned would put Democrats such as Jamie Raskin, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in committee chairmanships pursuing what he called “radical policies” out of step with Tampa families.
By contrast, Beltran pointed to his own legislative record in Tallahassee, where he says he broke with his own party on several occasions. “I’ve had the courage to vote against special interests even when my own party had lost its way. I’ve voted against insurance companies, home builders, trial lawyers,” he said, adding that his bipartisan record dates to 2019, “unlike my opponent who discovered bipartisanship merely weeks ago.”
Foreign Aid and Military Spending
Beltran called for a reexamination of U.S. military commitments abroad, arguing that wealthier allies are not carrying their share of the defense burden. “You cannot have a wealthy country like Germany spend under 2% of GDP on their military when we’re spending over 5% of our GDP on our military budgets, about a trillion dollars,” he said, noting the U.S. borrows roughly $2 trillion a year from countries including China.
He contrasted Germany and Spain with Israel and South Korea, which he said spend more than 10% of GDP on defense. “Those countries are carrying the weight of their own defense, but we don’t see that from all of our NATO allies,” Beltran said.
Legal Background and Policy Votes
Beltran, who has practiced law in Tampa Bay for nearly 20 years, said his courtroom experience — including litigating in federal courts — would translate into sharper committee oversight in Congress. He drew a contrast with Castor, also an attorney, saying he had not seen her “apply her legal skills to any legislative initiative.”
He criticized Castor for opposing tax cuts on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits, and for a recent vote he said would have used taxpayer funds to pay for transgender surgeries for minors. “I see no reason why a single mother here in Hillsborough County should be paying taxes to pay for trans surgeries for minors while she actually is being taxed on her overtime or her tips,” he said.
Socialism as a Campaign Theme
Beltran said Castor has not distanced herself from democratic socialist figures within her party, pointing to her association with Angie Nixon, whom he described as an avowed socialist candidate. “She’s going to vote in lockstep with these socialists, first to elect Hakeem Jeffries and then to appoint these socialists to committee chairmanships,” he said.
He framed the November election as a choice about the country’s direction. “It’s not just me, it’s not just Kathy Castor, it is the direction of the country and whether we’re going to embrace these radical policies, or whether we are going to have economic growth and prosperity and safety here in the United States,” Beltran said.
Beltran also pledged to push back against wasteful spending regardless of which party controls Washington. “I’m going to work with my party, and I’ll work across the aisle, and I’ll work with any administration that’s in power to identify waste, fraud, and abuse,” he said, warning that failing to balance the federal budget would eventually force painful adjustments imposed by creditors.
