By james art The Florida Democratic Party boasted in this year’s election that it was running for every seat in the GOP-dominated legislature for the first time in decades.
In at least eight House races and two statewide Senate races, those Democratic candidates do not live in the legislative districts they are running in, according to recent voter registrations, candidate filings and other government filings. In some cases, they live hundreds of miles from the voters they court, and many struggle to raise enough money to credibly compete with Republicans.
Joel Aquarius45, of Orlando is running for House District 118 – in Miami, more than 200 miles away. Days before Election Day, Aquarius said in an interview that he was still looking for a place to stay in South Florida. Vodola, a former manager of a steakhouse that closed during the pandemic, said he couldn’t afford to move sooner.
Democrats lost a tough special election in the district last year by just 540 votes out of 8,766 ballots cast. Vodola has raised just $2,600, including borrowing his own campaign $800, and has spent almost all of that money on his $1,782 in filing fees. That compares to the incumbent GOP. Mike Redondowhich reported nearly $125,000 in campaign donations.
Charles Andrew LewisThe 68-year-old Tallahassee retiree is running for a Senate seat in South Florida’s Senate District 39, more than 480 miles across the state. Lewis, who did not return phone messages, has not reported spending money on the race so far. He is running against the incumbent senator. Brian Avilaa Hialeah Gardens Republican who last won the seat by more than 24 points and has raised more than $86,000 for the election.
It is legal for candidates to run for office in a legislative district in which they do not live until Election Day, which is Tuesday, November 5 this year. Under Florida lawthe candidate or incumbent must reside and be registered to vote in the district in which he is running at the time of the election and must maintain residence in the district for the entire term in which he is elected. Legislators are allowed to own multiple homes, but can only have one primary or legal residence. The rules have been unevenly enforced by House leaders and state attorneys general in past elections.
House Republicans in Tallahassee outnumber Democrats 83-36 and 28-12 in the Senate. Democrats are fighting hard for influence. Democrats retained 15 House seats and two Senate seats this year unopposed. To turn their fortunes around, Democrats have recruited candidates to run this year for every contested seat. It was a feat that Nikki Friedhead of the Florida Democratic Party, said it hasn’t happened in 30 years.
“This is unprecedented,” Fried said.
Recruiting candidates who live in each legislative district — and who could raise reasonable amounts of campaign contributions to compete in Republican strongholds — was more difficult. Revealed details about some of the candidates show that these self-sacrificing Democrats — who received little to no financial support from Democratic leaders — were never serious contenders.
Fried and other party officials did not immediately respond to questions about the viability of some of the House and Senate candidates they have hired.
Along the Atlantic coast of Florida, Joseph Alejandro MartinezThe 27-year-old from Coral Springs is running against a Republican incumbent Robert Brackett in House District 34 in Vero Beach — more than 100 miles from Martinez’s home. The last Democrat to run there was outscored by 36 percentage points.
Martinez, who did not do news interviews during his campaign, estimated his net worth in campaign documents at $1,000, but did not list income from work and a $15,000 car loan. Martinez said he rents a home in Broward County and plans to buy a home in the area. He hung up the phone after a few minutes and said he didn’t have time to answer any more questions.
With the election just days away, Martinez has raised and spent zero dollars in the race. His opponent, Vero Beach Republican Brackett, raised $108,222 and spent nearly half that amount, including $17,000 on campaign and finance consultants.
Some of the candidates hired were in no mood to talk about their hard-fought campaigns. Samuel Chang26, of Tallahassee, ran 150 miles in House District 4 in Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle. The last Democrat to campaign there in 2020 lost the election by nearly 50 percentage points. Chang, who works for the state Department of Education, told a reporter by phone that he was too busy with his campaign to give an interview.
Chang has spent zero dollars on the race so far and has raised $2,395 — compared to $135,328 raised by the GOP incumbent. Pat Mannylawyer. Manny won his seat unopposed two years ago. He spent $74,237 on this year’s re-election bid, including $55,094 on campaign consultants.
In Southwest Florida, a Democrat Judy Freiberg75, from Naples ran more than 200 miles in House District 55 in Pasco County, northwest of Tampa. She said she plans to rent a home in the area, using connections with friends and others, but plans to keep her $600,000 home in Naples on the shore of a small lake.
