By Ergin “Batman” Tek
I am not asking you to send me to Washington because I’m entitled to the job.
I’m asking because I believe public office is one of the highest forms of service.
For decades, Tampa Bay has been my home. This community gave me opportunities, friendships, and the chance to build a life through hard work. I came here with a belief that America rewards determination, and that belief has shaped every step of my journey. I speak three languages, have built businesses from the ground up, and have learned that success comes from persistence, sacrifice, and solving problems, not waiting for someone else to solve them.
When our community has faced difficult times, I have always tried to step forward, not because anyone asked me to, but because that’s what neighbors do.
After Hurricane Irma, I didn’t ask who someone voted for before helping them. I simply saw people in need and did what I could. Service has never been about politics to me. It has always been about people.
Today, I believe Tampa Bay is facing another defining moment.
Families are struggling with the rising cost of living. Small businesses, the backbone of our economy, are fighting to survive under increasing costs and uncertainty. Insurance premiums continue to rise, and our national debt continues to grow while working families wonder how they’ll ever get ahead.
One challenge, however, keeps me awake at night.
The safety of Tampa Bay.
Every hurricane season reminds us how vulnerable our region is. We cannot control nature, but we can choose whether we prepare for it. I refuse to believe America has lost the ability to solve big problems.
We built the Hoover Dam.
We built the Interstate Highway System.
We built the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Now it’s time to think just as boldly about protecting Tampa Bay for future generations.
As your Congressman, I will work to bring local, state, and federal leaders together, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to pursue long term storm surge protection and resiliency projects that help safeguard our homes, businesses, military installations, and economy. Great nations prepare before disaster strikes.
My vision doesn’t stop there.
I want Tampa Bay to be one of the best places in America to start and grow a small business. When entrepreneurs succeed, jobs are created, families prosper, and communities become stronger. Government should encourage innovation and opportunity, not make success harder to achieve.
I am not running to become another career politician.
I am asking you to hire me.
Judge me the same way I judged myself as a business owner: by results.
If I earn your trust, I will work relentlessly every single day. I will listen. I will be accessible. I will tell you the truth, even when it’s difficult. And if I fail to deliver, you owe me nothing beyond that first opportunity.
That is accountability.
That is leadership.
That is the America I believe in.
This campaign is not powered by millions of dollars.
It is powered by a belief that ordinary citizens still deserve extraordinary representation.
I know I won’t agree with everyone.
But I will always listen.
I will always show up.
And I will never forget who I work for.
If you believe Congress should once again be a place where service comes before self, where solutions matter more than slogans, and where promises are measured by results, I humbly ask for your support.
Together, we can protect Tampa Bay, strengthen our economy, and leave the next generation a community that is safer, stronger, and more prosperous than the one we inherited.
I am not asking for your trust because I believe I deserve it.
I am asking for the opportunity to earn it.
