Republican Joe Strada, a handyman turned HVAC entrepreneur, is running for Florida's 11th Congressional District with a message centered on trade schools and business experience. If he wins, he would likely become the wealthiest person ever to hold a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the campaign's account of his background.
Strada's company, which provides HVAC, electrical and plumbing services, employs roughly 4,000 people across 13 states. He told Fox News Digital that his rise from fixing equipment in a bowling alley to running a multi-state business reflects the American Dream, but he argued that government rules and regulations make that path harder than it should be.
«It should be difficult, but not this challenging,» Strada said, describing the headwinds he faced as a business owner. He said his experience dealing with federal regulations convinced him that Washington needs «a different type of person» — someone who has run a business rather than worked as a lobbyist, politician or attorney.
Strada is pitching young people on the trades as an alternative to taking on large student loans. He said his company hires people with no prior experience and pays them from the first day while training them for careers. «You don't have a $250,000 student debt, and you're able to be successful,» he said.
He said he is working with trade schools and high schools across the country to encourage students to consider the trades. His own company developed an in-house training program after a labor shortage threatened its expansion. «I couldn't wait for the government to come and solve my problem,» Strada said. «I'm a business guy who solves problems.»
Strada also argued that people receiving government assistance should look at the trades, saying the country has an untapped labor pool at home. He said some people need only an opportunity and a push to enter a trade and learn a business, and that many of his employees have gone on to open their own companies.
He described his upbringing as modest, saying his family had a swimming pool that was often green because they could not afford chlorine. «I started with nothing,» he said. «It's just hard work.» He said his approach is that everyone has to win — employees, customers and the company.
Strada downplayed the importance of money, saying character matters more. «Money is just a number,» he said. «When you put your head on your pillow, what do you stand for?»
The race is set for three weeks from the interview, and Strada's campaign is leaning on his business record and his trade-school advocacy as its central argument to voters in the district.