Republican Hans Tanzler III said he is the only candidate running to replace retiring Congressman Ander Crenshaw with the experience and conservative credentials to do the job.
Tanzler appeared on First Coast Connect Thursday morning and talked about how his position as a “conservative outsider” can help bring change in Washington.
Tanzler admits he has run the most negative ads in the campaign directed mainly at frontrunner former Sheriff John Rutherford.
Tanzler stands by his accusation that Rutherford allowed Jacksonville to become a haven for illegal immigrants when he was sheriff.
“The sheriff has the resources of the city and the county to enforce the laws,” he said. “If it chooses to not enforce the laws against the illegal immigrants which committed the first crime of entering the country illegally, then it is giving sanctuary to them.”
Tanzler has expressed some positions that others, even in conservative circles, consider extreme.
They include cutting by 50 percent the federal budgets of the IRS, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Labor. He also wants to eliminate the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.
He defends his positions, saying it would increase local control over matters that are most important to the First Coast.
Producer Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax
