Gaetz Eyed Over Sham Candidate For Florida Senate

The New York Times reports:

Mr. Gaetz, a Republican who represents the Florida Panhandle, and an ally in Florida politics, the lobbyist Chris Dorworth, discussed the possibility of putting a third-party candidate on the ballot to help an associate  of Gaetz, Jason Brodeur, according to two people told of the conversation.

In Mr. Brodeur’s race, a third candidate did appear on the ballot: Jestine Iannotti. Though she had no party affiliation, raised little money until the final months of the race and did little campaigning, fliers depicting her as a Democrat were sent to voters. One featured a stock photo of a Black woman and said, “Jestine Iannotti will always be there for us.” Ms. Iannotti is white.

Read the full article.

NEW on Gaetz investigation: Feds learned in recent weeks about a conversation Gaetz and a prominent lobbyist had about having a sham candidate run in a Fla State Senate race in 2020 to siphon votes from an ally’s opponent w/@ktbenner @PatriciaMazzei https://t.co/rPcWJwCHzJ

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) April 9, 2021