Marine veteran commits to self-fund campaign against Gaetz

Businessman and combat veteran Mark Lombardo has committed to spending up to $1 million to defeat Congressman Matt Gaetz in the GOP primary.

According to his press release, Lombardo flew CH-46 helicopters in Vietnam. He is a former FedEx executive and pilot who helped get the company off the ground in the early days. For forty years, he worked closely with CEO Fred Smith to establish FedEx as an iconic American company.

Lombardo is the son of Lt. Colonel Sam Lombardo (Ret.), a World War II Veteran who was well known in the Panhandle for his heroism fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and onto Germany as an infantry officer. Before his passing in 2021, Lt. Col. Lombardo was honored by the NFL at Super Bowl LIV(54).

“The people of Northwest Florida need a Congressman who will put them first. Matt Gaetz is a professional politician who has dishonored his constituents with unnecessary drama, childish gimmicks, and is reportedly entangled in a federal investigation for sex-trafficking a 17-year-old girl to the Bahamas,” said Lombardo. “Displaying the highest level of arrogance imaginable, he hired pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s attorneys and used the money from his hard-working America-first donors to pay the bill. His actions are disgraceful and do not reflect or represent the conservative values of Northwest Florida.”

He continued, “I’m America-first without the drama and gimmicks. Washington is broken because of people like Matt Gaetz. If you want to change Washington, send a Marine. I’ll get the job done.”

In his last congressional campaign in 2020, Gaetz raised $4,797,649. According to OpenSecrets.org, the congressman has $1.5 million cash on hand.