Elections
Operative tied to Florida’s 2020 “ghost candidate” scandal targets AG hopeful with misleading texts
PN Team • 2 weeks ago
Alex Alvarado, a GOP operative implicated in Florida's 2020 "ghost candidate" scheme, is now sending text messages suggesting Democratic attorney general candidate Jose Javier Rodríguez won't "defend reproductive freedom." The texts, funded through a newly registered committee called Lower Our Costs Now, cite a 2015 abortion bill vote Rodríguez missed on the floor but later recorded a "no" vote on afterward. Rodríguez's campaign calls the ads misleading and notes his Planned Parenthood endorsement. Alvarado, an early donor to incumbent Attorney General James Uthmeier, was previously tied to 2020 efforts—some resulting in convictions—to siphon votes from Democrats using decoy independent candidates, including a scheme that helped defeat Rodríguez's state Senate bid.
Sources:
Sentiment
- Republican Party (United States) A GOP operative tied to a vote-rigging scandal is running misleading attacks, reflecting poorly on the party.
- Florida Florida is the setting for the ghost candidate scandal and misleading political ads, a reputationally negative context.
- Independent politician Decoy independent candidates were used in a vote-siphoning scheme, casting the term in a manipulative light.
- Democratic Party (United States) Democratic candidate Rodríguez is targeted by misleading texts, a tangential negative mention for the party.
- Florida Senate Rodríguez's prior state Senate bid, defeated via a ghost candidate scheme, is referenced tangentially.