Joe Sanders faces aunt ‘Mo Sanders’ in Florida House race

Former Democratic state Rep. Joe Saunders plans to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Fabian Basabe later this year for a Florida House seat that covers Miami Beach and other coastal cities. But a new candidate with a name that’s almost identical to Sanders’ could complicate the Democrat’s path to victory.

Sanders’ aunt Maureen Sanders Scott Submitted on June 7 Scott is running as an independent candidate for the 106th House District seat. She was Submitted an affidavit She said she would run under the nickname “Mo Sanders” and vowed that she “did not coin the nickname to mislead voters.”

Scott’s candidacy trigger the alarm Florida Democrats believe this could be similar to the 2020 “ghost candidate” scheme in which a man Payments over $40,000 Former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles has proposed running as an independent candidate for the Florida Senate. Investigators say Alexis Rodriguez’s candidacy was designed to “confuse voters and take votes away from the incumbent senator,” a Democratic senator who shares the same last name as Alexis Rodriguez and lost by 32 votes to Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia.

While the exact circumstances that led to Scott’s decision to run are unclear, Scott, 63, appears to be a disgruntled relative of Sanders, 41, and has repeatedly publicly criticized his character. On a Twitter account that appears to belong to Scott, she suggested that Sanders failed to stand up to protect her from abuse by a relative, but The Miami Herald was unable to verify her account.

Sanders said in a statement Friday that Scott was a “distant relative who lives hundreds of miles from this community” and that “there is clearly political politics being played here.” He declined to comment on Scott’s allegations against him and his family.

Scott did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Records show Scott is registered to vote in St. Johns County and lives in a townhouse she owns outside Jacksonville. Florida law explain Once elected, candidates for state legislatures need only reside in the district for which they are running for office.

Under the Electoral Reform Act Last year throughcandidates who wish to run under a nickname must submit an affidavit stating that they are “generally known by the nickname” or “have used it as part of (their) legal name” and promise that the name will not be used to mislead voters.

Florida’s elections department did not respond Friday to questions about whether Scott is fit to run.

It’s unclear what steps the Sanders campaign will take to remove his aunt from the ballot.

In 2006, former state Rep. JC Planas (now Run for Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Electionssuccessfully removed his cousin from the ballot because the cousin tried to steal votes from Planas under the name “JP Planas.” Third District Court of Appeal explain Pranath’s cousin had not previously “conducted private and official affairs” in the name of JP and therefore could not continue to contest the elections.

“Giving him the possibility of success through a strategy clearly designed to deceive and confuse voters about a sitting president … is simply not permissible,” the court ruled.

The primary election for Basabe’s seat will be held in August, followed by a general election in November. Basabe will face Republican lawyer Melinda Almonte In the primary election.

Sanders claims it was a ‘carefully planned operation’

On Thursday, Claire VanSusteren, a spokeswoman for the Sanders campaign, suggested without providing evidence that Basabe and the Republican Party were engaged in an “organized and premeditated effort to deceive voters” by putting Scott on the ballot.

Basabe was a New York socialite and reality TV star. Controversial Figure Since his 2022 election, he has denied any involvement.

“Perhaps someone should first ask why Moi is running before spreading false accusations!” he said in a statement.

In February, Basabe interacted on Twitter with an account that appeared to belong to Scott. After Scott posted that she was a “survivor of the Sanders family system,” Basabe responded by saying he was “very sad and sorry for what you’ve been through.”

Since his unexpected election in the historically Democratic district, Basabe has angered some voters After running as a social liberal, he voted with fellow Republicans on culture war issues. He was also accused of slapping an aide and sexually harassing two staffers, allegations he denied.

The Florida House of Representatives investigated the alleged slapping incident and found that “physical contact” did occur between Basabe and his assistant, but there were no witnesses to confirm the claim. Independent probe The sexual harassment complaint concluded that the allegations could not be proven but that Basabe “probably should have exercised better judgment”.

Sanders served as a Democratic state representative from the Orlando area from 2012 to 2014 and was one of the first openly gay members of the Florida Legislature. He is now the senior political director for Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group.