Join Rocky's Navy!

As a retired U.S. Navy Captain and husband, I believe family is the cornerstone of a strong America. The family unit is where values are nurtured, character is built, and faith is passed down. My 33 years of service taught me that true strength comes from unity, respect, and moral grounding, principles shared across Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other religious traditions that emphasize love, responsibility, and community. In Tampa Bay’s diverse District 14, family values transcend party lines; they’re about protecting what matters most in an era of cultural upheaval. My “Unbought and Committed” campaign fights for families by championing parental rights, education transparency, and policies that honor our shared heritage, countering radical ideologies that divide us. Below, I address key questions on how faith, family, and freedom intersect.

Do I think God should have a role in family values?Absolutely! God’s role in family values is timeless and essential, as seen in Christian teachings like Ephesians 6:4, which calls parents to raise children in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord,” or Jewish principles in Deuteronomy 6:7 to teach faith diligently to our children. Similar emphases on family honor appear in Islamic traditions (Quran 17:23–24) and Hindu concepts of dharma. I support voluntary expressions of faith in family life, ensuring government protects religious freedom without mandating it, fostering moral compasses that guide our children toward responsibility and respect.

Should we return God to our schools? Yes, but thoughtfully. Schools should allow voluntary prayer and moments of reflection, as upheld by Supreme Court rulings like Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022), without violating the Establishment Clause. Returning God to schools means respecting diverse faiths while countering secular extremism that strips moral education, leading to 40% of U.S. teens reporting persistent sadness (CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2023). I’ll fight for policies enabling optional faith-based programs, like chaplain services, to build resilience in our youth.

What about the separation of church and state? The separation of church and state, rooted in the First Amendment, protects religious freedom; it doesn’t erase faith from public life. As James Madison intended, it prevents the government from establishing religion while allowing free exercise. I’ll uphold this by opposing mandates on faith but supporting voluntary expressions, ensuring no one is coerced or excluded, fostering a society where families of all beliefs thrive.

How do we protect and fight for parental rights?Parental rights are sacred! Parents, not government, know what’s best for their children. My Children’s Bill of Rights will mandate curriculum transparency (supported by 70% of FL-14 parents, local poll, 2025), require consent for sensitive topics, and ban gender-affirming care for minors under 18, citing risks like bone loss and mental health issues (Mayo Clinic, 2023). We’ll empower parents with legal recourse against overreach, as in Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act (2022), ensuring schools educate, not indoctrinate. In Congress, I’ll lead the fight to make parental rights federal law, protecting families from radical agendas that undermine our values.

I’m running for Congress because Tampa Bay is my home, and has been for over 36 years. But now it’s under attack from the same radical playbook that Castor uses and has turned once-great cities like San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle into cautionary tales. I’ve seen the world’s worst places up close during 33 years in the Navy. I refuse to watch the community I love follow that path.

We stop Tampa Bay from becoming the next radical liberal community the same way we stop any enemy advance: early, decisively, and without apology.

· No Sanctuary City:  Ever. Mayor Jane Castor pushed to make Tampa a sanctuary city in 2019 and has never backed down. That would have invited exactly what we see in San Francisco today: tent cities, open drug markets, and skyrocketing crime. If even a fraction of that happened here, our neighborhoods would look like the Tenderloin in San Francisco (Open-air drug markets operating 24/7 on sidewalks (fentanyl, meth, crack); Thousands of homeless tents and RVs lining entire city blocks, with human waste and used needles everywhere;  Rampant smash-and-grab crime in stores like Walgreens and Target have closed dozens of locations because theft is so bad that police no longer respond; Aggressive panhandling and mental-health crises with people screaming, attacking passers-by, or overdosing in broad daylight; A 60–70 % drop in foot trafficdowntown because residents and tourists simply avoid the area), our small businesses would board up, and our property values would collapse. I will fight every day in Congress to keep Tampa a law-and-order city, fully cooperating with ICE and deporting criminal aliens—no exceptions, no excuses.

· Protect Our Families from the Woke Agenda.We’ve already seen the school board try to push radical gender theory and divisive curricula. My Children’s Bill of Rights will ban that garbage in every school that receives federal dollars, restore parental rights, and keep boys out of girls’ sports and bathrooms. Tampa will never become another Seattle, where kids are taught to hate the country that gave them everything.

· Keep Streets Safe and Clean. San Francisco lost 40 % of its downtown retail because of smash-and-grab crime and open drug use. Tampa will never go down that road. I’ll champion law enforcement, crack down on fentanyl traffickers, and make sure our police have the resources they need and are never defunded or demonized.

· Affordability Over Ideology. My Tampa Bay Affordability Act will cut housing costs at least 10 %, slash insurance premiums, and stop hedge funds from owning our neighborhoods. We will never let Tampa become another California, where working families are priced out while politicians chase green fantasies.

I’m not fighting because I want another title. I’m fighting because I’ve seen what happens when good people stay silent and radical ideas take root. Tampa Bay is my home, the Navy forged me, and now I’m answering the call to keep this community the free, safe, and proud place we all love.

The choice is clear: continue down the path of Castor’s far-left policies that destroyed San Francisco, or elect a battle-tested conservative who will put Tampa Bay families first.

I choose Tampa Bay!  I choose victory!

As a retired U.S. Navy Captain who took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, I believe nothing threatens our republic more than the erosion of trust in our elections. The moment Americans doubt that every legal vote is counted, and only legal votes are counted, our system is finished.

Vote-by-mail and electronic voting machines have raised serious concerns about confidence and transparency in our elections. Too many ballots lack a clear chain of custody, too many machines are connected to the internet, and tabulators can sometimes be altered with simple tools like a thumb drive. The 2020–2024 election cycles highlighted these vulnerabilities nationwide, and Florida is no exception. We cannot restore trust by expanding a system that leaves so many questions unanswered. We must return to the only method that is fully transparent, verifiable, and inspires confidence: in-person voting on Election Day with paper ballots counted by hand.

My Election Integrity Plan:

• Eliminate      universal vote-by-mail. Restrict      absentee ballots to military, overseas citizens, and verified medical      hardship only.
• Ban      all electronic voting machines and tabulators. Replace them with hand-marked paper      ballots using secure, watermarked stock that is virtually impossible to      counterfeit.
• Require      in-person voting with photo ID on a single Election Day (with limited,      tightly controlled exceptions).
• Mandate      full hand counts by bipartisan teams in public view, live-streamed,      with citizen observers.
• Criminalize      non-citizen voting.  Immediate deportation and felony charges      for any illegal immigrant who registers or votes.

Only U.S. citizens may vote in federal elections; that is the law (18 U.S.C. § 611) and the foundation of our sovereignty. When millions cross an open border unchecked, the risk of illegal voting isn’t theoretical; it’s inevitable. And who voted to leave the border open for years? You guessed it, Kathy Castor. And she has remained silent while other states experimented with mass mail voting and internet-connected machines. I will not. In Congress, I will sponsor the American Election Integrity Act to make hand-counted, watermarked paper ballots, and strict citizenship verification the national standard.

Because when we lose faith in our elections, we lose America!