BY SARA WARD

On April 1, voters from six counties, including Volusia, will be choosing the next U.S. representative for the 6th Congressional District of Florida. 

Special elections such as this one may reduce the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which initially sat 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats. Now it sits at 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats, with four vacancies, according to the U.S. House of Representatives. (There is an impending fifth vacancy in New York’s 21st District set for April 2 to free up Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s appointment as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.) Thus, if three Republican seats flip, the Democratic Party would have a one-seat majority in the house.

“The value of this election is national,” Nick Sakhnovsky, head of the Volusia Democratic Executive Committee said at a Josh Weil town hall March 19. 

The Beacon had a conversation with Democratic candidate Josh Weil to discuss his stance on the issues. Republican candidate Randy Fine did not respond to requests for comment.

A Democratic candidate hasn’t won this seat in recent decades, making it over 25 years since the party last held this seat. 

“We’ve lost our big races. We’ve lost our messaging. The party has struggled,” Weil said. 

Despite these odds, Weil is still confident he can bring home a victory for the Democratic Party, aiding it in its efforts to flip the House. 

“Our tracking polling shows that we have a comfortable lead right now, and we’re feeling really good about it as we move closer and closer to Election Day,” Weil said. “We have a president who is dismantling so many fixtures of our public infrastructure because we have a House that is so tightly contested with the narrowest margin in our country’s history. We’re taking back the House for sure.” 

On the issues

In order to do that, Weil is focused on the issues that are most pressing on the constituents’ minds.

“The No. 1 most urgent thing to the people living here is Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare … ensuring that there are not cuts, there are not impacts because of how heavily they are relied on,” Weil said. 

The needs of the residents in West Volusia will also have a particular focus, such as that of flooding. 

“The cost of safely and securely repairing and rebuilding far exceeds what the local government has to be able to spend,” he said. “We rely on federal money to get that done, and you rely on your representatives to support the belief that that money should come from the federal government to push forward.”

Recent controversies 

Weil has experienced recent controversies mentioned by his opponent, who held a press conference March 10 to address the incident of a canvasser for Weil, Arleci Darnae Brown, who was arrested three days prior on charges of burglary and theft regarding a bicycle while campaigning for Weil. 

The Weil campaign contracts Trailblazing Canvassers — a third-party, independent organization — for their paid canvassing, according to Weil. 

“We’re incredibly proud to work with an organization that hires restored citizens, gives them opportunities for gainful employment and to engage in the civic process since the state of Florida has chosen to make it so difficult for them to have their rights fully restored after returning to society,” Weil said. “It was unfortunate what happened. It was not anyone that was ever screened or hired specifically by us. They were hired by Trailblazing Canvassers, and they were released upon finding of their misconduct.”

At the press conference, Fine made additional claims that Weil had a “lengthy documented history of supporting Muslim terror and justifying and participating in criminal activity himself.” Fine referred to Weil as “Jihad” Josh. Later that day, Weil was set to hold a town hall in the DeLand City Commission Chambers. He did not attend, instead one of his representatives spoke to the large group there about the election. 

“There’s just too many places for me to be, and I got caught up late on the wrong side of a very large district,” Weil said.

He said that Fine’s comments put him behind schedule.

 “Everything ran longer, and all of the additional side meetings and response calls we had to have had us starting later on other [events].”

Background and campaign

Weil is a single father and a public school teacher.

“I understand the economic impact. You know how difficult it is going paycheck to paycheck,” Weil said. “I work in public schools. We don’t pick and choose our kids in public schools — we serve absolutely everyone, every child, every family in our district. And that’s the exact same type of mindset and philosophy that I feel like we should have from our elected representatives.”

Weil’s campaign headquarters is currently operating out of Palm Coast, but he currently lives in Orlando. Neither Weil or Fine — who resides in Melbourne — currently live in District 6. Weil said has full intentions of moving into the district if he were to be elected. 

“I feel it’s important to live in the district you serve. You don’t have to live in the district to run for office, but as your representative, I should be there.”

In the final two weeks of his campaign, Weil is focused on reaching out to the community to encourage voter turnout. His events have included a number of town halls, some with special guests like rapper and singer Killer Mike on March 19 and singer Patti LaBelle on March 21. He also hosted a combined music festival and bingo event March 20.

Ultimately, Weil’s main goal is to get people to vote.

“We just need to make sure that the voters turn up,” he said, “We just need to make sure that the people who support this campaign get out there and get out to vote.”