Congressman Daniel Webster, who survived a primary challenge last month from a challenger who mocked him as “no-show Dan Webster,” skipped a Villagers for Trump event, creating an opportunity to be upstaged by his stubborn rival.
Webster was scheduled to make an appearance at Thursday evening’s Villagers for Trump event at Eisenhower Recreation Center, but called to say he would not be there because he was “not feeing well,” said David Gee, founder of Villagers for Trump.
While Webster did not attend the event, his Republican primary opponent Laura Loomer stepped in to fill the void. She said she is not conceding last month’s GOP contest, which she lost by about 5,000 votes.
Instead of hearing from the Congressman, Villagers for Trump took the remarkable step of passing a resolution calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to flex the muscle of his new voter integrity unit to investigate possible fraud in the Webster-Loomer contest.
“The Villagers for Trump Club demands a full recount and forensic audit to be conducted,” the resolution stated.
The resolution called for the seizure of voting equipment, software, records and ballots.
In the Aug. 23 GOP primary, Webster narrowly defeated the America First candidate. She was the darling of Villagers for Trump. She picked up 89.07 percent in the Villagers for Trump straw poll to Webster’s 10.2 percent.
During the campaign, Loomer made an issue of Webster’s absences in the U.S. House of Representatives. She mocked Webster by appearing next to an empty suit when Webster refused to attend a candidate event.
She also claimed that Webster is in poor health and cannot properly represent residents in Congress.
The hundreds of people at Thursday night’s meeting were clearly disappointed that Webster did not appear, even after he had initially accepted an invitation to attend. His failure to show up fed into the storyline Loomer promoted in the months leading up to the Aug. 23 primary.
“If he is going to be our representative, he needs to fight for us,” said Sue Goges of the Village of Fenney. “We need to hold him accountable.”
DeSantis was also embraced by Villagers for Trump when he ran for governor in 2018 and defeated Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam who was considered the “establishment” candidate in the GOP primary. Putnam had enjoyed the support of the Developer of The Villages.
