James Fishback is almost certainly not going to win the GOP nomination for governor of Florida this year, but he’s become an object of media fascination all the same. In part it’s because Fishback holds such bigoted views that he makes the frontrunner, Rep. Byron Donalds, look moderate by comparison, even though the congressman said Black families were more stable under Jim Crow. Fishback peddles antisemitic conspiracy theories and hurls racist taunts at Donalds.
But what is really drawing attention to the 31-year-old Fishback is how he, while running far behind with older Republican voters, generates real enthusiasm with young conservatives. Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times described the packed audience at a Fishback event as “very young,” writing, “several attendees told me they were in high school.” Vanity Fair’s Dan Adler wrote that the long-shot candidate “has captured the most extreme attitudinal aspects of the Gen Z online right.” Fishback is polling at 32% with GOP voters aged 18-32, and his campaign events are larger and growing.
