laurel lee Rep
retaliation support desantis
one of former President Donald Trump’s top presidential surrogates and political influencers, Rogan O’Handley, aka DC Draino, may be considering a run for the U.S. Congress against Republican Rep. Laurel Lee in Florida’s 15th District.
In a recent conversation with Lee County Republican Party Chairman Michael Thompson, O’Handley appeared interested, yet reserved but said that he would seriously consider a run against Rep. Lee if all the MAGA political planets aligned.
Chairman Thompson told The Floridian that O’Handley “has not ruled anything out.”
“I spoke with Rogan O'Handley and asked him for his thoughts on him running for FL's CD-15 after hearing the calls from President Trump to primary Laurel Lee. Rogan shared with me that he is happy running his media company, but he has not ruled anything out. Rogan is exactly what CD-15 and America is looking for in a Congressional Rep, an America First Christian Conservative who supports President Trump,” said Thompson in a statement to The Floridian.
O’Handley’s potential congressional bid would certainly be seen as a shot across the bow to Team DeSantis as Rep. Lee was the only Florida Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives to endorse Gov. Ron DeSantis over President Trump during the 2024f Republican presidential primary.
There doesn’t appear to be any love lost between Trump and DeSantis, or their respective supporters.
Trump supporters have been openly denouncing some DeSantis influencers who are hoping (some praying) for the former president’s demise and a subsequent loss to President Joe Biden.
Quite a few of these DeSantis’ online surrogates have been openly pushing for their audiences to support Lee against a “MAGA” primary challenge.
President Trump’s recent call for someone within the MAGA community to step forward and primary challenge Rep. Lee seems to have been heard loud and clear.
“Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Florida’s 15th Congressional District? IF SO, PLEASE STEP FORWARD!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Conservative journalist and former congressional candidate Laura Loomer, who is a staunch supporter of Trump, is also said to be considering a run against Lee.
According to the Florida Division of Elections, DC Draino, or Rogan O’Handley, Laura Loomer, or anyone else, has until April 26 to file to run for Lee’s seat.
O'Handley could not be reached for comment.
Laurel Frances Lee (née Moore; born March 26, 1974)[1][2] is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representatives for Florida's 15th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she was a judge on Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit from 2013 to 2019 and was the 30th Secretary of State of Florida from 2019 to 2022.[3]
Legal career
Lee began her legal career as an attorney for the Carlton Fields law firm in 2003 before becoming an assistant public defender in 2005.[4] Lee also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2007 until her appointment by then-Governor Rick Scott to a judgeship on the Hillsborough County Circuit Court in 2013.[5][6] She was unopposed for election to a full six-year term in 2014.[7]
Florida Secretary of State
Lee was appointed Florida Secretary of State by Governor Ron DeSantis on January 28, 2019, replacing Mike Ertel, who resigned after less than a month in office when a 2005 photo of him wearing blackface as part of a Halloween costume as a Hurricane Katrina victim surfaced.[8][9]
In October 2020, weeks before the 2020 election, Lee sought to purge felons from voter rolls if they had outstanding court debts. Politico called the move "a surprise, late-hour move that comes after more than 2 million people already have voted in the presidential battleground." Lee's decision was not distributed to the wider public, only to local election officials.[10]
In December 2021, Lee made a criminal referral to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody seeking an investigation into potentially fraudulent signatures collected by Las Vegas Sands in a petition drive to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot for the November 2022 elections that would expand casino gambling.[11]
On May 12, 2022, Lee announced she was resigning effective four days later, seven months before the 2022 election. She did not offer a reason for resigning.[12] On May 17, she announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 15th congressional district in the 2022 elections.[13] She won the general election by a wide margin.
U.S. House of Representatives
Tenure
On July 29, 2024, Lee was announced as one of seven Republican members of a bipartisan task force investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.[14]
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:[15]
- Committee on Homeland Security
- Committee on House Administration
- Subcommittee on Elections (Chair)
- Committee on the Judiciary
Personal life
Lee is married to Tom Lee, a former member of the Florida Senate. They have three children. They live in Brandon, Florida.[16] Lee is Protestant.[17]