The last Democrat to run in District 55 lost by more than 50 percentage points to the incumbent Kevin Steeleretired CEO. Freiberg has raised $6,589 in her campaign so far, spending just $273 on two hotel nights — only one of which was in the district she’s running. Steele has spent $25,852 on his re-election bid, including more than $21,000 on campaign consultants.
east of Tampa, Karl Czeslak45, of Largo, a hotel manager, ran more than 50 miles in House District 54, which includes Zephyrhills. Cieslak, who did not return phone messages, has spent $3,081 on the election so far.
The last Democrat to run there in 2022 lost by more than 25 percentage points to the Republican incumbent Randall “Randy” Maggardmulti-millionaire, director of an electrical appliance store and a cattle farm. Maggard spent $85,206 on the race, including $32,000 for consultants and $2,800 for printing, T-shirts and promotional items.
Amid interviews with embattled candidates for this news article, two Democratic Party activists contacted journalists working on the story and urged them to retract their reporting. They include Margie Stein of 140 Florida Blue, part of the Democratic Party’s effort to recruit House and Senate candidates in every district.
“These are districts that are not necessarily winnable,” Stein said in a podcast interview last month.
She described the party’s strategy as forcing Republican candidates to spend money and attention on challenges in their own districts and trying to boost statewide Democratic turnout to win other higher-stakes races. “They bring out voices,” Stein said. “So the winner is the person in the state who gets the most votes.”
Stein also posted on social media warning other candidates about the media inquiries and mocking the reporters, who are students at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communication, for needing a civics refresher course in high school.
Stein called reporters after they tried to interview Stephanie Lynn Leonard62, from Panama City Beach, which runs more than 60 miles in House District 5 in Marianna, west of Tallahassee. Leonard, a nurse anesthetist, spent about $6,400 on her race, mostly on signs and T-shirts. No Democrat has even run in the district since 2008.
“How do you expect to represent the residents of a district if you don’t know how and where they live,” the incumbent Republican said. Shane Abbott of Marianna, who spent $81,722 on his re-election campaign.
At least two Republican House candidates and one Senate candidate also lived outside the districts in which they ran.
Voter records and candidate filings show Republicans Bill Reicherter55, who owns a $4 million sign company, lived in Parkland and ran about 25 miles in House District 90 against the incumbent. Joe CaselloDemocrat from Boynton Beach. Reicherter, who said he also rented a home in Boynton Beach, loaned his own campaign about $75,000 — more than the total his opponent raised from all donors. Casello won his last race in 2022 by about 10 percentage points.
West of Fort Lauderdale, Mary Lopez-Palma54, of Southwest Ranches is running in nearby House District 102 against incumbent Rep. Mike Gottlieba plantation democrat. Lopez-Palma, a multimillionaire real estate attorney, loaned her campaign about $34,000. No Republican has contested the district since 2010.
In the Senate, a prominent Republican Don Goetz — former Senate President and father of U.S. Republican Representative. Matt Goetz — is running in Senate District 1 in the Panhandle. On filing papers, he lists his home in Niceville, where he still claims a homestead exemption in nearby Ward 2. His election records show another home address, in Crestview, in the district where he is running and where he said he is building a new home.
Redondo, the Republican incumbent in HD118, where Aquarius is running long-distance, himself was dogged by residency questions in a special election last year.
Just before the election, Redondo had signed a mortgage on a $950,000 luxury two-bedroom beachfront condo 20 miles away in House District 113 that required him to live in the condo as his primary residence for at least a year, even after his opting in, records show.
House Republicans allowed Redondo to take office. His Democratic opponent, Johnny Gonzalo Fariassued in Miami County District Court over the election outcome, citing the signed mortgage and asking a judge to block Redondo from the Legislature. Farias dropped his lawsuit earlier this year.
In May, Redondo bought a four-bedroom house for $1 million in the area where voting and campaign documents show he now lives. He still owns the waterfront condo.
___
This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communication. Reporters can be found at [email protected] and [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.
Post views: 0