A veteran and special operations pilot during the Iraq and Afghan wars will on Thursday announce his campaign to challenge embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz in the Florida Republican primary, promising to “restore dignity” to the panhandle district.
Bryan Jones, a CV-22 Osprey pilot and small business owner, told us, “I feel it is time to begin a new path of service, one that will help restore dignity and honor to Florida’s 1st District — because the people of this district are good, honest, hard-working people, and they deserve a congressman who reflects their values and who will fight for their beliefs and their freedoms.”
He drew a clear line between his views and those of Gaetz and declared former President Ronald Reagan as his political idol. He also wants to see more veterans in Congress.
In a reference to Gaetz, who has represented the 1st District since 2017, he said, “Our district deserves an effective, values-driven leader in Congress, not someone under investigation for crimes that should disgust every decent Floridian.”
Gaetz has been dogged by a scandal but remains formidable, having raised $1.4 million by July. He also counts Trump, a Florida resident, as an ally and friend as well as other notables in the Trump wing of the party, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene who plans to campaign for like-minded 2022 Republicans.
Jones, however, should be attractive to many Republican voters. In addition to being a veteran and owner of a CrossFit studio, he is a small-government conservative who has pledged to shun his ego when in Washington.
“You aren’t going to get a career politician,” said the U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who is in the Florida Air National Guard. “You aren’t going to get someone who wants to get on the media and be a talking head for their own glory and ego. Send me to Washington, and you get a leader who is always going to be on your side — someone with the honesty, strength of character, and discipline to go to war against the elite and career politicians on behalf of we the people,” he added.
He is one of several special operations veterans running in the 2022 GOP primaries.
According to a statement from his campaign, Jones piloted CV-22 Ospreys “in the heart of Taliban country” and was awarded the Air Medal with Valor and the Joint Meritorious Service Medal. He also was the aide-de-camp to the vice commander of United States Special Operations Command and served as a legislative liaison for the command on Capitol Hill.
He also grew up in the district, notable for hosting Naval Air Station Pensacola, which trains Navy pilots. Jones is married to his high school girlfriend, now a middle school vice principal, and has two daughters.
