Austin Rogers grew up in Bay County, attending Mosley High School and spending weekends on the water. When asked what stands out most about growing up, he has a favorite local activity in mind.
“Would probably be fishing. So some of my early memories were of me fishing with my dad, fishing with my uncle, with my grandparents. And you know, I know all the bayous and the bays cold in Bay County in particular,” Rogers says.
This is not Rogers’ first foray into public service. After graduating from Duke University with graduate degrees in law and theology, Rogers served in the offices of Sen. Chuck Grassley, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, and most recently, Sen. Rick Scott.
Rogers believes his experience will allow him to hit the ground running in Congress.
“My experience includes being a chief counsel in Congress, and do that process, put pen to paper on bills that became law, conducted hearings, conducted investigations," Rogers says. "So, you know, I offer day one results. I offer the values of this district. I reflect the values of this district."
Rogers says he learned how to work alongside both parties to help find solutions.
“It is so easy to fixate on the things that divide us and the things that we disagree on, that we lose sight of the fact that we're all Americans, that we are all fighting and trying to row in the same direction,” Rogers says.
Rogers has three children, and he says being a dad has provided additional meaning to his campaign.
“My children are inheriting a country, and I want it to be the country of, you know, our founding fathers and the animating principles that led to us creating the Constitution and the great country that we built," Rogers says. "I want to make sure that they live in the beautiful country, the beautiful district that I grew up in."
Rogers has maintained his stance as pro-life and has said that he will always stand for the sanctity of life and support policies that protect the unborn. He also believes biological men should not be involved in women's sports and says he will oppose all policies that undermine families or push inappropriate agendas on children.
"I also want to make sure that we're protecting our kids' online safety," Rogers says.
Rogers’ day one policy priority would be to pass the Safe Kids Act, a bill focused on Chinese surrogacy.
“You essentially have these Chinese billionaires and officials who are paying United States women to give birth to their children, and those children are immediately getting shipped abroad," Rogers says. "It's a massive national security issue. It's a massive human trafficking issue."
Rogers also pointed out the importance of not only advancing in the race for artificial intelligence against China, but to balance keeping the American workforce from losing any jobs.
"I want to make sure that we are outpacing our number one adversary in China," Rogers says. "They are nipping at our heels, and so we have to beat China and the AI race. I want to make sure that we're protecting American workers. And so making sure that we thread the needle and that we have thoughtful leadership when it comes to artificial intelligence."
Rogers spoke on health advancements for residents, seeing it as a multiprong solution that involves concerns about what residents are putting into their bodies.
"Some of that is just simply diet, exercise. Being thoughtful ... about the food we grow, the food that we're putting into our bodies, things like that," Rogers says.
Rogers also says that expanding the options that residents have available to them for healthcare could help provide options and lower costs.
"I think expanding HSA accounts so that consumers have more choice is going to be a welcome development," Rogers says of health savings accounts. "I certainly think allowing shopping across interstate lines, expansion of age, associational health plans would be helpful and would bring costs down."
Rogers says residents have spoken to him about affordability, and that starts with analyzing spending at the congressional level.
“You saw under the Biden administration, we were sending gobs of money abroad, untold amounts of money abroad, billions of dollars abroad," Rogers says. "It was going to funding things that were entirely wasteful and not in America's best interest and just a complete waste of taxpayer dollars."
A key component of Rogers’ campaign is his faith. He says his family and team read Scripture and pray daily. He says every American deserves the right to practice their faith freely.
“I would love to see a reawakening of faith in this country. That used to be something that really bonded most most Americans, and now this day and age, it doesn't. And I think we are seeing the fruits of that in the culture that we're creating,” Rogers says.
Rogers says voters can hold him accountable.
"I'm always going to be someone that listens," Rogers says. "That doesn't mean I'm always going to make this or that decision, but I will always listen to them and hear someone out, and I will always be accessible to be able to listen to them."
Austin Rogers is facing Democrat Amanda Marie Green. They are vying for the seat being vacated by retiring Congressman Neal Dunn.
