Colonel McAuley Looks to Turn Florida’s 15th Congress District Blue

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast: "Colonel McAuley Looks to Turn Florida’s 15th Congress District Blue"

Date: September 17, 2025
Host: Ben Meiselas (host, with Brett and Jordy Meiselas, MeidasTouch Network)
Guest: Colonel (Dr.) Darren McCauley, Democratic candidate for Florida’s 15th Congressional District

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Episode Overview

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast focuses on the political dynamics in Florida’s 15th Congressional District, where Air Force Colonel and physician Dr. Darren McCauley is challenging incumbent Republican Laurel Lee. The hosts explore the economic and political struggles facing Floridians, particularly rising insurance costs, food insecurity, and the impact of controversial policies like the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center. The conversation with McCauley highlights his personal motivations for running and his critique of MAGA Republican leadership in Florida.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Florida’s Growing Economic and Social Crisis

Timestamps: 01:00 – 07:39

• The hosts open with concerns about Florida’s spiraling property insurance, health care challenges, and food insecurity.
  • Ben (Host): "People in Florida are just absolutely pissed at what the Trump regime is doing... property insurance absolutely spike... People in Florida obviously see Donald Trump gutting FEMA." (01:00)
• News clip highlights worsening food insecurity, with charities themselves now struggling.
  • "Feeding South Florida tells us that about a million people in South Florida... have no idea where their next meal is coming from." (03:06)

2. The Incumbent’s Record and Critique of MAGA Policies

Timestamps: 03:35 – 07:39

• Discussion shifts to Congresswoman Laurel Lee, describing her as "hiding out" and disconnected from district needs.

  • Past positions of Lee on FEMA and disaster preparedness are dissected.
    • “So from a logistics and response perspective, yes... Governor DeSantis works very closely with FEMA...” (04:41, Lee)
  • Hosts point out contradictions between Lee’s public assurances and subsequent Republican-led funding cuts.

• The controversy over "Alligator Alcatraz," a new detention center in the Everglades, is linked to broader anti-immigrant and anti-choice policies.

  • “It's a detention center. So the purpose is for it to be secure, to be orderly, to be safe and to be humane... But is it being as relative to [reports of inhumane conditions]?” (06:43–07:15, Lee)
  • Ben presses: “See how the tone changes pretty damn quickly?” (07:39)

3. Introducing Colonel Darren McCauley: Why He’s Running

Timestamps: 07:39 – 16:20

• McCauley describes the economic “crushing” of Central Florida families by rising costs.
  • McCauley: "Unfortunately, folks in Florida 15 have been crushed by economic burdens, including the homeowners crisis… and then at the same time, we see our federal government turning its back on us and cutting off support..." (08:19)
• He critiques Lee’s close ties to insurance and utility company interests.
  • “Laura Lee has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies and their lobbyists… she is not serving the citizens of Central Florida, but is instead serving herself in her own campaign.” (10:36)
  • “Here in Tampa Bay... Florida Power and Light... has a de facto monopoly... rolled out the highest rate hike in history… and [Lee] is quiet as a church mouse.” (10:36)
• McCauley contrasts his values: service before self, from his background as a physician and Air Force officer.

4. Personal Motivations and Firsthand Experience

Timestamps: 12:13 – 16:20

• McCauley shares his journey from medicine to politics, citing cuts and dysfunction at the VA as a turning point.

  • “I was a VA physician for 10 years... seeing the cuts to the VA, the dismantling of our organization, the terror and the bullying of VA employees... pushed me into a position where I said, somebody's got to do something about this.” (12:31)

• He recounts personal loss in a hurricane, fighting with insurance companies after his home flooded, paralleling neighbors’ struggles with Florida’s insurance crisis.

  • “I personally lost my home. We had over a foot of water in my home and spent eight months arguing with insurance companies...” (14:21)

• McCauley connects dismantling VA care to real local impact, especially for the district’s 50,000 veterans.

