One of the House’s climate hawks is politically endangered after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting overhaul placed her in a solidly Trump-leaning seat, but Rep. Kathy Castor believes affordability issues could convince even right-leaning voters to keep her in office.
Castor (D), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, has been a fixture of Capitol Hill climate politics for years. Representing the Tampa area, she has spent two decades warning about the effects of worsening hurricanes and rising temperatures on Floridians, including as chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
But under a new congressional map signed into law by DeSantis earlier this month, Castor’s district shifted dramatically — from a safely Democratic seat to one that would have backed President Donald Trump by roughly 10 percentage points in the 2024 election. Three other Democratic-held seats in Florida were also affected by the map changes.
Despite the long odds, Castor says she plans to run — and win — in the new district on one central issue: energy affordability.
