OUT-N-IN

Trailing Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Quits to Fight for House Seat Instead

State Sen. Annette Taddeo said her exit was a response to recent mass shootings.

State Sen. Annette Taddeo said Monday that she would drop out of the running to become Florida’s next governor, instead switching tack to pursue a Miami-area congressional seat. Taddeo, who announced her gubernatorial candidacy last fall, faltered on the road to the upcoming Democratic primary in August, struggling to establish the funds or polling numbers necessary to be a serious threat to her opponents, Rep. Charlie Crist and commissioner of agriculture Nikki Fried. On Monday, Taddeo said her decision to quit the race was a response to recent mass shootings. “We are at a critical point in our country,” Taddeo told CBS Miami, the first outlet to report her exit. “And frankly, I am not going to stand on the sidelines and not go in there and fight, especially after what we saw in Buffalo and Uvalde.” Taddeo has unsuccessfully run for Congress three times previously. This time around, she will vie for the seat in Florida’s 27th Congressional District with its current occupant, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R), arguably best-known for her ability to generate wild headlines about “neo-Marxists” in the media.