GOP congressional candidate Cory Mills, who is running in Florida's 7th Congressional District, told Newsmax Monday that his campaign takes a backseat in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian and that right now "is about giving back."
"As far as the campaign, the campaign is secondary to helping and supporting the community and the people," Mills said during an appearance on Newsmax's "Spicer & Co." "These are individuals who have lost their entire homes. This is about trying to help out the community, unify them and worry about them far more than trying to worry about this campaign or how things look. This is about giving back."
As of Monday, Florida officials had tied approximately 100 deaths to Hurricane Ian, with more than half in Lee County, where storm surges as high as 10 feet demolished homes and wrecked barrier island bridges, according to the Miami Herald. The deaths spanned 10 counties.
Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida's emergency management, said some 43,000 linemen and support staff were working to restore power to more than 560,000 homes and businesses that were still without electricity on Monday, according to Reuters. Initially there were about 3.3 million homes and businesses that lost power during the storm, he said.
Mills said he went to Volusia County a few days ago and helped deliver a 26-foot truck to the operations center there.
"That helped us serve over 200 people for lunches and dinners," he said. "We've been delivering water individually to those who are trapped in homes, offering assistance to be able to pull them out. So you know this is about really just trying to help those in need."
When asked if people in Florida will be able to vote next month in the midterm elections, Mills said he didn't think that was a priority at the moment.
"I think people are certainly looking at what's happening on a day to day measure," he said. "They're not thinking about Nov. 8. They're not thinking about early voting right now."
"Some people are thinking about a place to stay," he continued. "Some people are thinking about baby wipes, baby food, formula. Some people are thinking about what clothes they're going to be able to salvage from their homes."
Amid all the devastation, the Republican House hopeful said there was a bright spot.
"The good thing about Floridians is that we're very, very resilient," he said. "This is not the first time that we've seen this type of devastation and we always bounce back."
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