Meet 11th Congressional District Republican candidate Ivette Palomo

BIOGRAPHY INFO

Age: 61

City/town of residence: Bushnell, Sumter County, Florida

Family: Single mother of two grown children, whom she homeschooled at the kitchen table

Education: Dual Bachelors: Forensic Psychology and English

Qualifications: Mother. Whistleblower. Farmer. Citizen.

What makes you the best candidate for Florida's 11th Congressional District?

As mother, I stand at the kitchen table where the insurance bill lands, where the medical denial remains, where the grocery receipt weighs more than the groceries—and I secure the table.

As whistleblower, I faced the corruption, I spoke the truth, I endured the cost.

As farmer, I study the soil and the season, and I strike the root where it runs.

I filed on January 30th—before the incumbent retired, before redistricting made the seat safe. Others hedged and waited until the deadline.

Most candidates promise to prune the branches. Better healthcare. Lower taxes. Stronger borders. These are branches. The root is the government

that writes rules without your vote, spends your money without your knowledge, takes your property without your consent—and faces no consequence when it fails.

Washington forgets.

I walk this district. I sit at kitchen tables. I answer the hard questions and ask them.

I will restore your vote, your due process, your right to know. I will accomplish your will in Congress.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

What are the key differences between you and your opponents?

The difference is character.

The Bureaucrat never stops regulating. Rules without your vote. Spends without your consent. The regulation is the solution, the kitchen table is the problem, and your role is to comply.

The Showman riles to incite. Performance, not governance. Sound without substance. When the curtain falls, nothing has changed.

The Financier purchases representation. The kitchen table is not

represented. It is bought.

The Constitution draws out, from the kitchen table to Congress, men and women of character.

The courage of the whistleblower, who speaks and endures.

The humility of the farmer, who studies and strikes.

The ferocity of the mother, who stands and secures.

The Fourth Branch did not build itself. It was built by the Bureaucrat, the Showman, the Financier.

I operate from the kitchen table.

The next two hundred fifty years begins with your vote.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Evaluate outgoing U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster's performance over his tenure in Congress. What did he do well? What would you do differently?

Daniel Webster served this district for over a decade. He began with purpose. Compliance set in. He learned to manage the crowd rather than represent the people at the kitchen table.

He voted for nearly every major appropriations bill funding the Department of Education from 2011 onward—while false philosophies, false history, false science, and false language filled your children's minds.

He voted for Biggert-Waters, the flood insurance reform that made those premium increases land at your kitchen table.

What would I do differently?

Strike the root. The restoration of the constitutional power which Congress surrendered to the administrative state.

The REINS Act restores your vote—congressional approval before any regulation with economic impact over $100 million takes effect.

The Administrative Independence Act restores your due process—agency actions must face real Article III courts, not administrative judges employed by the agency bringing the charge.

The Sunshine Mandate restores your right to know—every agency rule controlling your rights must face public scrutiny, not operate in the dark.

Structural constraints—and the character required to enforce them?

The courage to speak and endure. The humility to study and strike. The ferocity to stand and secure.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Give the current U.S. House a letter grade — A-F — and share how your presence would change that grade.

F.

The House has abandoned its constitutional purpose: to ensure that no rule takes effect without your vote, that no agency acts without due process, that no power operates in the dark.

Right now, the House rubber-stamps the administrative state. It funds what it should constrain. It kills what would restore your voice. The REINS Act has been killed by the Senate in every Congress since 2011.

An F is not a judgment on each of the 435 members. It is a judgment on a structure that has abandoned the kitchen table.

How would my presence change that grade?

The courage to file discharge petitions that force votes the leadership would rather avoid.

The humility to build coalitions that bring the REINS Act to the floor.

The ferocity to demand that agency actions face real Article III courts and that every rule controlling your rights face public scrutiny.

I refuse to comply.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Discuss three tangible ways constituents will experience your presence as their U.S. House representative.

First: Your vote will return.

