National GOP elevates Mike Beltran as he takes on Rep. Kathy Castor

Shauna Muckle, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 8, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TAMPA, Fla. — Republicans want to make the most of Florida’s mid-decade redistricting effort.

The state’s new congressional map, passed by Republicans in the Legislature this spring, created four new red-leaning U.S. House seats that were previously blue. One of those seats is Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor’s Hillsborough County district.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, a campaign arm for House Republicans, announced Tuesday that it’s adding all four of Florida’s newly red-leaning seats to its “MAGA Majority” program. The program offers support to a slate of candidates in “key battleground districts” that Republicans want to take back from Democrats.

Former state Rep. Mike Beltran emerged from a crowded GOP primary to take on Castor in what’s expected to be one of the most competitive House races in the country.

A spokesperson for the Republican congressional committee, Maureen O’Toole, attacked Castor’s record on taxes, “pushing woke policies” and “undermining our national security.”

“Meanwhile, Trump-endorsed Mike Beltran has a record of lowering taxes, helping businesses thrive, and expanding access to health care,” O’Toole said in a statement. “Beltran has what it takes to send Castor packing and deliver for Florida in Washington.”

Castor’s reshaped district, which covers parts of Tampa and much of eastern Hillsborough County, would have gone for President Donald Trump by more than 10 points.

But in a midterm cycle expected to favor Democrats, a Beltran victory is uncertain. Two political ratings services, Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball out of the University of Virginia, consider the Hillsborough race one of the country’s few toss-ups. Cook Political Report recently shifted the race in Castor’s favor.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has put resources behind Castor, shot back in a statement.

Republicans are “stuck fighting a losing battle in a dummymandered seat that’s already backfiring,” wrote spokesperson Anna Elsasser. “Voters already know Beltran’s extremism and long record of opposing efforts to lower health care and housing costs while Floridians struggled to make ends meet.”

Democrats are also calling attention to reports that Beltran took down prominent mentions of Trump from his campaign website’s homepage after winning the GOP primary in August. Beltran’s spokesperson told the Washington Examiner, which first broke the news, that the website revisions were routine post-primary updates, and that the former state representative is not distancing himself from Trump.

“Of course Mike supports President Trump and the Working Families Tax Cut,” Beltran’s spokesperson told the outlet.

_____