Andrew is a veteran US Navy Officer, owner of a neighborhood learning center, and he lives, works, and is from here in the District. He’s running for Congress to fight for a better future for all of us living along the I-4 Corridor.
Andrew was the Navy’s surface planner for 5th Marines out of Bahrain when Trump ordered a mission into Southern Yemen on his third day on the job that ended in the loss of one of our American heroes. It was the mission, you may recall, where he tweeted the Muslim Ban the night before the team went in, took the briefing in an unclassified Mar-a-Lago ballroom, and acted recklessly in approving a mission that had been put on the backburner for nearly a year prior because the objective wasn’t perceived to be worth the risk.
THE PERSPECTIVE OF A VETERAN.
THE PRIORITIES OF A PROGRESSIVE.
ABOUT ANDREW
Andrew is a veteran of eight years and three Middle East deployments.
He led teams combating Somali piracy and planning missions against
ISIS in Iraq, Yemen, and Syria. He is a native of the 15th District and
a small business owner, opening a neighborhood learning center
after returning from deployment. For the past year, Andrew has been
campaigning on a simple messagebring new ideas with a new
generation of leadership to Washington. The politics of the past, the
dysfunction, and good ol' boy networks have held our community
back for too long. It's time for a change.
"Democrats hope to steal Ross'
Florida House seat after surprise
retirement Learned's profile
matches well with the district"
POLITICO, 04/11/18
"Florida's 15th Congressional district
up for grabs On the Democratic
side, Andrew Learned is already
running and is the front-runner"
NBC News Channel 8, 4/8/18
THE DISTRICT
FL-15 is an open seat and a key Democratic pickup opportunity in
line with other nationally targeted seats. This race is a critical part of
the Democratic effort to take back the House in 2018. FL-15 is an
R+6 district but following the retirement of Republican Dennis Ross
it was rated by The Cross Tab as one of the top 24 most likely House
flips. FL-15 spans the famously purple I-4 Corridor encompassing
the perennially battleground suburbs between Tampa and Orlando.
The counties within the district include Hillsborough, Lake, and Polk.
The last Democrat to challenge for FL-15 only raised $37k and this
seat has never been vigorously contested since redistricting made
the electorate significantly less Republican.
STATE OF THE RACE
FL-15 became an open-seat with the surprising retirement by Republican Dennis Ross. Since
then, Andrew has been campaigning and building momentum. Before Ross' retirement, Andrew
received more individual contributions than any Democratic candidate in the history of Florida's
15th Congressional Dis