Gus Bilirakis

Gus Bilirakis and his wife, Eva, have four sons, and his family has Greek roots.¹ His father, Michael Bilirakis, represented the Tampa Bay area in Congress before him.¹ Before entering politics, Gus practiced law, including work on wills, trusts and estate planning, and taught government classes at St. Petersburg College.¹

Born in Gainesville, Bilirakis graduated from Tarpon Springs High School, attended St. Petersburg Junior College and earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Florida.² He earned his law degree at Stetson University in 1989.² His earlier Washington experience included internships for President Ronald Reagan and the National Republican Congressional Committee, plus work for Congressman Don Sundquist.¹

Bilirakis served in the Florida House from 1998 through 2006 and entered Congress in January 2007.² He is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and chairs its Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee.³ His stated priorities include veterans' benefits, prescription costs, emergency preparedness and the long term sustainability of Social Security and Medicare.³

His current campaign emphasizes homeowners insurance, housing affordability, healthcare and disaster recovery.⁴ He supports a proposed federal deduction for homeowners insurance premiums and efforts to improve benefits for veterans injured in combat.⁴ He also favors stronger border enforcement and protections for children online.⁴ In November, he faces Democrat Kimberly Overman and independent Branden Scrivener.⁵