Matt Caldwell pulls down his cowboy hat and hoists a shotgun to his shoulder.
“Put it on live, lean into it and try shooting off into the distance,” he says. “It’s going to happen fast.”
It was a hot September day on a private ranch in Monticello, Florida, and the candidate for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services was spending the afternoon shooting before guests arrived for a fundraiser benefiting the Republican ticket.
He picked up the gun and had his campaign staff launch another round of orange clays on a skeet shooting range — an almost identical scene to one portrayed in an early Caldwell campaign ad.
“People seem to connect with it,” the state representative from Fort Myers said. “It’s a very traditional thing to do, to enjoy shooting sports.”
After the Valentine’s Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and the political fallout during the 2018 legislative session, it was widely believed that gun safety would emerge as a hot-button issue in this midterm election. But in many ways it has faded into the background of the biggest races, falling behind topics like red tide, immigration and restoration of felons’ voting rights.
Where it is apparent, however, is in a race less watched: the race for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services between Caldwell and Broward County attorney Nikki Fried.
Fried, a Democrat who is endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety, is not totally set apart from the gun issue. She owns a gun, holds a concealed weapons permit, and does not shy away from discussing it in debates and interviews.
She’s made it clear that she doesn’t want
