Dennis Ross says he’s heard the anger that Republicans have towards Washington, and he joins them in that anger.
“I’m angry about it because yes, we’ve tried to seal our borders but what has happened? Nothing,” said the Polk County Republican, speaking before a group of about 50 employees at a milk distributor in Plant City to kick off his 2016 re-election campaign.
Ross was elected in the Tea Party year of 2010 to the Congressional District 15 seat that had been held by Adam Putnam. Since that time he’s been easily re-elected twice, and is again a prohibitive favorite in 2016, this time running against first-time Democratic candidate Jim Lange.
The contours of CD 15 have been changed somewhat, with the district adding parts of Hillsborough and Lake County to its traditional base in Polk County.
Ross spent much of his speech criticizing President Obama.
We have before us, the greatest challenge that we’ve seen in my lifetime,” he said. “What we’ve seen over the last several years is a president who has refused to work with the Congress, a president who unfortunately is doing his best to put this military at pre-World War II levels, who refuses to take the fight to ISIS and eliminate them as a threat to this country, who refuses to close our borders and make sure that we’re safe, not only at home, but in our businesses, as we go about this great country.”
A hardline conservative who supported Jeb Bush for president, Ross is currently neutral regarding the current batch of Republicans still in the race. He said what’s going on with the Republicans and Donald Trump right now is a symptom of a lack of leadership over the past decade.
“Say what you want about Trump, he’s bringing people over,” he said about the New York City business mogul’s ability to draw people to the polls who haven’t voted Republican in previous election cycles. Ross says he’ll support whomever the nominee is, including Trump.
“He wasn’t my first choice, but you know what? The process has to take its toll,” Ross said of Trump. “It’s got to go through the primaries and then we as a party have to stick by our rules and let that happen. We can hope and pray that the right person will be there, and that whomever that person is who’s elected, surrounds himself with the right people who are the experts, who have the knowledge and have the ability to make the changes that we as conservatives want to see take place.”
Ross said Republicans critical of Trump need to be careful, since the same people who vote for him will be voting for Republicans down the ballot, like himself.
Ross is in House leadership with the GOP, serving as Senior Deputy Majority Whip.
Ross spoke before dozens of employees from Sunshine State Dairy Farms in the plant’s parking lot, but not everybody was aware of who he was.
“This guy any good?,” asked Rick Pearson, a registered Democrat, asked as he waited for Ross to appear. “Does he do well for the community? As long as he do good, he’ll get my vote,” he said.
After his appearance in Plant City, Ross was scheduled to hold events in Lakeland and Clermont in Lake County, now part of CD15. He will also appear Monday night at the Florida Strawberry Festival.
