Frank Craft
Frank Craft (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 13th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Craft completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Frank Craft was born in Memphis, Tennessee.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Florida's 13th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Florida District 13
Anna Paulina Luna defeated Eric Lynn, Frank Craft, Dwight Young, and Jacob Curnow in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 13 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Anna Paulina Luna (R)  | 53.1 | 181,487 |
 | Eric Lynn (D) | 45.1 | 153,876 | |
 | Frank Craft (L) | 1.8 | 6,163 | |
 | Dwight Young (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 17 | |
 | Jacob Curnow (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 3 | |
| Total votes: 341,546 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Eric Lynn advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 13.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 13
Anna Paulina Luna defeated Kevin Hayslett, Amanda Makki, Christine Quinn, and Moneer Kheireddine in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 13 on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Anna Paulina Luna | 44.5 | 37,156 |
 | Kevin Hayslett | 33.6 | 28,108 | |
 | Amanda Makki | 17.0 | 14,159 | |
 | Christine Quinn | 3.0 | 2,510 | |
 | Moneer Kheireddine | 1.9 | 1,599 | |
| Total votes: 83,532 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Audrey Henson (R)
- Will Braddock (R)
- Christian Boston (R)
- Jim Davis (R)
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Frank Craft advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Florida District 13.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Frank Craft completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Craft's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Frank was born in Memphis, TN in 1983 and moved to St. Petersburg, FL in 1993. While attending college at UCF, Frank took his first foray into the business side of the arts, producing an independent film that was shot throughout St. Pete. After graduating, he moved back to St. Pete, which he has called home ever since. He is happily married with a son and lives in South St. Pete. Frank has 3 sisters and 3 nieces who pick on him mercilessly.
One thing that sets Frank apart from the other candidates is that this Congressional run is not about him or his career. He does not want a career as a politician nor does he want to be a firebrand with a goal of cable news punditry. Frank is throwing his hat into the ring to bring the House back to the People by having real negotiations with members of both parties, without the side-show. He wants to sit down with budgets and reform procedures - thankless jobs that don’t bring fame but can help provide a stability. Frank is running for the House to get Congress on track.- I am going to stay out of the partisan sideshow to get legislation passed that has broad support. Democrats and Republicans are too afraid of publicly admitting that they agree on some policy as it may weaken their position in the big-picture struggle for power. The Libertarian isn't in that game and can be an advocate for the common citizen.
- The House has abdicated its responsibility and it will continue to do so without some needed procedural changes that will not come from "keep the House" or "take the House" warriors.
- We must bring the budgeting process back. This is the case whether you support Progressive, Conservative, or Moderate policies. We propose legislation and just hope the finances work out. That is why we have more debt than any nation has ever had in the history of the world (not hyperbole).
We need to chip away at the debt. It is currently so high that they US Government **would not be able to afford** the interest on the debt if rates increased.
We need to bring the classical amendment process back to Congress. Without it, no one can offer meaningful modifications to improve legislation.
There is room for meaningful criminal justice reform that does mean de-funding the police. We should look at Portugal's great success with treating addiction as a medical issue as opposed to a criminal issue. Their recidivism rate is low as are their overdose deaths. Punish people who harm others, but let's help those who feel trapped and hopeless rejoin society.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Craft's campaign website stated the following:
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Fiscally responsible, socially respectful - just like you. How Do You Typically Vote?
