Former New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer, also a Republican, first to announce run for Congress
Photo for Headline Surfer /NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Former Congresswoman Sandy Adams, who previously represented the Space Coast for one term, has announced she will seek the Republican nomination for the 6th Congressional District, which she represented portions of during her previous tenure in Congress.
“We have an opportunity in 2016 to roll back the policies of President Obama and liberals in Congress,” Adams, who served from 2011-2012, told HeadlineSurfer.com, “but that means electing people who will fight for our values. I have a clear record of conservative leadership in Tallahassee and Washington.”
“We have an opportunity in 2016 to roll back the policies of President Obama and liberals in Congress,” Adams, who served from 2011-2012, told HeadlineSurfer.com, “but that means electing people who will fight for our values. I have a clear record of conservative leadership in Tallahassee and Washington.”
In Congress, the Republican Adams served on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, which has oversight of NASA and the Kennedy Space Center.
Prior to that, she served eight years in the Florida House of Representatives and established herself as a strong voice for law enforcement and victims’ rights.
Even before she formally announced mid-week her intention to run again, she gained the endorsement of a powerful Volusia County politician in Tallahassee.
“I am proud and honored to give my full support and enthusiastic endorsement for Sandy Adams for Congress,” State Rep. Fred Costello, R-Ormond Beach, said of his clear-cut support for Adams.
Costello, a former Ormond Beach mayor, continued, “Sandy is a proven leader who can take the baton from Congressman DeSantis and hit the ground running as our Congresswoman. She will be a passionate voice for conservative values, for upholding our Constitution with an emphasis on States’ Rights, and will bring common sense solutions to Washington.”
Adams spent 17 years as a deputy sheriff and also served in the US Air Force. She has earned a reputation as a no-nonsense conservative. The New York Times called her “the toughest” member of the historic class of freshman Republicans elected in 2010. “I’m prepared to pick up where Ron DeSantis left off – fighting for fiscal discipline, our Constitution, and our national security,” Adams said. “We need to hold the federal government accountable and we need some common-sense from our Congress.”
Adams spent 17 years as a deputy sheriff and also served in the US Air Force. She has earned a reputation as a no-nonsense conservative. The New York Times called her “the toughest” member of the historic class of freshman Republicans elected in 2010.
“I’m prepared to pick up where Ron DeSantis left off – fighting for fiscal discipline, our Constitution, and our national security,” Adams said. “We need to hold the federal government accountable and we need some common-sense from our Congress.”
Former colleagues in Washington are hopeful of Adams' return to get things done.
"We need good people like Sandy Adams who pour their heart and soul into doing the right thing in Congress. I've seen her up close and personal fight for our country. We need Sandy Adams back in Congress," said Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, a leader in the investigations of the Obama Administration on issues like Fast & Furious.
Chaffetz has endorsed Adams. She and her husband, retired Judge John Adams, live in New Smyrna Beach, where they recently purchased a home.
Upstart municipal leader Adam Barringer running, too
Adams is the second candidate to formally announce a run for the 6th Congressional seat currently held by Ron DeSantis, R-St. Augustine, since DeSantis announced last month he's running for the US Senate seat held by Marco Rubio, R-Miami, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president.
Headline Surfer® photo /Barringer first ran for public office in 2009, narrowly defeating first-term incumbent Sally Mackay for a two-year term, then he and his colleagues on the city commission voted themselves an extra year in office in order top move the city to to even-year elections.
Then in 2012, with New Smyrna Beach, Barringer was automatically seated for another two years after qualifying ended in June of that year and nobody stepped forward to run against him.
New home and opportunity for Adams in New Smyrna Beach
Adams was living in Orange County, but quickly shopped for a home in New Smyrna Beach, with Costello touting her name as opposed to seeking the post himself, once DeSantis announced last month he would seek Rubio's Senate seat in the 2016 elections.
Costello ran for the Congressional seat in 2012, but was roundly defeated by DeSantis in the GOP primary in 2012.
In the 2010 mid-term elections, Adams crushed Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, for the 24th district seat, with 60 percent of the vote to 40 percent for Kosmas.
The first-term incumbent's undoing was Obamacare. Kosmas initially voted along with 38 other Democrats against the Affordable Health Care for America Act. But Kosmas switched to a "Yes" vote for the Senate version of the bill since referred to as "Obamacare."
With re-districting two years later, Adams' seat was eliminated and she was forced to run against longtime Congressman John Mica, R-Winter Haven, for the re-worked 7th congressional district.
Adams' former district, primarily Orange County that included the New Smyrna Beach area in Volusia County, was folded into the district DeSantis ran for in 2012, that includes St. Augustine, Flagler County and some eastern portions of Volusia County. The Orange County portion she had was folded into Mica's district.
Mica won overwhelmingly over Adams in the GOP primary in 2010, and has since won re-election in 2014. He's expected to run again in the upcoming elections.
While Adams had only the two years in Washington, her impact there as a no-nonsense conservative was seen as real.
Congressman Trey Gowdy, R-SC, chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, said of Adams, "Sandy was a tremendous ally in our efforts to reform the federal government and provide much needed oversight. Her background in law enforcement was essential to our work on Judiciary Committee.