**Content Warning: This article contains mentions of sexism, misogyny, and other sensitive topics**
The governor’s seat is up for grabs this year in Florida, and one contestant in particular has taken the Republican online space by storm. James Fishback is a fourth-generation Floridian running for governor this year.
The gubernatorial Republican candidate has run his campaign on a “Florida first” mindset — focusing on issues like immigration, affordability, education, and environmental protection.
Is Fishback Florida’s Zohran Mamdani?
At first glance, Fishback doesn’t seem half bad as the conservative choice. He comes off as a young, witty, and determined pick that prioritizes the Floridian people over all.
He’s made promises to never allow for AI data centers to be built in Florida, to provide a $10,000 grant for all high school students after graduation, and to stop big corporations from buying family homes.
Some have called him the conservative’s answer to Zohran Mamdani, the democratic-socialist mayor of New York City, who won the election with the help of a charming social media campaign targeted towards young voters.
Others have claimed Fishback is much too provocative and problematic to have a chance at all. He’s proved, however, that he’s just what Gen Z men have been looking for in a political candidate, but digging beneath the surface, things become worrisome.
Who exactly are Gen Z men putting their faith in?
One of Fishback’s many controversies lies in his relationship with online far-right commentator Nick Fuentes. Fishback and Fuentes’ support base of young white men overlap, often wearing Fuentes’ “America First” merch to Fishback’s events.
Fuentes is a white nationalist who unapologetically spews racism, antisemitism, and sexism in his online space. This isn’t an exaggeration, either.
During his “America First” livestream in 2022, he deliberately said, “I’m just like Hitler.” In 2024, he posted a video on X in which he exclaims, “Women, we control your bodies! Guess what? Guys win again! There will never, EVER be a female president!”
These quotes, truly, don’t begin to scratch the surface of the evil that Fuentes puts online.
Fishback has realized this overlap, and in response, posted a video to X in which he welcomes Fuentes’ fans into his space.
“The young men in Pasco County who wore blue ‘America First’ hats who came to our event… have a real pulse for what is going on in the country. Too often these days, young, white men are told their opinions don’t matter.”
His reply online comes from backlash he got for calling Nick Fuentes’ fans “very patriotic” in an online interview.
Another promise that Fishback has made during his campaign is to raise tuition for foreign students going to Florida universities to $1 million by executive order. He states that this will prioritize Florida students and push immigrants who can’t afford it out.
According to the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA), international students contributed $43B to the United States economy from 2024-2025. For every three international students enrolled in a U.S. college, one U.S. job is created or supported. With the decline in immigrant students because of stricter immigration and visa policies, economic contributions from international students dropped by $1.1 billion and cost the U.S. 23,000 jobs.
International students also don’t decrease the number of domestic students in U.S. universities. In fact, the opposite is true. On average, for each additional international student that a university enrolls, in-state freshman enrollment increases by two. The higher tuition paid by international students also offers more resources and opportunities for students at the university.
Overall, Fishback severely underestimates the importance of international students with his juvenile proposals to push them out of Florida colleges.
My Thoughts
Truthfully, I don’t think Fishback will gain enough traction to win the election and become Florida’s governor. He’s currently polling at about 3-5%, severely behind his primary opponent, Byron Donalds, who received Donald Trump’s endorsement, and is at around 37%.
The takeaway is the outpour of support from Gen Z men, who have flocked to Fishback despite his controversial policies and associations.
In a time where red-pilled “rage bait” content thrives online, men like Fuentes and Fishback can take advantage of the malleable minds of young men, who are desperately looking for an influential figure to look up to.
It’s understandable to feel abandoned by our current political leaders because of their failure to live up to their promises — especially now, as we fall deeper and deeper into an affordability crisis.
The solution, however, doesn’t lie with Fishback, a white nationalist defender with far-right ideologies that have no place in Florida politics.
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