2014 Florida's 19th congressional district special election

On October 29, 2013, Radel was arrested in the District of Columbia for purchasing 3.5 grams (0.12 oz) of cocaine from an undercover officer.^[1][2] He did not inform House Republicans about the arrest.^[3] Less than a month later, Radel pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possession of cocaine and was sentenced to one year of supervised probation.^[4] The charge "would have been a felony had it happened in his home state," according to Terry Miller, the Republican chairman in Lee County, Florida.^[5]

Radel announced that he would be taking a leave of absence from Congress to undergo addiction rehabilitation and that he would be donating his salary to charity during his absence.^[6] Following his announcement, the Republican Party of Florida and Governor Rick Scott called on Radel to "resign immediately" and "focus his attention on rehabilitation and his family".^[1][7] Radel returned to Congress in January 2014, vowing to continue to serve. The House Ethics Committee began an investigation. On January 27, he decided to announce his resignation, effective that evening.^[2][3] Scott set April 22 as the date for the primary election, and June 24 for the general election.^[8]

The News-Press described the Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—as "a decidedly negative affair, with hyperbolic accusations and character assassination floated freely in television ads, mailers and news stories bombarding Southwest Florida voters." With "no difference on the issues among the three major candidates", Benacquisto, Clawson and Kreegel all attacked each other, with Benacquisto attacked for being "liberal" and an ex-Democrat; Clawson as an uncaring businessman who laid off workers and drove his company into bankruptcy; and Kreegel as a "win-at-all-costs conniver" who violated election laws. Dreikorn, was considered to have little chance and largely refrained from attacking his fellow candidates, calling for an end to the "political infighting".^[9]

In April 2014, Benacquisto, Dreikorn and Kreegel attacked Clawson over his links to convicted child molester Glen Borst, who was a childhood friend of Clawson and whose last known address was a house in Utah that Clawson owned.^[10] Clawson dismissed the attacks as "politically driven... that just couldn't be further from the truth" and the mother of Borst's victim asked them to stop, calling the politicization of the issue "disturb[ing] and disgust[ing]".^[11][12] Benacquisto, Dreikorn and Kreegel hosted a press conference on April 9 to demand answers from Clawson, who made an impromptu and surprise appearance. After Clawson made his case, all four candidates pledged to stop attacking each other.^[13]

Clawson won the primary with 38% of the vote.