Age
60
Education
BA, University of Vermont, JD, Brooklyn Law School
Hometown
Lake Worth Beach, Florida
County
Palm Beach County
Instagram
@votevictoriafl23
Campaign Phone
561-597-3494
Our immigration system is broken and cruel, but it can be fixed. While the Biden administration made many missteps on the border, major components of their plan are worthy.
We must streamline the path to citizenship. That means bringing on new immigration judges and hiring additional asylum officers and support staff. We must welcome and protect refugees fleeing persecution in the American tradition. We must enhance immigration courts to help address the backlog, as well as provide support to resettle refugees.
We must improve border control with cutting-edge technology at ports of entry, and demand accountability from our Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers.
Finally, we must work with domestic industries that hire immigrants, like agriculture, construction, and tourism, to support both business and immigrant success and safety.
There is no doubt that climate change is a financial threat to our economy. Florida is a perfect example of the damage climate change is causing our economy, costing tens of billions of dollars annually, by several estimates. For instance:
• Our Children’s Trust estimates hurricanes, cost Florida roughly $50 billion per year in damages.
• Our energy costs are rising at a ridiculous rate, driven by the greed of NextEra energy, the parent company of FPL, which has the highest profit margin among US investor-owned utilities.
• Shifting weather patterns have altered the growing season for our large agriculture sector, making the cost of Florida’s fruits and vegetables more expensive. The list goes on and on.
• The Trump administration’s illogical move away from renewable energy in favor of fossil fuels only ensures efforts to provide cleaner energy are pushed farther into the future, meaning the damage to the environment and our health will continue to worsen.
My biggest priority is moving the US to guaranteed universal healthcare, a non-profit system that takes money out of the equation for patients and removes deductibles and co-pays. We are the largest industrialized nation without universal healthcare. Universal healthcare is not a fringe position, nor is it unworkable in our economy. I will look to join a coalition of fellow legislators to determine the best approach for funding.
My second priority is to end Citizens United. Money in politics is destroying our democracy. Billionaires, corporate donors and PACS have too much influence in our electoral process and our policymaking. Politicians are workin for their donors rather than their constituents. I back up what I believe in my campaign — we are not accepting corporate cash or PAC money. Over 95% of my fundraising is from small donors of $200 or less. We can pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
I’m an intellectual property attorney, so I work with freedom of speech issues every day. Freedom of speech is the bedrock principle our nation was founded on, and it is the one right most taken for granted. As I write this, there is reporting that ICE agents showed up at a polling place in Syracuse NY demanding a poll worker take down an Instagram post from months ago that included the name of the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. She wasn’t defaming him, or doxxing him; his name is a matter of public record. Fortunately, she’s fighting back, and I support her and everyone like her who knows that the ability to say what is in our minds and our hearts is precious. As long as our speech is not hurtful, it is protected, whatever it might be. In Congress, I will always stand with those who choose to speak their own truth, whether that is for expression, clarity, or peace of mind. We cannot ever back down from defending the right to speak freely.
Our Constitution is clear that there are three co-equal branches of government. Each of them must work with the others while maintaining their own independence and integrity to make our democracy function.
The work of federal agencies is overseen by Congress. The President has the right and the authority to select leaders for those agencies, be they Cabinet Secretaries or Agency Directors, but those leaders are subject to Congressional confirmation.
The administration’s priorities can be implemented by the Secretaries or Directors, and that is appropriate. But everything they do is subject to the oversight of the Congress to ensure processes are fair and unbiased, funding is appropriately spent, and the laws and policies that regulate the work of government agencies and federal workers is being done within the law.
First, let’s admit what we know: voting by noncitizens is extremely rare, and only a handful of cases out of millions of votes have ever been identified. The courts will continue to be the backstop in the vast majority of cases, such as seniors who don’t have access to birth certificates, women who changed their names when they married, or tribal IDs that may be considered ineligible as documentation.
As a member of Congress, I would introduce a bill to overturn the provisions of the SAVE Act and enjoin any significant legal challenge that follows. Fortunately, it seems that the difficulties in setting up procedures for states to handle name discrepancies are becoming clearer, and it may disappear as a workable proposal.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lays out 5 principles for the Department of Education that are a guidepost. These include: Fund research and new approaches to improving education, Ensure equal access to education and civil rights protections Improve education outcomes for students with disabilities, Improve education for all students by closing the gap induction outcomes for students from families with low incomes; and 5) Fund and support higher education access.
We must provide federal support for access to high-quality child care & the federal Head Start program should be more seamlessly aligned with state preschool programs.