No rule without a vote. For decades, agencies have written regulations that consume 20% of your household budget—more than food, more than transportation, more than healthcare—without a single vote from your representative. The regulation arrived in the mail. You did not vote for it. You cannot find who wrote it. Since 1996, agencies have issued over 100,000 rules. Congress has overturned 42. The current system does not work.

Your vote has been absent. I will force that vote.

Second: Your due process will return.

No court without a peer. For decades, agency enforcement actions have faced administrative judges employed by the agency bringing the charge.

The letter said "you owe." The judge who ruled against you works for the agency that brought the charge. You have no peer in that court.

Your due process has been surrendered to the administrative state. I demand it face real Article III courts.

Third: Your right to know will return.

No seizure without the light of day. For decades, agency rules controlling your rights have operated in the dark. The rule that took your property was written where you could not see it. When rules face scrutiny, agencies write fewer rules. When agencies write fewer rules, the regulatory burden on your household budget decreases.

The rules have been hidden. I force them into the light of day.

These are commitments to what I will force: no rule without a vote, no court without a peer, no seizure without the light of day. The Senate has killed the REINS Act in every Congress since 2011. One representative can make compliance cost more than resistance.

The restoration: fewer regulations, more due process, more transparency.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

District 11 is a diverse district with many needs. What are the district's three most pressing issues?

The question asks for three. The district has four.

First: Your Home

A retired couple on fixed income watches their premium triple in two years.

A young family chooses between the insurance bill and the mortgage. A widow chooses between insurance and the prescription she needs. Home insurance premiums doubled and tripled under Risk Rating 2.0. An administrative rule written by FEMA without your vote, enacted without your knowledge. No seizure without the light of day. When you can see the rule before it takes effect, you can stop the premium increase.

Second: Your Health

A veteran who served his country, who put his body on the line, comes home to a system that treats him like a number in a file. He waits months for an appointment. He waits months for a decision on his claim. When the decision comes, it is made by a judge who works for the agency that denied him. He fought for his country. His country fights him when he needs care. No court without a peer. When you have a real court, you can challenge the denial.

A retiree discovers a treatment they need was denied by an agency they cannot name. A family chooses between medication and groceries because an administrative mandate decided what their insurance pays. No rule without a vote. When you have a vote on the regulation, you can stop the mandate.

Third: Your Land and Water

A rancher who has worked the land for years now wonders where he will lease because the owner sold to a developer. He cannot afford to buy. He may have to uproot his family and leave the state. Viable agricultural land is disappearing because agencies regulate what you can grow, declare ditches wetlands, and make it harder to keep land in agriculture. The developer offers money because the land is worth more as a subdivision than as a ranch. No seizure without the light of day. When you can see the regulation before it takes effect, you can stop the restriction.

Fourth: Your Children

A parent watches their child struggle under a curriculum they cannot see or stop. A teacher's hands are tied by mandates from Washington. The Department of Education funded by appropriations that passed without resistance still controls what your children learn. No rule without a vote.

When you have a vote on the mandate, you can stop the curriculum.

Four issues. One root.

An administrative state that writes rules without your vote, denies your due process, and seizes your rights without the light of day.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Discuss the impending Social Security shortfall and your solutions.

Social Security faces a shortfall. Congress has known for forty years. They have done nothing because nothing forced them to act.

Current beneficiaries should not face cuts. Those who paid into the system deserve what they were promised. The question is not whether to protect benefits. The question is how to force Congress to act before the shortfall becomes a crisis.

The solution is not a specific number. Every number becomes a target. Every target becomes an attack ad. The solution is a structure that forces Congress to act. Vote. The REINS Act forces your representative to vote before any major change takes effect. You decide.

Due process. The Administrative Independence Act forces the SSA to face a real court when they deny your claim. Bad decisions face real consequences.

Transparency. The Sunshine Mandate forces every proposed change to your benefits into the light. You can see what is coming.

These create the conditions. But the legislation requires a representative who refuses to let Congress ignore it.

I will file discharge petitions to force votes. I will build coalitions. I will attach reforms to must-pass legislation. I will use public pressure to force action. Congress has known about this problem for forty years. Your representative has been part of that failure for over a decade. I refuse to let Congress ignore it.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Discuss the current state of health care in the United States and your solutions.

