Lakeland man is Republican candidate for U.S. House-14, hoping to take on Kathy Castor

John Peters of Lakeland has set a challenge for himself in his first run for elected office: He hopes to take on nine-term incumbent Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, in a Democrat-leaning congressional district.

Peters, a Republican, has filed to run in U.S. House District 14. Castor first gained election in 2006 and has held the seat since then.

The district includes Tampa and St. Petersburg and other parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Its eastern boundary is just west of Interstate 75 near Riverview.

Peters, 60, said he opted to run in District 14 because he did not want to challenge a Republican incumbent in the districts nearest to his home, Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, or Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Brandon.

“Legally, I could run in Miami or Pensacola or wherever I want,” Peters said. “But for me, it’s right down I-4. I travel to Tampa all the time anyway. I'm right there. It's not that far. People drive from Lakeland to Tampa to go to work all the time. What's the difference?”

Peters, the longtime owner of a franchise business, said that he felt directed by God to run for Congress. He plans to pay the filing fee of $10,440 to qualify rather than seeking to collect the required 2,568 verified signatures.

Four other Republicans have filed to run: Ehsan Joarder, Renee Marsella, Neelam Perry and Robert “Rocky” Rochford.

On his campaign website and in an interview, Peters said that he thinks Democrats and Republicans could agree on 85% to 90% of issues and should shelve the others and focus on areas of concurrence to make the country better.

Peters advocates for term limits, an end to funding earmarks and continuing resolutions on the budget, stricter border controls and the freedom to choose electric or gas vehicles.

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Peters criticized Castor as out of touch with her constituents.

“She's been there 18 years,” he said. “This is a public service job — public service. She's turned it into a career, which is different than service. And she's not looking for solutions to problems.”

In the 2022 election, Castor defeated Republican James Judge, capturing 56.9% of the vote. Castor has about $504,000 in campaign contributions, while Peters has reported about $13,700 in contributions, including loans of nearly $9,000.

“My good friend Dennis Ross, who was a congressman locally for many years, said, ‘John, that’s a strong swim upstream.’" Peters said. "And I know that, and that's why I want to do that, because of the challenge. It's the thrill to do it in a David-and-Goliath fight.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Republican hopes to challenge Castor in U.S. House-14