Thomas Witkop wants to become the youngest member of Congress. But he will have to go through a better-funded four-term incumbent to do so.
The 25-year-old in March filed to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast in Florida's 21st Congressional District. While he's running in a district Donald Trump won in 2020 by almost 10 percentage points, recent controversy over plans to build golf courses in Jonathan Dickinson State Park gave the North Palm Beach Democrat a moment.
"JD State Park is a perfect example of when the Florida Legislature tried to bulldoze the voice of the people and try and jam through something disguised as for the people," Witkop said.
Witkop organized hundreds of people for rallies to oppose the plan. As individuals waved signs outside the park, the developer behind the group abandoned its proposal with the state, and Gov. Ron DeSantis days later announced he would delay the controversial Great Outdoors Initiative for greater active uses in nine state parks.
Of note, many Florida lawmakers from both parties — not to mention Mast himself — spoke out against the plan as well. Indeed, Mast organized a letter co-signed by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with several local GOP leaders, denouncing the plans at Dickinson specifically.
But Witkop said that seemed hollow considering Mast's poor environmental voting record and ties to golfer Jack Nicklaus, a Palm Beach County resident who has been tied to the Dickinson proposal.
The golf legend designed the American Dunes Golf Club, which is tied to the Dickinson proposal through the nonprofit Fold of Honor. When Nicklaus Companies, which were involved in a similar proposal in 2011, distanced itself from the proposal, leaders stressed Nicklaus himself was not part of the company and the statement did not speak on his behalf.
Meanwhile, members of Nicklaus' family have donated to Mast's prior campaigns. Son Jack Nicklaus II has given $3,700 while his wife Allison gave another $2,700. And the elder Nicklaus' wife has given $12,700 over the course of multiple campaigns, including $2,000 this cycle.
"Brian Mast is all talk and says what people want to hear," he said. "He claimed to stand up to it and say no to a golf course on JD State Park but behind the scenes he takes almost $20,000 from Jack Nicklaus' family."
He also cites donations associated with Koch Industries.
But he's most concerned with Mast's voting record and how it has changed since the incumbent arrived in Congress. In 2023, The League of Conservative Voters gave Mast a legislative score of 3%, much lower than a lifetime score of 21%. In 2018, Mast scored a 29%.
Witkop believes Mast's politics have become increasingly extreme the longer he served in Washington, and an attempt to curry favor with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, a Palm Beach County resident, has turned the Republican fully right-wing (perhaps in hopes of becoming Veterans Affairs Secretary).
"He has effectively used the bully pulpit before to hold people accountable, but since 2016 he has moved away from those principles because he wants a job in the Trump White House," Witkop said.
Mast's campaign for its part dismissed the criticisms as politically motivated, and said Mast remains proud of his strong environmental record.
"Every two years, partisan politicians show up with manipulated statistics from liberal groups to criticize Congressman Mast on environmental issues, and every two years, voters re-elect him with overwhelming margins because they know he's been there day in and day out fighting to stop discharges from Lake O, send the water south, and prevent toxic algal blooms," said Brad Stewart, a Mast campaign spokesperson.
"Together with the community, he's authorized the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir to increase water flows to the Everglades, implemented the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual to cut discharges to the estuaries, and secured hundreds of millions of dollars to restore the Everglades and stop harmful algal blooms. Politicians who two weeks ago probably couldn't tell you the difference between Jonathan Dickinson State Park and Savannas Preserve State Park should be ashamed of themselves for using an issue that unites the community in common cause to divide people for personal political gain."
Witkop maintains voters in the region deserve a politician who stands away from the partisan pray in Washington and vows that's what he would do if elected. He supports federal rules, ones Mast opposed at committee level, that would allow the federal government to extend endangered species protections to threatened animals. That would have allowed the feds, if necessary, to stop the Dickinson Park plan to protect scrub jay habitats.
He also said he would advocate for poor populations often ignored in the more rural parts of CD 21, including day laborers.
He promises to be a bipartisan politician more in the model of former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, the Democrat who preceded Mast in representing the Treasure Coast. But the district under new lines and eight years of Republican gains will be harder to win than when Murphy in 2012 unseated far-right U.S. Rep. Allen West.
The district today is home to almost 228,000 registered Republicans, almost 42% of all voters there, compared to less than 162,000 Democrats and almost 137,000 voters without party affiliation.
Mast fended off a GOP Primary challenge from Rick Wiles while Witkop won his nomination unopposed. But as of the end of July, the incumbent boasted more than $2.2 million in cash on hand to Witkop's $96,000 at the same point.
But the young voter feels money will play less of a role in election outcomes this year than it historically has. The ability to organize hundreds for a march defending Dickinson in a couple days proved that.
"Today you can take a 15-second TikTok and get 100,000 views without spending a nickel," he said.
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