Meet the Candidates: Congressional District 3

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack (left), R-Gainesville, faces off with Democratic challenger Tom Wells for U.S. Congressional District 3 in the 2024 general election.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack (left), R-Gainesville, faces off with Democratic challenger Tom Wells for U.S. Congressional District 3 in the 2024 general election.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, faces off with Democratic challenger Tom Wells for U.S. Congressional District 3 in the 2024 general election. 

The district covers Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Suwannee and Union counties. 

This will be Cammack’s second time defending her seat, which she held successfully through the 2022 election with 62.5% of the vote. 

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In August, Cammack beat her Republican opponent, Alec Stevens, with 87% of the vote in the primary race, while Wells was unopposed in the primary. 

Mainstreet is publishing candidate questionnaire answers as received, with only edits for clarity. 

Kat Cammack
Courtesy of Kat Cammack Kat Cammack

Kat Cammack 

Website: https://katforcongress.com/ 

Age: 36 

Occupation: Congresswoman for Florida’s Third Congressional District   

Previous experience in elected office: Member of Congress for FL-03 (2021-present); Deputy Chief of Staff for FL-03 (2012-2020)  

Public service other than elected office: N/A 

What are your top three priorities if you are elected?  

If I’m re-elected to the House of Representatives, my top priorities remain those of my constituents: making sure life is affordable and Americans are able to provide for their families; defending our nation and keeping it safe; and stopping the gross regulatory overreach that’s been killing individuals, families, and businesses for decades. 

Under the Biden administration, life has become unaffordable and the American dream has started to slip away. Whether it’s purchasing your first home or saving for retirement, inflation has crushed the American people for the better part of the last four years. I hear it from constituents in North Central Florida each day that we have to lower costs and stop inflationary spending. House Republicans have already taken steps toward these goals and I look forward to implementing them in the new year.  

Every town in America has become a border town under the Biden-Harris regime, allowing over ten million illegal immigrants to enter the United States without proper vetting. Our communities deserve to feel safe and this starts with securing our southern border. This Congress I voted for comprehensive border security measures, including H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, that would have put an end to the careless, dangerous practices at the border. Democrats in the Senate, however, stalled the legislation and failed to act. 

For decades, bureaucrats in Washington basements have made decisions on behalf of the American people, generating dozens of agency rules that have not been approved by Congress. This Congress I passed the REINS Act, a bill to ensure all major agency rules costing more than $100M are approved by Congress before taking effect. This will be one of my top legislative priorities again in the new Congress and I look forward to President Trump signing it into law. 

What recent legislation have you disagreed with, if any, and why?   

I’m proud of the work we’ve done during the Republican majority this Congress. We passed a handful of solid pieces of legislation that move us closer to our goals in securing the border and lowering costs. While I can’t say the same for my Democratic counterparts in the Senate, I’m looking forward to electing President Trump this November and sending good bills to his desk.  

What most differentiates you from your opponent?  

I believe we’re focused on very different issues. After four years of representing this district and the people of North Central Florida, I know that the issues most on their minds are the ones we all share about our core values—keeping our families and our nation safe, ensuring we can afford to put food on our tables, and pursuing the American dream.  

The Biden administration, on the other hand, has been focused on very different priorities, choosing to put our national security and our communities’ safety dead last. Just recently Democrats have admitted the crisis at our southern border is a problem, which is something I and my colleagues have been saying for four years now. They also just recently admitted that inflation is a problem, demonstrating just how out of touch with the American people and Floridians they’ve been for the last four years.  

I’m committed to working with a Republican majority and a Republican president in the White House to say enough is enough and to put our nation back on track. 

What makes you the best candidate to represent District 3? 

Over the last four years, I’ve been privileged to represent the people of Florida’s Third Congressional District. It’s been the honor of a lifetime serving and getting to know the amazing people that make this district the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Over the years, I’ve proudly supported the University of Florida and its incredible educational opportunities for the thousands of Gators who make Gainesville and the surrounding areas their home. I’ve worked on behalf of our agricultural producers in our rural communities, developing a strong Farm Bill to address our producers’ needs. And most recently, we’ve endured several hurricanes together, most recently Hurricane Helene. I love this area, I believe in our people, and I’m ready to continue the strong momentum we’ve built. 

