(WBEN) - Declaring, "I'm back!", former Buffalo area Congressman Chris Collins vowed he would run for election for Florida's 19th Congressional District seat if it becomes available.
Collins, who was convicted in an insider trading case that landed him in prison before being pardoned by former President Donald Trump, made the declaration during the United We Stand Trump Flotilla event in Florida on Sunday.
"If Florida-19 does open up, I'm interested to run for Congress again," Collins exclaimed during the event. "I'm going to be looking for your support to be the first member of Congress in the past 55 years to support two different states, and only the second in the last 90 years."
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Florida-19 is currently represented by Congressman Byron Donalds, who is likely to run for either Governor in Florida or for U.S. Senate. Collins says he supports Donalds in his aspirations, and will be supportive of Republicans and supportive of Trump.
"I'm positioning myself, I feel good," said Collins during a Monday appearance on WBEN with David Bellavia. "I'm going to be active now in the Collier County Republican Committee and start helping where I can, where I've been basically hiding in plain sight for the last three years trying to get out of, I can't even begin to describe, the depressed state that I was in. I'm not that person any longer. I'm going to get back in the fray... I'm now in free Florida, and not Kathy Hochul 'woke' New York."
If successful in a potential run for Florida-19, Collins says it would send a strong message to the Department of Justice and the FBI.
"Their egregious actions to silence me didn't work," he said.
Collins currently resides in the Florida-19 district, which includes the Naples area of the Gulf Coast.
While Collins has noticed the backlash to his decision in Western New York, he says the people of Florida-19 have been very supportive, and seem excited of the potential for him to run after Donalds looks to take the next step in his political career.
"I'm sending the message, 'I'm here. If it opens up, I'm gonna run,'" Collins said. "If you look at my background, I'm just sending the message to other people, think twice. I'm trying to be the candidate that everyone gets in lockstep behind."
As to why he believes many people see him as a potential threat if he runs for Congress once again, Collins feels it comes back to his support for Trump, and being a surrogate for him for three years and not backing down.
"I stay true to a course, I have principles that I stand on, and I said I can go back to Congress because Trump's is A., Going to be the nominee and B., He's going to be president. And I want to be back in the fray, supporting him," Collins said. "He's going to make a lot more controversial decisions as he takes Biden's woke agenda and makes America great again. He did it with Obama and his woke agenda. He's gonna do it again, and I want to be part of that, defending him, because he's going to need his defenders."
For Republican strategist Carl Calabrese, he's always said politics has a way of throwing curveballs at you. This announcement from Collins on Sunday would classify as one of those curveballs.
Listening back to Collins' remarks, Calabrese says the former Congressman essentially laid out what his strategy would be if he ran, and believes it would play out well given the amount of support Florida-19 has for former President Trump.
"I'm sure that given the depth of Trump's support in that district, if you pull that district about their opinions of the Department of Justice and the FBI and if they've been politicized and weaponized against Republicans, I'm pretty sure you'd see an overwhelming 'yes' to those questions," said Calabrese during a conversation with WBEN on Monday. "And in his remarks, he basically said, 'They went after Donald Trump, they came after me, and this was all political. I pled guilty just to make sure my son didn't go to jail, because they were pressuring me about going after my son.' He's probably banking on the fact that could play very well in that district, if it opens up."
While Collins was pardoned of his crimes by President Trump in December 2020, Calabrese believes he could make hay with the argument that his convictions and those against the former President are a political prosecution and political persecution.
As for the chances of Collins being able to even run for Florida-19, Calabrese points out there are still a lot of "ifs" to determine in the months to come.
"Byron Donalds is a relatively new Congressman, he's got a really bright future ahead of him. If he runs for the Senate, that would mean that it probably would be Rick Scott's seat if he decided to give it up in four years, if he runs for Governor. Again, a lot of 'ifs' here, but it's a very interesting strategy, I think, to put himself out this early, and to identify a theme that could play very, very well," he said. "'I'm a target, just as Donald Trump is a target.' And if you listen to Trump speak these days, he makes a point of saying to his supporters, 'They're not just coming after me, they're coming after you, as well.' I heard that yesterday in Collins' announcement in his words."
While the position of Governor in Florida may open up, there could be other politicians across Florida who may put their names in the running along with Donalds. As for a position in the U.S. Senate, Calabrese questions whether or not anyone knows Scott or Marco Rubio will vacate their seats.
"And then how do you know Byron Donalds is going to get the endorsement and win the election?," Calabrese added. "It's a long road for this seat to open up for Chris Collins to even have a shot at it, and I'm sure he would probably face a primary in that district. I wouldn't be surprised if a number of town, local officials, county officials, state officials who live in Congressional District 19 that are also interested in Congress, and would probably throw their hat in the ring to run a primary.
"So again, at this point, it's interesting. It's interesting that he is putting himself out there, it's interesting that the argument he looks like he's going to use it could be could be a winning argument. So many variables that would have to fall into place between now and if the seat ever opens up."