For K-12, the federal role is primarily centered on funding equity, setting national guidelines, and supporting educational research. Title I grants that support supplemental education services to low-income K-12 students and IDEA grants that support “free and appropriate public education” to students with disabilities are vital.
Age
78
Education
B.S. from Boston University, J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center
Hometown
Great Neck, NY
County
Palm Beach County
Campaign Phone
617-823-7983
I support comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, strengthens legal protections for immigrant communities, and secures our borders while ensuring humane treatment and due process. This is about who we are as Americans. As I have said many times, "Security does not require brutality. Enforcement does not require lawlessness. And our immigration policy should reflect our values, not force us to abandon them."
In Congress, I co-sponsored the American Dream and Promise Act of 2025, providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders, repeatedly voted against funding ICE's illegal and un-American attacks on our communities, and introduced the No Cages in the Everglades Act to prohibit inhumane immigration detention facilities, including "Alligator Alcatraz." Recently, I have spoken out against the Trump Administration's decision to terminate TPS protections for people from countries such as Haiti and Venezuela.
Yes, I do, and this is particularly true in South Florida, where many of our coastal homes and businesses are at risk of inundation from rising sea levels. Across my district, climate change is already increasing the severity of flooding and hurricanes/tropical storms, making it harder for people to get to work, school, and their daily lives.
Simply put, climate change is a financial threat because no economy can thrive when businesses are underwater, families are rebuilding after storms, and homeowners are forced to spend more on insurance premiums. That's why I was proud to support the Inflation Reduction Act, which invested nearly $370 billion in clean energy and climate initiatives. And when President Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, I used my position as the lead Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security to oppose that decision, warning that it "isolates the United States from nearly 200 nations united in combating climate change."
Protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from cuts and lowering costs for working families are my top priorities. These programs are the backbone of America's social safety net, and I am committed to reversing the more than $1 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts passed by President Trump and congressional Republicans. I also support expanding these programs through the Social Security 2100 Act, which would increase benefits for seniors, while lowering the Medicare eligibility age and expanding coverage.
At the same time, I am focused on lowering the cost of living by making housing, health care, child care, and elder care more affordable. That includes ending Trump's inflationary tariffs, supporting universal pre-K and tax cuts for working families, and backing the American Affordability Act to expand affordable housing, reduce energy costs, strengthen the Child Tax Credit, and lower health care costs.
To me, freedom of speech is about more than the right to speak. It's about ensuring every person has an equal opportunity to be heard, whether they're advocating for their community, standing up for LGBTQ+ equality, or speaking out against discrimination and injustice.
I oppose efforts to censor educators, dismantle diversity and inclusion initiatives, or silence marginalized voices because those actions undermine the free exchange of ideas that strengthens our democracy. And I believe our democracy works best when everyone can exercise not only the freedom to speak, but also the freedom to vote without unnecessary barriers or intimidation.
The Constitution establishes a system of checks and balances that gives both Congress and the President important, but distinct, roles in overseeing the federal government. The current Trump Administration has repeatedly upset that balance by taking actions that bypass Congress and undermine its constitutional authority.
I stand with my Congressional colleagues in calling out these abuses of presidential power, including freezing funds that Congress had already appropriated for medical research, public radio, USAID, and Head Start. This is to say nothing of DOGE, which effectively dismantled Congressionally authorized programs by slashing budgets and laying off staff without Congressional approval. Among many other examples, the Trump Administration has launched military strikes in Iran and conducted brutal immigration enforcement operations in Venezuela without meaningful consultation with or authorization from Congress, further eroding Congress's Constitutional role.
I would work with my colleagues in Congress to create systems that make it easy and affordable for eligible voters to obtain the documentation they need, whether through hospital networks, state agencies, or other accessible channels.
More fundamentally, I strongly oppose policies like this that make it harder for eligible Americans to vote. Numerous nonpartisan studies have found that voter fraud is exceedingly rare and that proof of citizenship requirements risk disenfranchising millions of eligible voters, particularly women whose names have changed through marriage and lower-income Americans who may face barriers obtaining documents.
The federal government must continue enforcing our nation's civil rights laws in schools. However, decisions about curriculum and day-to-day classroom instruction should remain primarily the responsibility of state and local education authorities.
I oppose Republican efforts to use the federal government to dictate what local schools can teach or discuss, including restricting honest conversations about race and racism or preventing students from talking about their gender identity. At the same time, I oppose efforts to weaken federal civil rights protections by rolling back safeguards for LGBTQ+ students, undermining enforcement of our anti-discrimination laws, or reducing the federal government's ability to ensure every child has equal access to a quality education.