  • “So if you start to dismantle VA health care, you start to take away VA benefits. That affects many of my neighbors, people that I work with, people that live next door to me, and I wanted to do something about it.” (13:56)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben (Host): "People in Florida are just absolutely pissed at what the Trump regime is doing..." (01:00)
• News Clip: "About a million people in South Florida... have no idea where their next meal is coming from." (03:06)
• Laurel Lee (Clip): “It is a detention facility. But is it being as relative to... inhumane, just to deter people...?” (06:43)
• Darren McCauley:
  • "Folks in Florida 15 have been crushed by economic burdens, including the homeowners crisis." (08:19)
  • "I am running to unseat Congresswoman Lee, who has been self serving ever since she got to Washington." (11:57)
  • "Somebody's got to do something about this because what they're doing to the federal government is going to take decades to unravel and try to put back together." (13:19)
  • "I personally lost my home... arguing with insurance companies... but many of my neighbors on fixed incomes were not willing or not able to do that and insurance companies were not willing to help them." (14:21)
• Ben: “See how the tone changes pretty damn quickly?” (07:39)

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 01:00 | Host Introduction: Florida's economic issues, insurance crisis, and FEMA cuts | | 03:06 | News segment on Florida's rising food insecurity | | 04:41 | Clip: Congresswoman Laurel Lee defends FEMA response | | 06:43 | Lee questioned on "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center | | 08:19 | McCauley on the district’s economic hardships, insurance crisis | | 10:36 | McCauley on utility rate hikes and Lee’s ties to corporations | | 12:31 | McCauley’s path from VA physician to candidate, seeing the VA gutted | | 14:21 | Personal story: McCauley’s home destroyed in a hurricane, insurance struggles | | 16:20 | Campaign website and closing remarks |

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Conclusion

In a candid and deeply personal conversation, Colonel Darren McCauley lays out a sharp contrast between his commitment to public service and incumbent Laurel Lee’s alignment with corporate interests and MAGA policies. He highlights the very real struggles of his district—rising costs, food insecurity, and disaster vulnerability—and connects national policy changes to the daily lives of his neighbors, especially veterans. The episode underscores the urgent need for new leadership attentive to the people’s needs, not special interests.

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For More Information:
Learn about Darren McCauley’s campaign: darrenforflorida.com (16:25)

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Tone: Direct, urgent, conversational, and personal—true to the MeidasTouch style of mixing brotherly banter with unapologetic advocacy for democracy.

Transcript

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[A]

Of this food insecurity crisis is growing.

[C]

As many South Florida families are finding it more and more difficult to put food on the table with higher grocery prices now, the organizations that help people in need are finding they need help themselves. CBS News, Miami. Ted Scouten joins us live from the Feeding South Florida warehouse that's in Pembroke Park. And said what's causing this?

[A]

Well, Elliot, Feeding South Florida tells us that about a million people in South Florida, so from Palm beach down to the Keys, have no idea where their next meal is coming from. But when you look at the shelves here in the warehouse, maybe a little.

[B]

Bit misleading it like there's plenty of.

[A]

Food to go around, but actually in some key areas, donations are way down. We visited a food pantry in Key West. More people are joining the line for food at the SOS Food pantry in Key West. Folks needing help putting food on the table. Had you ever needed food assistance before? No. So this is the first time you've.

[C]

Needed food assistance at South Florida. Of course, people feeling the same thing. In central Florida, you go to also congressional district, like Congressional District 15, which is from Lakeland to kind of northern Tampa area. You know, you're seeing the same thing. Focus on that one for a second. Florida's Congressional District 15, which is represented by a MAGA Republican, Congresswoman Laurel Lee. She's kind of hiding out right now and not doing a lot of press because I think she knows how deeply unpopular MAGA policies are and she's hoping that if she doesn't do town halls or show herself in public that she can avoid some of the, some of these issues. But I went back and I looked at her from October 11, 2024, when she was asked if she thought that FEMA was doing an effective job in Florida, she said yes. Okay, well then why did you, what, why are you agreeing to just cut FEMA and destroy this is what she said. October 2024. October 11, 2024. Let's play it. Do you think that FEMA right now.

