Suzette Cook
Part of NW 255th Street in Newberry was closed last Friday to host Republican Congressional Candidate Kathryn “Kat” Cammack.
Cammack is running for the Florida District 3 seat currently held by Rep. Ted Yoho.
While Newberry High Student Body President Micah Page stood roadside as a volunteer holding a “Kat for congress” sign, food tents prepared chili, barbecue, s’mores, and hot chocolate for folks attending the event.
Cammack’s promise to “Stand with President Donald Trump,” was evident when Businessman Billy Alford set up a stand to sell Team Trump hats. “Twenty dollar hats and $1 goes to the Trump campaign,” Alford said.
The event was sponsored by a list of backers including Newberrry Commissioner Ricky Coleman, Lamar Moon, Newberry Commissioner Paul Norfleet, Business Owners Pat Post and Michelle Pickett, and Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe.
“I am extremely excited to send a strong conservative woman to Washington D.C.,” Marlowe announced to the crowd of about 75 people. “We have real opportunities in this city and that candidate is standing right in front of you. She knows this district. She is somebody who can get hit the ground running on day one. That’s why I’m asking you to support her,” he added.
After a blessing of the food and the National Anthem performed by Destiny Community Church Worship Leader Cyndi Law, Cammack took the stage standing in front of an American flag backdrop and next to the First Baptist Church of Newberry.
“We can actually gather, have a cookout, close down a street, thank you Mr. Mayor,” Cammack said. “Beautiful flag, beautiful church, beautiful town, doesn’t get any more American than this.”
Cammack served as retiring Congressman Ted Yoho’s deputy chief of staff and campaign manager and said she is ready to continue his efforts.
She then shared her upbringing on a cattle ranch in Colorado and said she is a third-generation sandblaster.
“My work ethic comes from the ranch and being in business,” she said, and added that her family lost the ranch “due to a government bureaucracy.”
She moved to Florida to become Yoho’s campaign manager. “For the last 8 years I have been serving your district,” she said. “Now I’m asking for your support.
“We want to get back to the basics, defend the Second Amendment,” she told the crowd. “People in Washington are doing everything they absolutely possibly can to erode it. In Tallahassee, they’re doing everything they absolutely possibly can to erode it. Second Amendment first and foremost, we have to protect that Constitutional right because the First Amendment comes next.”
Cammack warned listeners about big government. Government agencies such as the EPA and OSHA “are not designed to help small business succeed,” she said. “Most of the time they’re debilitators and they make sure they do everything they can to make sure that you stay down.”
Cammack also had strong opinions about the impact current role models in Washington, D.C. might have.
“I’m a millennial so I take great offense when I turn on the news and see folks like AOC, Ilhan Omar and they’re saying ‘we represent women, we represent millennials.’
“Did y’all know that the largest voting block are Gen Zs and millenials? That should terrify all of us because look who they are looking to. They are talking about socialism, that’s the answer for them. But it’s not. We are in the fight of our lives for the soul of our country.”
Cammack concluded her address with an invite to participants to enjoy the food and ask her questions.
“It’s all about faith, freedom, community,” she said.
Photos by Suzette Cook