Andrew Learned

Andrew Learned was born in Sarasota, Florida,[1]and lives in Brandon, Florida.[2] Learned graduated from Fort Myers High School.[3] He served in the U.S. Navy and serves in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Learned earned a B.A. in economics and government and world affairs from the University of Tampa in 2009.[2] Learned's career experience includes owning the Valrico GradePower Learning Center.[3]

Andrew Learned did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Andrew Learned did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Stand up for my fellow veterans, active duty service men and women, and our military families living here in Tampa Bay and Central Florida as the only veteran member of Congress from the region. I'll fight for working families like mine that live paycheck to paycheck trying to get ahead. I'll protect our healthcare from right wing attacks and move our community away from the good ol' boy networks and the divisive politics of the past.[5][6]

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

As someone who's served eight years as an officer in the US Navy including three Middle East deployments I'm personally incredibly passionate about military and foreign policy. I also was a student of Economics at university and feel passionate about rebuilding our middle class.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[6]

[the profile publisher] also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Andrew Learned answered the following:

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else that best describes your political philosophy?

Strength to Love by Dr Martin Luther King Jr.[6]

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

A service mindset and grounded ethics knowing that the elected owes more to the folks who elected him/her than a few donors who bankroll too many elections.[6]

What qualities do you possess that would make you a successful officeholder?

I work hard and I'm authentic in my motivations and desire to bring about change in Congress.[6]

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Answer first and foremost to the people who vote, not the donors who write big checks.[6]

What legacy would you like to leave?

A vibrant middle class, an I-4 corridor that is booming, and an American on Mars.[6]

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I raked bunkers at the local golf course.[6]

What happened on your most awkward date?

I brought a girl to BBQ who then turned out to be vegetarian... She had coleslaw for dinner.[6]

What is your favorite holiday? Why?

Christmas, because I'm an American.[6]

If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?

Sam Seaborn[6]

What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?

My triathlon bike; I'm big into Ironman triathlon and bought myself my dream bike after getting my personal best time at Ironman Dubai in 2017.[6]

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Carry On by Fun[6]

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The hollowing out of our middle class and the debt my generation is inheriting[6]

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I've spoken to tens of thousands of local families and the ones that stand out are the moms who's kid's lives depend on access to affordable healthcare and our gold star families who've lost loved ones overseas or at home to the opioid epidemic.[6]

Campaign website

Learned's campaign website stated the following:

Create the Jobs of tomorrow here at home

Too many of the students I help get into great colleges are not coming back home. Why? Because the economic recovery of the last 10-years has gone disproportionately to big cities far away and the uber wealthy who aren’t from here.

We must invest in the jobs of tomorrow here at home. We cannot continue to look backwards and allow opportunities to literally drive right by. I’ll make sure we invest in education, infrastructure, and growth-industries to make the I-4 corridor a hub for development, innovation, and activity.

I’ll always prioritize working folks over corporate giants, Wall Street, and the insurance industry. There’s no excuse why it’s so hard for regular working folks, like you and I, to save and get ahead. If you work full-time hours you should be able to support a family here at home. PERIOD. I’ll make sure we make that goal priority #1.

Stand for our values

I say it everywhere I go. We should feed the hungry, care for the sick, and treat people fairly.

These are the values I was raised under, they guide my decision-making processes, and I’ll continue to live by them as your representative in Congress.

Gone are the days where we’ll allow Polk County to be the second worst county in America for food-insecurity with no help from your Congressman. Gone are the days where our representative tries to harm sick people to give a 700 billion bailout to the richest 1%. And gone are the days where we use race, gender, sexual orientation, and all the other social wedge-issues to divide us. We are Americans, and we’re united in our goal of creating a better community for our kids and grandkids.

End the era of Divisive Politics

It makes me sick to think how we, the richest, most diverse, and vibrant nation in the world is being held back by our own politics. Our healthcare is too expensive and not available to far too many, our schools are not making the grade, our infrastructure is severely inadequate, and we’re not fulfilling the basic American promise of our land that if you come here and work hard that you’ll have every opportunity to succeed.

It has to stop; we’re better than this.

Send me to Washington and I’ll work with Democrats and Republicans alike to find ways to build bridges, not walls. Division, partisanship, and the politics of the past are not working; it’s time for a new generation of leadership in Washington committed to progress.

Healthcare

We will always be 3-days away from losing our healthcare with Dennis Ross continuing his unrelenting attacks. How about, instead of trying to dismantle our healthcare system with a sledgehammer, instead we work together to fix the problems? That’s the kind of leadership we need, and what I would work to bring home.

One thing is certain though, we have to address the underlying cost problems in healthcare. We cannot continue to spend two-times what the rest of the world pays and expect to be able to find an insurance solution to the problems.

On day one I would get to work protecting the ACA by fixing its problems. We should work to protect and expand Medicare which would lower insurance premiums for workers and employers alike. And we must leverage the power of our bulk-buying-power to negotiate better rates for pharmaceuticals and procedures.

Once we agree that we should not take from the sick to give even more to the richest 1%, we can finally fix this broken system.

Defense

The Department of Defense is half the discretionary budget of the United States. We cannot succeed in our domestic and international priorities unless we have leaders who understand and can speak to the issues affecting our military.

I served our country for 8-years as an officer in the US Navy including 3-deployments to the Middle East. I’ve served on active duty and in the reserves, I have had to deal with the VA as a veteran and I know the uncertainties that our families at home go through when we serve in harm’s way. Frankly, I know the strain that our 17 years of war-footing has put on our hardware, our people, and our families.

If elected, I’d be the only member of Congress from Tampa Bay who is a veteran. With Central Command, Special Operations Command, and the larger MacDill AFB located here we deserve a representative who can best fight for the needs of our military community.

Education

If you don’t know, I own a neighborhood learning center and I see everyday the successes and failures of our local schools on the ground level.

Make no mistake about it, I am where I am because my parents worked tirelessly to make sure I always attended the best public school available. That schooling put me in position to earn a full-scholarship, paid for by the US Navy, to attend a great university. And the fact that I graduated debt-free is the only reason I was able to afford to start a business.

That should be a path available to ALL of our children. Education should be the great equalizer, not another tool to separate the hav’s from the have-nots.

The jobs of tomorrow demand a great education. We must invest more at all levels, including early childhood which statistics overwhelmingly prove direct correlation from increased investment to future productivity and career success. K-12, including pathways towards trades and high-paying local union jobs that are already in demand here at home. Higher-ed, and decreasing the staggering burden of debt we place on our youngest workers.

We can do better than this.

Environment

Let’s start looking forward and create an entirely new generation of high paying, local, careers combating the growing threat of climate change.

How is the Sunshine State only 13th in the nation for solar jobs, behind states like New Jersey? That’s unacceptable. We’re forfeiting our future to other states, and other countries, simply because our politicians are looking backward while the world moves onward.

We need to start preparing for increasingly powerful hurricanes, rising sea levels, and a plethora of other environmental threats. But just as important, we should be creating jobs, leveraging entrepreneurship and problem-solving, to find the solutions to those problem.

Equality

Let’s get serious, people should be treated fairly. PERIOD.

[6]

—Andrew Learned[7]