Tom Wells
Courtesy of Tom Wells Tom Wells

Tom Wells 

Website: https://www.tomwellsforcongress.com/ 

Age:  74 

Occupation: Retired. Formerly: Founder/Owner of a small R&D firm World Radomes Inc. 

Previous experience in elected office:  None 

Public service other than elected office: Sparse. Volunteering in some playground construction. Youth coaching of Ultimate Frisbee. Involvement in fundraising, lobbying, and study of Medicare for All. 

What prompted you to run for the US Congress FL CD3? 

I had followed US foreign policy in dismay since Vietnam in the ‘60s. Then destruction of our middle class since the Reagan administration. Obama 2008 spoke to all the issues I felt important – but he could not deliver. I began to understand why: That Corporate (Yep. I’m saying Corporate.) $$s won most elections – and voters lost. Bernie [Sanders] burst onto the national spotlight in 2015 speaking to the critical issues, and I campaigned for him tirelessly. In 2016, the DNC snuffed him, about the same time that the Democratic CD3 candidate withdrew. I jumped in. Been studying, learning, campaigning face-to-face ever since. 

What are your top three priorities if you are elected? 

If Trump is elected, then I expect he will have a loyal (ought I say cult-like?) majority in the House. I will work hard to pull votes away from inevitable proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Corporate taxes. . . With Harris elected, my first and most important goal will be to build a Democratic consensus to convince her administration, and the DNC, that to use the un-natural dictatorial powers that 6 members of the Court gave to the President to demand the resignation of those six and the rescission of Precedents that exceed the dictates of Judicial Review (i.e. most Precedents).  This restores the Constitution. Then many things can be done: Clean public funding of elections by voter vouchers, save a trillion+ dollars per year by full-up Medicare for All. But of course the major work, the imperative work, is to address Climate Chaos at a WWII level of investment – and pray that it is not too late. 

What votes from recent legislative sessions have you disagreed with, if any, and why? 

There are few that I’ve agreed with. Why? The deep reason is that the Supreme Court has fundamentally altered our Constitution: usurping the administrative and regulatory functions of the Executive branch (recent rulings: Loper Bright, Jarkesy, and Corner Post), legalized unlimited Bribery (Snyder and 2017 McDonnell), and given the President (via Trump v. United States) the dictatorial power to order military executions et.al. The Court has already used its self-given un-Constitutional powers to nullify Biden’s rules for overtime pay of “managers,” a 30-year-old rule for Student Debt relief. . . (well over 100 cases pending). 

What most differentiates you from your opponent? 

I will not accept Corporate money. It dominates Congress, Court, and Executive to the detriment of the people. And yes I said Corporate money in the same sense that the Republican Party calls mine the Democrat Party. My opponent has no such quibbles. 

I will honor my oath to support and defend the Constitution. Three days after her swearing in, and after avoiding the armed mob that her ‘Great Leader’ sent to the Capitol on J6, my opponent voted that night to seat 2 of the panels of False Electors. Her voting record is that of a Party loyalist. My loyalty will always be to the people that elect me and to the Constitution. 

Both Parties now support genocide in Gaza by U.S. bombs with escalation to other countries; both promise more fracking for frackers’ profit, with Americans dying in fracking zones. I do not, I will not support these things. 

What makes you the best candidate to represent District 3? 

In all my votes I will support and argue for the Constitution and the well-being of the people of CD3, of the U.S., of the world, to the best of my abilities. I will argue my positions in Town Halls. For important votes – barring those that require immediate action, I will publish my arguments for or against a pending Act online and look to refine my positions by feedback received. I have a strong physical science background (Ph.D. in theoretical physics) – a skillset/mindset sorely missing in Congress. 

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Eyes Wide Open

Funny the Dems couldn’t come up with a viable candidate for this seat. I guess they’re too busy spending all their money trying to take GRU back.