[B]

Today is doing an effective job in Florida? So from a logistics and response perspective, yes. So one thing about living in Florida is unfortunately, we are very accustomed to dealing with severe weather. So our emergency operations personnel are folks who work round the clock, year round on making sure that we're prepared for disasters, know how to collaborate with fema. They know what, what assets we needed staged here to do an effective response. Governor DeSantis works very closely with FEMA. I know. I have heard from the White House every day in the lead up and since the storm. So I think in that sense, in the assets on the ground and response perspective so far, it's been very good. Of course, we're going to continue to watch that and make sure that it stays that way. With respect to funding, there is enough funding to be responding to, to the immediate need, but I know I stand ready. Absolutely. So do my colleagues in Florida to go back to Washington, D.C. the minute that it is needed. If they do need more funding, we are absolutely ready to do that, to make sure that we can continue not just here in Florida, but also the people in North Carolina who are still suffering. We need to make sure that our federal government is providing the disaster response that's needed.

[C]

I just want you all to think about that for a second. So Republicans were getting upset about a hypothetical future where there may not be the funding. Even though they were getting all the funding, the response was efficient. And then they come into power and then gut their own funding so that they could now build things like alligator Alcatraz. And she was asked about alligator ALCATRAZ back on July 2025. And this is what Laural Lee said then plate. What about this alligator Alcatraz? We covered it extensively when the president was down there for the the opening and in the Everglades. Now these reports surfacing allegedly where conditions are being described as, as inhumane by some. What would you say about that?

[B]

Well, it's a detention center. So the purpose is for it to be secure, to be orderly, to be safe and to be humane. And Florida officials have ensured and in fact, have made very clear that they intend to provide a facility that is all of those things, that is safe for the people who are held there, that provides them appropriate nutritious food, medical care, access to attorneys, all of the things that they might need while they're in this facility. That being said, that's what it is. It is a detention facility. But is it being as relative to.

[C]

It, because we heard the word deterrent used all the time, Is it being created in a manner that's almost purposely to use the words in some of these reports, inhumane, just to deter people. So people see these kind of reports, say, well, you know what? I don't want to end up there. Is that being done on purpose?

[B]

Well, there is a big difference between keeping a place that is secure, that is orderly, and a place that is inhumane.

[C]

See how the tone changes pretty damn quickly? I want to bring in Darren McCauley. Colonel Darren McCauley. Doctor Darren McCauley, who's running for Congress in Florida's 15th congressional district. Colonel McCauley is an Air Force veteran. He is a physician, he is a professor, and he is running against the lady you saw there, Congresswoman Laural Lee. Let's talk about what's going on in your district. How are people feeling in Florida's 15th right now where they're building concentration? Whether you build in Florida, the money's going, taxpayer money's going to build these detention center camps and things like that.

[A]

What's going on there? Unfortunately, folks in Florida 15 have been crushed by economic burdens, including the homeowners crisis, homeowners insurance and various other types of insurance, rising utility bills. And then at the same time, we see our federal government turning its back on us and cutting off support for things that are desperately needed. You mentioned earlier cutting fema, this disaster tax is just basically what any cut to FEMA is means that our state government has been complicit in the federal government hampering us and cutting off funds that we would need in order to prepare for a storm or clean up after a storm and passing that cost onto us. Our insurance rates are going to go up and go even higher as we have to prepare for medical costs, for building costs, and to get ready before a storm and to deal with the aftermath of a storm and when we're already faced with two to three times the national average in terms of homeowners insurance, car insurance, and really any type of insurance, health insurance, dental insurance that is crushing Central Florida families. When I speak to folks in the district, they are very clear that they don't think that Alligator Alcatraz is in line with their values. It's not how we want to be represented as a state. We don't want to be the shining example for taking people's freedoms away. We would like to be the shining example for helping our communities and helping our neighbors to be able to achieve a real cost of living.

[C]

I, I don't even understand what Laural Lee does. And people like that, like I'm not other than whatever Trump says, you know, you know, you do, you, you do. And that means you have to shift your positions. One day you're for this, one day you're maybe for that. One day you're for this. But there's nothing that I've seen from her that says this is what people in the 15th want right now. This is what their needs are. Let's focus on that. It just seems like it's all of these Trumpy kind of culture war issues and whatever's going on in Club Rose Garden or whatever Trump's posting about Hotel Cipriani or whatever steak he's bragging about eating versus like the actual needs of people in the District.

