Youngest GOP congresswoman launching PAC to elect reps with 'American grit'

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EXCLUSIVE: Florida Rep. Kat Cammack, the youngest Republican woman in Congress, has launched a new leadership political action committee aimed at electing more blue-collar conservatives to the House. 

Cammack, 34, will kick off her "American Grit" PAC Wednesday that will identify, fund and mentor conservative candidates that have non-traditional political backgrounds. Rather than lawyers and career politicians, Cammack says she's looking to endorse moms, vocational workers, first responders and young people who faced adversity. 

"It is the blue-collar, working-class American that we are looking for," Cammack, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "I want to see heart. I want to see moms elected to Congress. I want to see your blue-collar workers, your electricians, your contractors, your commercial sandblasters."

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Cammack, a freshman lawmaker, was raised in the commercial sandblasting family business owned by her grandmother and mom. But the business struggled and they lost the small cattle ranch where the family lived in Colorado. Cammack said she experienced homelessness and had to stay at an extended stay motel for four months with her single mom.

Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., launched the "American Grit" PAC on March 16, 2022. (Fox News)

"We're looking for people who actually know what it's like to go fill up their own gas tank and have had to work paycheck to paycheck and really work hard for everything that they have," Cammack said of her American Grit PAC.  "That's who we're targeting, because I think the Republican Party has become the party of the working class. And it's time that we reflect that now."

Cammack got her start in politics by working for former Rep. Ted Yoho's campaign and then joined his congressional staff as deputy chief of staff.  She won a 10-way primary in the red Gainesville area district in 2020 to succeed the retiring Yoho by running as a pro-gun, pro-law enforcement, pro-Trump and pro-life constitutional conservative.

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She's married to her husband, Matt, a SWAT medic, and has been active in advocating for police and first responders. 

Rep. Kat Cammack and her husband, Matt, a SWAT medic.  (Congresswoman Kat Cammack)

Cammack already hired an executive director for her PAC, Kory Wood, and will launch the website Wednesday: www.AmericanGritPAC.com. Her goal is to raise at least $100,000 for the midterm elections and fund between 10-15 candidates. She's vetting candidates and will make endorsements at a later date. 

With the vast majority of seats in the House either solidly blue or solidly red, Cammack said she'll be endorsing in primary elections to help give some of these non-traditional candidates a leg-up. Once they are elected, she intends to mentor them so they are able to be effective on Day One of entering Congress. 

She says it will take grit to get conservative priorities over the finish line and lamented the fact that when Republicans had control of the White House and Congress, "we failed" to complete the agenda, such as repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. 

Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and August Pfluger, R-Texas, attend a rally on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol to oppose the Build Back Better Act, on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"More than ever, we've got to be one team [with] one mission," Cammack said of building a GOP Congress that won't fracture when it comes to important votes.

While Cammack enjoys the title of the youngest female Republican in the House, she's eager to pass the torch so more candidates like her will also take office. 

She has nothing against her Harvard-educated colleagues, but Cammack is interested in candidates who may have been passed over by traditional political groups.

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"While I am very impressed with people who … have an Ivy League degree, I'm looking for someone who has a Vo-Tech degree," Cammack said of candidates with vocational and technical training.

"I want firefighters, police officers, veterans … moms who have raised their kids and supported a family," Cammack continued. "Those are the voices that we need to have in our nation's government."