Ex-New York congressman pardoned by Trump is planning to run again in Florida

Former US Rep Chris Collins, who was pardoned by former president Donald Trump, is reportedly contemplating a run for Congress in Florida.

The former representative, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, told WGRZ’s Scott Levin that he is planning to run for the seat currently held by Rep Byron Donalds should Mr Donalds vacate it to make a run for higher office.

If Mr Collins were to win election to the House in Florida, he would be the first person to represent two different states in Congress in more than five decades.

Mr Collins’ tenure representing New York in Congress, his former state of residence, ended in ignominy. In 2016, he became the largest stockholder of a company called Innate Immunotherapeutics. The next year, the Office of Congressional Ethics found reason to believe Mr Collins had used his office to improperly benefit the company by sharing nonpublic information with investors.

Mr Collins and his son Cameron were arrested by the FBI in August of 2018, but Mr Collins eventually decided to run for re-election while under indictment. He won narrowly, with just 49 per cent of the vote in a heavily-Republican district, but resigned his seat just before pleading guilty to the charges he was facing.

After a Covid-induced delay, Mr Collins reported to prison near Pensacola, Florida in October 2020. But his sentence was cut short in December when Mr Trump pardoned him on his way out of office — rewarding Mr Collins for his political loyalty and opening the door to him for a possible political comeback.

Now, with Mr Trump himself under federal indictment while he attempts his own political comeback, Mr Collins is said to be weighing another run for office.

The district he’s supposedly eyeing for his next run, Florida’s 19th congressional district, is comprised of parts of Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel, Bonita Springs, Naples, and Marco Island along the state’s Gulf Coast. It’s currently represented by Mr Donalds, who has been linked with a future bid for the Senate or for governor.

The state’s current governor, Ron DeSantis, is running for president. He is term-limited as governor, and will depart that office in 2026 at the latest.

For now, Mr Collins is making do with a spot as a Trump surrogate. At a campaign event for the former president in Florida over the weekend, he told the crowd that he “never would have been convicted by a jury” and that President Joe Biden and his supporters are “attacking the moral compass of our great nation.”

“Only Joe Biden and his woke extremists are celebrating Pride Month,” Mr Collins said. They’re supporting the LGPQRSTUVWXYZ population. If I had my way, we’d be replacing Pride Month with make America great again month.”