Libertarians, like Frank, see eye-to-eye with Democrats on some key issues. Republicans, feel free to peek over here too. I promise it isn’t scary. A Few Policy Examples Criminal Justice Reform No, I do not support defunding the police, but there are some reforms that can help. Qualified Immunity has degraded the community’s trust in police more than any other policy and should be eliminated. It does not protect police officers from frivolous lawsuits. It solely exists to protect officers who violate someone’s constitutional rights (an act that can only be illegal). Addiction Treated as a Medical Issue The War on Drugs is a failure. Drugs are cheaper and more powerful than ever, incarcerations rates are through the roof, overdose deaths are skyrocketing and addiction is often described as an epidemic. We have to reevaluate our methods. Other countries have used the Criminal Justice system to put addicts into rehab instead of prison. Their recidivism rates are low as are their overdose rates - it’s working! A Voice for Everyone Everyone in this nation has a voice with the same weight. Whether you’re BIPOC, AAPI, LGBTQIA+, just a cisgendered, heterosexual white-boy, like myself, or any other human alive in this nation, your voice matters. I stand against any attempts to silence, demean, persecute or violate one’s civil rights. Our nation’s diversity is one thing that makes it great. I’ve always stood against hate and I always will. End Civil Asset Forfeiture Did you know that law enforcement can take your possessions without charges being filed? It's true! Many states have already outlawed this act, but Local Law Enforcement have figured out a loophole. If they bring in Federal Law Enforcement at the 11th hour, it circumvents state laws and the original agency still gets to keep 80%. This is theft, plain and simple. Outlawing the act at a Federal level will eliminate this loophole and protect you from government thievery. Corporate Welfare How many of our taxed dollars are we going to give to major corporations? Why is a company or industry considered “too big to fail?” I will stand against bailing out businesses for their own risky decisions. The Federal Government should not be in the business of propping up corporations or industries. Term Limits In 2010, a senior Senator from WV, who was an Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan, died in office after 51 years. Times were very different in 2010 than they were in 1959, when he was elected, but a lack of Congressional term limits allowed him to stay in office. Currently, the committee assignments are determined by seniority, not ability, so those that are least connected to the real world get the most power and the fresh faces get the least input. It’s time to end this system. 12 years should be the term limit for everyone in Congress.
Bring Back Budgeting Do you remember budgeting? We used to create budgets in order to plan ahead. Now, we just do OMNIBUS funding bills against hard deadlines so there is a constant threat of “shutdown.” I want to bring budgeting back and start to tackle our out-of-control deficit. We cannot continue to spend trillions more than we take in. Shrink Government Reducing the size of government is about more than just reducing the number of non-elected regulators who get to make decisions on how you run your own lives and businesses. Reducing the size of government will also reduce the cost of government, allowing the country to get out of debt and put more money in your pocket. There isn’t one single government department that can’t shrink and many that can be totally eliminated. End Civil Asset Forfeiture Did you know that law enforcement can take your possessions without charges being filed? It's true! Many states have already outlawed this act, but Local Law Enforcement have figured out a loophole. If they bring in Federal Law Enforcement at the 11th hour, it circumvents state laws and the original agency still gets to keep 80%. This is theft, plain and simple. Outlawing the act at a Federal level will eliminate this loophole and protect you from government thievery. First Amendment I’m a 1st Amendment absolutist. In addition to protecting the voice of the press and the traditionally dispossessed, this protects the voice of those who identify as Conservative, Religious, Crunchy and everything else. The solution to “bad” speech is always more speech. The real danger is in allowing bureaucrats to define what speech is safe and what speech is dangerous. Second Amendment “… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This is a pretty self-explanatory rule. It is dishonest to propose any gun-control legislation that does not first attempt to repeal the Second Amendment and the lawmakers who attempt it know this. They propose bills to pander to a base without having the courage to stand-up and tell the nation that they want to change the Constitution to take away our right to bear arms, uninfringed. I will always fight for 2A, along with all provisions in the Bill of Rights. Term Limits In 2010, a senior Senator from WV, who was an Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan, died in office after 51 years. Times were very different in 2010 than they were in 1959, when he was elected, but a lack of Congressional term limits allowed him to stay in office. Currently, the committee assignments for the Democrats are determined by seniority, not ability, so those that are least connected to the real world get the most power. It’s time to end this system. 12 years should be the term limit for everyone in Congress.
Political actors have gained a lot of power by dividing all of us. They focus on the areas where we disagree, turn those disagreements into litmus tests as to whether you’re a good Conservative/Republican or Progressive/Democrat and declare war on those holding the opposite opinion. It’s easy to get caught up in the circus thanks to corporate news and social media, but let’s face it. Just because our neighbor disagrees on tax policy or abortion does not mean that our neighbor is bad, hateful or disagrees on most topics. There is room to pass solid legislation by listening to the people and ignoring limelight divisiveness.. My philosophy is that I trust you. I trust that you want to be in charge of your own life and you have given little-to-no thought to trying to control someone else’s life. I trust that you will live your life without attempting to harm someone else. We have laws with consequences for those who do harm to people or their property and the rest of us should largely be left alone to live our lives as we choose. I trust you and I trust your neighbor. I do not trust an ever-growing bureaucracy nor career politicians to tell us how we should live.[2] |
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| —Frank Craft's campaign website (2022)[3] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 16, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Frank Craft for Congress, “On the Issues,” accessed August 29, 2022
