For over 30 years David Silverberg covered the government as a journalist in Washington, D.C. An investigative reporter, he is a former managing editor of The Hill and founding editor of Homeland Security Today. He authored the book "Congress for Dummies" and has been writing The Paradise Progressive blog since 2018. He’s a Democrat running for Florida Senate District 28, which covers Collier and Hendry counties and parts of Lee County. He has lived in Southwest Florida since 2013.

The Naples resident has always been politically engaged but became even more so as a critic of Alligator Alcatraz.

"After 2016, after Trump's election, after I saw what was going on with our whole political system, and then the creation of Alligator Alcatraz, I decided that I would jump into this race," he said. "It is in or it was in this district. So the Florida Senator who represents the 28th district had a direct say in this, what I regarded as a crime against humanity."

Although it’s closed, the subject isn't over. Silverberg wants to look into what he calls the “waste, fraud and abuse” that characterized the detention center.

The Senate seat for the 28th District is now held by Kathleen Passidomo, who is term-limited from running again. Silverberg believes it's time for a change anyway.

Passidomo did not speak out about Alligator Alcatraz, he said, In addition, "I have not seen her being active in terms of representing not nearly the geographic aspects of this district, but its demographic aspects.

"I want to represent everybody in this district," he said. "And that means the hardworking people who are going out laboring every day (who) don't get heat breaks in the summer because the Florida Legislature prohibits them. I want to represent the seniors who are having difficulty meeting the cost of living and are watching their savings, their retirement savings disappear. And I want to represent the businesses and the entrepreneurs who make this economy move.

"And I don't think that the full spectrum of the population in District 28 has been fully represented in Tallahassee, which I always call Big Tallahassee. And by Big Tallahassee, I mean DeSantis, the governor, his cabinet, which includes James Uthmeier, and the Legislature, which either completely went along with whatever he wanted, or else tried to be even more extreme in ways that I think were harmful to the people of Florida."

He believes home rule — or the ability of local governments to make their own decisions — has been greatly damaged.

"I mean, we have seen encroachments, transgressions, attempts to weaken and destroy our local governments. I think a lot of that is developer-driven so that they can take away land use decisions from our local governments and from the people who support and elect those local governments. I think that's terrible," he said.

Silverberg is also very concerned about the future of public schools, of which he says he is a strong supporter. "I think we need to pay our teachers right so that they're not the lowest paid teachers in the country. And I think we need to strengthen public education because that is a foundation of democracy.

"I have nothing against parochial, private or charter schools as long as they don't weaken our public education system.

"There has been a war on public education over the past eight years. And a lot of this is all driven by investments in charter schools made by members of the Legislature.
I don't think that's proper. I don't think it's right. And I think it has to stop."

He also wants to end what he considers ICE’s atmosphere of terror as well. "It's waging war on the workers who make this economy move, whether they're in agriculture, construction, services, hospitality, whatever it is. ICE and the Trump purge of the Hispanic population of this country is driving up the costs for all of our citizens," he said.

In contrast, his opponent, Republican Lauren Melo, who did not make herself available despite multiple WGCU contacts, has supported mandating state and local governments to cooperate with ICE.

Melo was born and raised in Southwest Florida. She was elected as a state Representative for District 82 in 2020 and is a Realtor. According to her website, laurenmelo.com, she started her own trucking company which she grew from a single truck into a large fleet, at one point managing more than 100 trucks. She has been active in national and state boards of Realtors and a Guardian ad Litem volunteer. She "is a conservative Republican who fights to protect our second amendment rights, honor our veterans, cut bureaucratic red tape, and grow the economy."

More information about Silverberg is on his website, silverberg4florida.com.

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