Pardoned Insider Trader Jumps in Congested House Race

Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2019, will now face off against former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn in the GOP primary to replace Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

Donalds’ gubernatorial run has left the safe GOP seat of Florida’s 19th Congressional District open, and two former members of Congress-turned-Florida transplants are looking to return to Washington.

Collins, who moved to Florida before being pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020, announced his candidacy in a video statement on Friday.

Cawthorn, meanwhile, served one term in Congress. He lost the GOP primary for North Carolina’s 11th District in 2023 after a series of controversies and scandals. After losing, the House Ethics Committee found that Cawthorn violated conflict-of-interest rules regarding a cryptocurrency promotion

“We need to take our country back,” Collins said. “We need to make America great again.”

A Crowded Primary

Aside from Cawthorn and Collins, seven other candidates are looking to fill the vacancy left by Donalds.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, former South Florida congressional candidate Johnny Fratto, and “populist Republican candidate” Dylan Modarelli have also announced their candidacies.

Former Illinois state Sen. Jim Oberweis, president of a local news station Jim Schwartzel, former Illinois congressional candidate Catalina Lauf, and veteran Mike Pedersen have also announced their candidacies.

President Donald Trump and Donalds have not issued endorsements as of yet.

Cawthorn declined to comment, and Collins did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request.

“Enter Broke, Leave a Millionaire”

Collins’ bid comes as a bipartisan group in Congress has introduced efforts to ban members of Congress from stock trading.

Congress continues to fall under scrutiny after its members, like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly hold stock portfolios that have outperformed major Wall Street hedge funds by creating national policy that influences private markets and use insider information as an investment strategy.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., one of the most vocal opponents of trading by members of Congress, has described it as an “enter broke, leave a millionaire” scheme. In December, she introduced a discharge petition that would force a vote on a trading ban for members of Congress.

Weeks later, Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., introduced the Stop Insider Trading Act to ban members of Congress from using insider information or altering policy to benefit their private investments.

“Members of Congress should not be enriching themselves with insider knowledge,” Luna wrote in a press release. “Both Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have acknowledged that insider trading in Congress is a serious problem and must be stopped.”

Luna added that on the issue of insider trading, “The people are more united than Washington is.”

Steil and Luna did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.