As Florida Congressional redistricting plods along, much has been written about the drastic changes that Congressional Districts 5 and 10 could undergo, changing not just the geography, but also quite possibly, party demographics. One seat also slated to undergo some changes will be Congressional District 7, the seat currently held by Congressman John Mica (R). The planned geographical changes for this district are minor and will probably stay Republican.

Congressman Mica will face a challenge from first time candidate John Morning (R). Mr Morning has a distinguished service record spanning Desert Storm and Desert Shield and served in the Army until 2012. When asked why he is running against the long-term incumbent, Morning replied that “politicians seems to represent themselves and special interests and not the voters they were sent to represent”, adding, “if not me, who? if not now, when?”. Hoping to capitalize on intense voter dissatisfaction with professional and career politicians, Morning plans to emphasize the fact he is not a politician, but a concerned citizen and veteran. He stated he will not take corporate or lobbyist money, but fund his campaign only from grassroots contributions.

As a veteran, Morning is extremely dissatisfied with the ineptitude and bureaucracy of the VA and would like to work to overhaul the entire system by looking at best business practices that could be implemented and spoke about an independent review or audit of procedures and then work to implement what was recommended.

Morning would support a Constitutional amendment for term limits for members of Congress and would support an Article V Convention for that purpose. Morning stated he believes Congressional leaders cannot “articulate our conservative vision clearly” and seem afraid to do anything that would jeopardize their time in office. Morning offers conservative views on 1st and 2nd amendment rights,  a variation of a flat tax system and restructuring of corporate and capital gains taxes.

Morning said he learned much about leadership from his years of service and learned to lead by and through inspiring others, not through fear. While he understands this will be a tough campaign, Morning again emphasized he is not a professional politician and will fight to change the status quo. He concluded, “I am in the race. I am in to win”.