John S. Columbus

Civil Rights

I believe God speaks to us everyday, and when it’s time to vote on election day, we should dig deep and trust God’s voice to make the right choice. That being said, separation of church & state is a founding principle of our great nation. I use my faith to make personal choices, but to demand my neighbor follows my subjective belief system, this is what the founders fought against. The first Amendment of the Constitution says that “there shall be no law establishing a religion," giving each citizen the right to exercise their own beliefs, as long as those beliefs don’t infringe upon the rights of anyone else. I believe God gave us free will, and in the land of the free, we should not force religious beliefs on any citizen. In this secular state, we have the freedom and a choice to seek God. Learn more

Drug Policy

The first time I was arrested was due to trumped up charges in 2012 when I was talking to loud about my favorite herb at a bar. I am currently a Florida Medical Marijuana patient, and am glad to see the acceptance of Cannabis shared with the majority of voters; but there is still more work to do. I want to encourage everyone to vote “Yes” on Amendment 3, 60% of the vote is needed to make Cannabis both recreational and safer for the community. Learn more

Economy

I believe we can keep cooling inflation by fostering competition; encouraging small businesses to grow will positively affect consumers. Take a good look at the numbers to recognize who has profited from the higher price for food, and who has taken the brunt of the impact. The FTC has reported how larger grocers have had record profits, while consumers struggle to keep up with the rising costs. I propose supporting small business that need help competing with the wealthy corporations who’ve been in control of the rising costs. Learn more

Education

When it comes to Florida’s average teacher pay, we rank 50th in the country. Between arbitrary book banning and a teacher shortage, Florida’s public education needs a facelift. As AI emerges, my solution to staying ahead of the computers is by using books as whetstones to stay ahead of the intellectual curve; Literature remains the most powerful tool to hone the mind for critical thinking and learning. We live in a time where computers are able to read and write and join in the conversation; and the best way to keep society smarter than the computers, in my opinion, is by reading. Every book ever written holds a universe of possibilities within each page. A vote for me, John Columbus on August 20th, is a vote to expand literacy and critical thinking. Learn more

Environment / Energy

I vow to leave this world a better place than how I found it. Imagine what our country would look like if Teddy Roosevelt hadn’t established millions of acres of public land, national forest, bird reservations, game preserves, national parks and monuments. I believe the majority of Floridians love and care about the environment, so let’s act on our instincts, and protect our beautiful home. Learn more

Foreign Policy

My grandfather flew on D-Day and continued on to fly over 60 missions in WWII. I believe it is our duty to the free world to stand up to tyranny. There will always be bullies on the proverbial playground, and to quote Uncle Ben, “with great power comes great responsibility.” When autocrats and dictators feel emboldened, I believe we should remind them to back off because we carry a big stick. The United States will always stand for freedom, and when our allies freedoms are threatened, we’ll be there. Learn more

Government Reform

I’m reminded of one of my favorite authors, Vince Flynn and the first book he self published, Term Limits, I am a supporter of the nonviolent concept of Term Limits (as in years allowed to serve as oppose to how Flynn describes it,) and I believe we need a influx of healthy new blood in Washington DC, from Congress to the Supreme Court. Learn more

Leading up to my run for Congress, I sold off all the stock I owned. I believe members of Congress who personally profit from the stock market before while dealing with information that is not made known to the public should be called what it is: Insider Trading and a Crime. Congress has been using their seat of power to personally benefit from their elected position, and I believe this sort of practice is a white collar crime that needs to be stopped. I call on Congress to either divest from the market, or hand their portfolio over to a blind trust until they are no longer in office. This will ensure the peoples needs come first. Learn more

I believe the right to vote in this country is sacred, and we need to ensure every vote is counted. There are some who want to stop counting votes after a specific time limit, and that would mean service men and women who vote by mail and absentee ballots would not have their vote counted; this idea is just plain wrong. We need to protect every citizens vote, and ensure election fraud is pursued and punished accordingly at every level. If there is evidence of fraud or irregularities, they should be investigated, dealt with, and reported. Once all legal avenues for a candidate have been exhausted, and the evidence points to a clear winner, there is only one thing left to do. With each election there are both winners and losers; and accepting the results of free and fair elections is part of this perpetual American experiment. As John Adams once said, “Facts are stubborn things,” and when facts and evidence prove the people have chosen a winner with their votes, no amount of wishing for a different outcome can change that simple fact. I also believe election day should be a federal holiday. Let’s celebrate this right our forefathers fought for, honoring and respecting the will of the people despite our differences of opinions; the alternative is far worse. Learn more

Healthcare

Healthcare: the ACA needs a lot of improvement, and I am willing to reach across the aisle to make sure every citizen has access to affordable insurance policies that cover needed treatments. Nowadays, too many people rely on crowdsourcing to pay for treatment. I believe Congress should incentivize and support Non-profit Healthcare, as it is against the law for them to lobby for themselves. Expanding the Non-profit sector would create greater competition in the marketplace, encouraging for profit healthcare to lower prices in order to compete. Learn more

Housing

The number one cause of the rising costs in housing is the insurance market. Insurers are running away from Florida because of how many homes are at risk from the threat of weather conditions. I believe the first step we need to take is investing in the construction of stronger homes, encouraging more insurance companies to come back to Florida. Once the insurance market has healthier competition, that will automatically lower the costs. But we can’t stop there. I believe investing in clean energy and cutting carbon emissions will help take care of our shared home, and in turn, our planet will take better care of us.Item description. Learn more

Immigration

I believe the American people deserve safety, so, let’s fix the issue, logically, and in a humane way instead of gaslighting, and creating chaos for the American people. Adding more security, and properly processing the flow of people who wish to live the greatest country in the world is where we need to start. Learn more

If elected, I’d advocate for a comprehensive system that would be able to conduct background checks on immigrants who wish to immigrate to the United States. Right now, our do-nothing congress is letting anyone in, and we have no idea who they are. If we work closely together with other countries sharing interagency information, we can work to prevent violent criminals and anyone associated with terrorist cells to come into our country. Learn more

Wages / Job Benefits

The backlash from Floridians across the sate at the passage of HB 433, the bill the Florida Legislature passed banning requirements for counties and cities from providing shade and water breaks, got me thinking, “perhaps this issue needs to be addressed at the federal level.” I believe our American values should encourage safe environments for every worker, and forcing workers to endure inhospitable conditions for prolonged periods of time is inhumane. The only way to push back against the cruel HB 433, is to expand basic worker protections to every corner of America. Learn more