Pardoned Former New York Rep. Chris Collins to Attempt a Comeback Bid in Florida

Collins will run in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, where former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is also running.

Then-Rep. Chris Collins speaks to reporters in 2019.

Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump in 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020 after pleading guilty to insider trading, is set to officially launch a campaign for Congress in Florida on Friday.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the announcement, Collins will launch the campaign in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, where he’ll enter a crowded Republican primary to replace Rep. Byron Donalds. His announcement will be accompanied by a six-figure ad buy set to debut during the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl.

“We need to take our country back. We need to Make America Great Again. We need to be a country where our children and grandchildren can live the American dream like many of us did,” Collins says in the ad. “I’m Chris Collins, the original Trump conservative.”