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more republicans acting badly
Florida’s dark money playbook: How ‘ghost’ candidate scheme revealed secretive political tactics
The mailers featured a stock photo of a Black woman, promised a candidate free from the influence of special interests who would “change the politics in Tallahassee,” and emphasized her focus on social justice, climate change and campaign finance reform.
It was pure fiction.
Iannotti is a white woman who was already planning to move to Sweden. The mailers were designed by Republican strategists in Tallahassee.
The individuals are charged with the scheme to run "ghost" candidates in the state of Florida to benefit 3 Republican Senate candidates.
According to original reporting from the Orlando Sentinel, the purpose of the campaign was to use Iannoti to siphon votes away from Democrat Patricia Sigman to help State Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Republican, win the election. Brodeur won with 50% of the vote, but it is not clear that Iannoti’s candidacy helped Brodeur.
The Sentinel alleges the scheme in Seminole County is similar to one in South Florida, in which a “ghost candidate,” Alex Rodriguez, did succeed in siphoning votes away from the Democratic incumbent, Jose Rodriguez, and helped elect Republican challenger Ileana Garcia by 32 votes.
we don't need election integrity We need republicans to have integrity
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