Age
55
Education
Masters in Business Administration
Hometown
West Palm Beach
County
Florida
Reforms to the US immigration system would be nice. The current divide is of concern and although there are many paths forward, getting partisans to agree is an incredible challenge.
The US demographics will require more taxpayers in the next few decades (30 years). Immigration offers a partial solution to that problem. How to proceed in the short, medium, and the long runs are the questions.
A cost versus benefit analysis is the place to start:
The NY Post reports today that the immigration surge from 2021-2024 triggered 30% rises in home prices, and 20% increases in rents. Unbridled immigration causes stress to other important taxpayers’ infrastructures too. On a federal level, Altruistic views of charity have a greater cost when the diversity that is imported lowers your wages, marginalizes your culture, increases crime, weighs down your hospitals, lowers the results of your schools, consumes your taxes, and tightens your laws, and ultimately restricts your freedom by rais
Should we be conscientious and prudent with our environment? YES.
Has the government used climate scares to increase government spending since the 1960s? YES.
My favorite book from undergraduate studies was surprisingly not a business book. It was a geology textbook by Steven M. Stanley titled “Earth and Life Through Time”. A textbook on 4.5 billion years of climate change. This class went great with my statistics 1 and 2.
My position is that the climate is in perpetual change, and man is just a moment in time. Americans thinking they can slow, cool, or change the planet in some significant way is just hubris. OR to think Americans can stop the other 96% of the earth’s population from polluting is even more egocentric perspective. Governments around the world are rethinking their green causes because there was no long-term thinking of an objective to begin with. So, just more government malinvestments.
Local obligations to our area, our county, and our states are where we
The 2 most important priorities for congress should be to reduce rising inflation and reduce the persistent cost of living increases in everything. Balance our government.
Inflation is always caused by government policy. Too much government spending is married to inflation. When the government’s expenses exceed its revenues, it borrows. The borrowed money is Inflation. Some of the inflation is realized now, and some of it becomes the burden of our future generations.
To slow inflation, congress must have courage and do what’s right via the appropriations process. The government currently spends 8 times more than what it takes in in taxes and in other revenue. If the government was an individual or business, it would have to face a reckoning. Bankruptcy would be forced upon both for their inability to pay their debts. The US government’s treasury has the luxury of endless funding via its central bank. This funding is not free. It comes to the taxpayer as the most regressiv
Freedom of Speech gives everyone an equal right to their opinion, to share what they consider altruistic, fair, honest, knowledgeable, or the opposite, without censorship, punishment, or retaliation from the government.
In today’s blurred world, it is more important than ever that we do our own due diligence. People should understand the difference between information and influence. People should understand that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is meant to enhance our lives but will be used also with malice.
Another primary function of our government is Justice. Justice is protecting citizens from abuse and coercion by other citizens. When speech is used to trick and deceive, then the courts step in to decide the civil and/or criminal punishments and/or reparations. Our Justice system is tasked with guarding the People’s right to property. Misinformation, trickery, deceit, and malice in transactions should be delt with appropriately.
The original intentions of the idea of Separation of Powers were to have both the president and congress to oversee the federal agencies in a complimentary way. The president is the daily general manager determining the short-term directions for policy and agencies.
Congress has a slower longer-term focus on agencies and policy. Congress in many cases determine How Much agency we need and get. The President and congress do not always agree on direction, and this is intentional to keep the overall balance of the country in check.
Today’s concerns are valid when a president starts a military intervention without the approval of congress. Since most of congress is funded by lobbyists and such, not many objected or sounded an alarm that created any action.
Our incumbent US House FL 23 representative votes, YES, on all government spending, so sponsoring another war is right on par. If no one says NO, the results should not be surprising.
Everyone interested in participating and contributing to the government election process should be included. Since the number of people affected by this issue is so low, it’s probably very inexpensive to aid them in getting this corrected and having them able to participate via the same methods that our citizens are required to meet.
Auditing more areas of government will fix these problems. Today’s technology offers great solutions to be applied in situations like this.
The 10th amendment does the right thing by putting the responsibility of education to the state and local level governments. Every community is different and one size fits all cannot be efficient. Coastal communities are different from deserts, mountains, and plains areas in many ways. The school calendars alone would be different for many reasons as well. States and local communities will adapt to their own environments better than any government program could ever implement. The states and municipals pay the bulk of 87-90% of the public education debt. Local obligations always come before universal ideologs.
The Federal government funds only 8-13% of public education. Considering the outrageous spending of last decade of government, this amount of funding seems fair. As with all government, it should be audited and offered ideas of efficiencies. The federal government should be there to help just enough, enforce civil rights, targeted (disabled) support areas and to provide