The current state of healthcare in the United States is this: agencies write rules that control what care you receive, what you pay, and what is denied.

Certificate-of-need laws prevent hospitals from opening. Competition dies. Prices rise.

The agency that approves treatments delays them. People die waiting for approval.

The agency that runs Medicare decides what it covers and what it does not.

A retiree discovers a treatment was denied by an agency they cannot name.

A mother learns her child's care was denied by a rule she cannot see. A family chooses between medication and groceries because an administrative mandate decided what their insurance pays.

You do not control your healthcare. The administrative state does.

The solution is not a specific policy. Every policy becomes a target. Every target becomes an attack ad.

The solution is a structure that returns control to the kitchen table.

Vote. The REINS Act forces your representative to vote before any major healthcare regulation takes effect. If your representative votes for a regulation that denies your coverage, you know. If your representative votes against a regulation that would have helped you, you know. You decide.

Due process. The Administrative Independence Act forces agency healthcare decisions to face real Article III courts. Real judges. Real consequences for bad decisions. Denied claims face real scrutiny. Denied treatments face real challenge.

Transparency. The Sunshine Mandate forces every proposed rule to be published, explained, and opened for public comment before it takes effect.

A retiree who discovers a treatment is about to be denied can contact their representative. A mother who learns her child's medication is about to be delisted can organize. A family who sees their copays are about to rise can object. You can see what is coming. You can respond before it happens.

These do not fix healthcare. They give the kitchen table control of the process. Control the process, control the outcome.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Do you support term limits for Congress? Why or why not?

Term limits hinder the people. I do not support them.

Term limits force out the representatives you trust. The people should have the right to keep whom they trust and remove whom they do not.

Pledges to support term limits are empty. Congress has promised to pass term limits since before 1994. Saying you support a bill that Congress will not pass costs nothing.

The problem is not that representatives serve too long. The problem is that the system does not hold them accountable.

The REINS Act forces your representative to vote before any major regulation takes effect. Your name on the record. Your vote in the light of day.

The Administrative Independence Act forces agency actions to face real Article III courts.

The Sunshine Mandate forces every agency rule controlling your rights to face public scrutiny before it takes effect.

These give the people the information they need to hold representatives accountable. Structural accountability does more for the district than term limits could ever do.

I will serve no more than four terms. That is my covenant with this district.

Not a law that removes your choice. A commitment that honors it.

Term limits take away the people's choice. The three strikes restore the people's power to choose wisely.

Strike the root. Secure the table.

Discuss how you plan to work with your fellow representatives, the U.S. Senate and President Trump.

The Great Compromise did not ask large states to surrender proportional representation or small states to surrender equal representation. It found a new arrangement that preserved both.

This is how coalitions are built. Not by surrendering principle. By finding structural covenants that preserve principle while creating accountability.

The three strikes are structural covenants between the representative and the people. The representative votes before a regulation takes effect. The

people hold the representative accountable. The representative and the people each have obligations. Each has rights.

The REINS Act establishes accountability for the representative. The Administrative Independence Act establishes real courts for the aggrieved.

The Sunshine Mandate establishes transparency for the people. A structure that preserves principle while creating accountability.

The REINS Act has 170 cosponsors in the House. The Administrative Independence Act has bipartisan support. The Sunshine Mandate has support from both sides of the aisle. These are not partisan issues. The administrative state writes rules without your vote regardless of which party controls Congress.

I will find the men and women who share this spirit. I will stand with them. I will hold them accountable.

President Trump has made strides against the administrative state. He has cut regulations. He has appointed judges who believe in the Constitution. I will work with him as a partner, not a sycophant. I will bring ideas. I will speak plainly. I will fight for the three strikes and for the kitchen table.

The Senate is where bills go to die. I will build relationships with senators who share my commitments to the three strikes: no rule without a vote, no court without a peer, no seizure without the light of day. I will attach the REINS Act and the Administrative Independence Act to must-pass legislation. I will use discharge petitions, coalition building, and public pressure to force votes the leadership would rather avoid.

Strike the root. Secure the table.