[A]

She is not representing the needs of people in the District, but instead is really pandering to corporate interests and special interests. I mentioned the insurance costs. Laura Lee has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies and their lobbyists. As a lobbyist, she really knows how to work within that sphere and make this corporate money make special interests her priority. Here in Tampa Bay we had Florida Power and Light, which is one of the main utility companies, has a de facto monopoly on utilities, recently rolled out the highest rate hike in history, whereby when they're finished, folks in Tampa are going to be paying the highest rates for utilities in the nation. So we're going to be paying more for utilities not because of usage but because of the highest rates. Similarly, you see this through line where Congresswoman Lee, instead of standing up for the community and saying, hey, this is hundreds of dollars that are coming out of the pockets of my constituents every month. Is there something that we can do to mitigate this is quiet as a church mouse. And then public records are very clear that she's taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from FPL as well. So she is not serving the citizens of Central Florida, but is instead serving herself in her own campaign. I am running, in direct contrast to that, as a 25 year Air Force veteran, currently the state air surgeon for Florida, the highest ranking physician in the Air National Guard in Florida, to bring the Air Force core value of service before self to dc. And I am running to unseat Congresswoman Lee who has been self serving ever since she got to Washington.

[C]

Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about your background. You gave us some information there, but why did you decide to run? You didn't seem that you were really a political guy before this based on your background. So explain to us that journey and why did you decide to run?

[A]

Well, I was a VA physician for 10 years working at the VA. I'm a pain management physician by training, received a tremendous personal satisfaction and professional satisfaction taking care of my patients, helping them to alleviate their suffering with advice, medication and sometimes even injection. Seeing the cuts to the va, the dismantling of our organization, the terror and the bullying of VA employees, people that I'd worked with for years. Now the va, like every other organization, has its warts and has things that we can improve to be more efficient, but to villainize patriots who go to work every day in order to take care of those who have taken care of us and fulfill America's promise to our veterans was completely uncalled for. Seeing the effects that firing people at the va, allowing early retirements had on my patients themselves. Watching their new patient visits go from a month long wait to 10 week wait, seeing folks unable to get disability exams, the privatization of that process where it was incentivized so that folks would no longer get their VA disability, I watched that happen in real time to my patients, my co workers, and I realized that this was happening all over the federal government. I just had a front row seat to what was happening in the va and it pushed me into a position where I said, somebody's got to do something about this because what they're doing to the federal government is going to take decades to unravel and try to put back together. I'm a proud father of three, I have a nine year old and five year old twins, and I see in our country, folks in power who are not currently displaying the values and setting an example that I personally would like to hand off to my children. So watching what was happening at the VA and then seeing how the effects of that were rippling throughout my community. In our district we have 50,000 veterans. So if you start to dismantle VA health care, you start to take away VA benefits. That affects many of my neighbors, people that I work with, people that live next door to me, and I wanted to do something about it. Also. Having had the storms come to Tampa Bay last year, myself and every other Air National Guardsman were out trying to help our community. I personally lost my home. We had over a foot of water in my home and spent eight months arguing with insurance companies about whether or not they were going to help us to repair the damage. Whether or not the flood in my home was caused by flood waters from the sea or caused by rainwater flooding in from a hole in the roof. And they were basically able to wait us out so that many of my neighbors had to sell their houses just for the price of land. The insurance companies were taking advantage of Central Floridians where we had a contract with them. We paid our premiums and we expected that we would have some safety and security should disaster strike. But when disaster actually struck, they turned their backs on us. Now, as a physician, I was fortunate enough to be able to mount a financial response, go into my savings, work extra hours and rebuild my home. But many of my neighbors on fixed incomes were not willing or not able to do that and insurance companies were not willing to help them. So seeing that happen real time. Seeing it happen to my family, seeing it happen to my neighbors in my community, and at the same time watching what was happening to the federal government at work, I decided that I wanted to try to throw my hat in the ring. And instead of after 25 years of military service directing my efforts towards helping America achieve her interests abroad, really helping America achieve her interests here at home.

[C]

Darren McCauley Colonel McCauley where can people find more about the campaign at darrenforflorida.com.

[A]

D a r r e n f.

[C]

O r florida.com Colonel Darren McCauley thanks for joining us.

[A]

Thank you.

[C]

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