Michael Kirwan

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Families across North Florida are feeling the squeeze from higher prices. I will focus on practical steps to ease those pressures: eliminating tariffs, stopping Wall Street from competing with families for buying homes and pricing out first-time homebuyers, and stabilizing property insurance with federal backing where needed. I will support the restoration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When markets are fair and families get a level playing field, the cost of living becomes manageable.

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Competition reduces costs and incentivizes better delivery. The Affordable Care Act vastly expanded access to health insurance but changes to the ACA by Congress reduced competition. We need to restore competition by offering a public health insurance option to compete against private insurance. We also need to stop large corporations from owning multiple layers of health care delivery. No insurer should own the doctors who decide your treatment.

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We have to control our borders. We need a sensible immigration policy that reflects the needs of our nation for workers as well as welcome the world’s best and brightest. We must also reflect our country’s values and accept our fair share of those who flee from persecution, war and other calamities.

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I will work to restore sensible environmental regulations and to protect our parks from private developers. Climate change needs to be acknowledged and sustainable business practices and renewable energy should be encouraged. While being mindful of the need to protect our environment, our regulatory approval process for construction projects must be changed to be a faster and more certain process.

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Public service is about trust. That’s why I will hold myself and Congress to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. I’ll ensure federal programs are regularly reviewed so tax dollars are spent wisely. North Florida families deserve leaders who take integrity seriously and work every day to earn their trust.

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I believe we need to respect the dignity of every human being. That includes women making the decision when it comes to their own body. I also believe that women must have the right to good healthcare.

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Our tax code needs to raise the necessary revenue while also being fair to all. The IRS must be restored to being a well functioning agency and not used to punish partisan enemies. IRS employees need to be respected and not ridiculed. Paying taxes is a key part of our social contract. The IRS should offer software that assist taxpayers with paying their taxes for free. The concept that a taxpayer needs to pay a third party in order to pay their taxes is unacceptable. The tax code’s numerous loopholes and tax breaks that allow billionaires to pay taxes at lower rates than average taxpayers must be eliminated.

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We need to provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are in our country. Immigrants who are part of our community and are productive members of our society need to be accepted. We need for ICE agents to remove their masks and stop their heavy handed tactics. Masked men in unmarked cars picking people up off the street is kidnapping, it is not law enforcement.

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I support a balanced approach to immigration reform that secures our borders, modernizes our legal immigration system, and treats people with dignity. First, we need effective border security. A country must know who is entering and leaving, and immigration laws must be enforced fairly and consistently. Second, we need to fix our legal immigration system. Employers, families, and immigrants often face years-long backlogs and unnecessary bureaucracy. We should streamline legal pathways, reduce delays, and ensure businesses can access needed workers while protecting American workers and wages. Third, Congress should address the status of people who have lived, worked, paid taxes, raised families, and contributed to their communities for years. Any solution should uphold the rule of law while recognizing the realities facing families, employers, and communities. We can have secure borders, an orderly immigration system, and remain a nation of opportunity. Those goals aren’t in conflict.

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Yes. Climate change is real, it is already affecting communities across our country, and pretending otherwise only makes the problem harder and more expensive to address. Climate change presents significant financial risks to our economy. In Florida, those risks are particularly visible. Rising insurance costs, stronger storms, flooding, and damage to public infrastructure all carry real economic consequences for families, businesses, and taxpayers. I believe Congress should take a practical approach that strengthens infrastructure, supports innovation, encourages cleaner and more efficient technologies, and helps communities prepare for changing conditions. As a Floridian, I have seen firsthand how rising insurance premiums and storm recovery costs affect working families. These are not abstract concerns. They are real financial burdens facing households and businesses today.

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My first priority would be lowering the cost of living for working families. Housing costs continue to rise, health and property insurance premiums are straining family budgets, healthcare remains unaffordable for many, and young people are finding it harder to buy a home than previous generations. Congress has too often failed to address the shortage of affordable housing and other barriers to opportunity. I would focus on practical reforms that expand housing supply, increase competition, and reduce financial pressure on working families. My second priority would be restoring Congress as a functioning institution capable of addressing the country's long-term challenges. Too many Americans see endless political conflict but little progress on issues such as immigration, housing, infrastructure, and the national debt. I would work to strengthen ethics standards, increase transparency, and help restore a culture of governing that values problem-solving over political theater.

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To me, freedom of speech is one of the foundations of a free society. It protects the right of people to express their views, criticize their government, advocate for change, practice their faith, organize politically, and engage in public debate without fear of government punishment. Freedom of speech is especially important because it protects speech we disagree with, not just speech we find comfortable or popular. While no right exists in complete isolation from other rights and responsibilities, our default position should be to protect speech, not suppress it.

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Both Congress and the President have important oversight responsibilities, and our constitutional system works best when each branch fulfills its role. Federal agencies are part of the executive branch, so the President is responsible for managing them and ensuring they faithfully execute the laws. At the same time, Congress oversees agencies through hearings, investigations, appropriations, and legislation. This helps ensure agencies remain accountable to the public and operate within the authority granted by law. Unfortunately, Congress has not always exercised its oversight responsibilities as vigorously as it should. Recently, there have been concerns about executive overreach, the politicization of federal institutions, and actions by agencies that many believe exceed their legal authority. Regardless of which party controls the White House, Congress has an obligation to investigate those concerns, demand transparency, and hold executive officials accountable to the law.

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Existing federal law already limits voting in federal elections to U.S. citizens, and there is little evidence that non-citizen voting occurs on a scale that would justify imposing significant new barriers on eligible voters. I believe our existing system of requiring voter identification at polling places is sufficient and there is no need to add additional burdens. If Congress were to impose such a requirement, government would have a responsibility to ensure that eligible citizens are not denied access to the ballot because of cost, bureaucracy, or missing paperwork. I would support making the necessary documents readily available, affordable, and, where appropriate, free of charge. My guiding principle is simple: if an eligible citizen has the right to vote, government should be helping that citizen participate, not creating obstacles that make participation more difficult.

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While states and local communities should remain primarily responsible for operating schools, the federal government has an important role in expanding educational opportunity. At the preschool level, I support universal access to Pre-K education. Early childhood education supports working families while helping children build foundations for lifelong success. At the K-12 level, primary responsibility should remain with states and local districts. However, the federal government should support disadvantaged students, enforce civil rights protections, assist students with disabilities, and help ensure opportunity is not determined by a child's ZIP code. In higher education, the federal government should focus on affordability, strengthening student aid, supporting public higher education, and recognizing that technical education, apprenticeships, and workforce training are valuable pathways alongside four-year degrees. The federal role is to expand access and opportunity.