Zika politics: State House candidate has repellent wristbands

The latest turn in the Zika politics trend is a trinket: A citronella repellent wristband that will be distributed at select polls Tuesday by State House 115 Democrat candidate Ross Hancock.

“Because who couldn’t foresee long ago that Miami-Dade voters would be exposed to mosquitoes,” Hancock asked.

Um, everybody else.

Even Mayor Carlos Gimenez, whose actions on the Zika crisis have been too little, too late (more on that later). In fact, what the mayor’s done as he faces a tough re-election is get photo ops with the governor and congress members as he pretends to tackle the issue with press statements every other day about the latest after-the-fact, come-to-the-rescue aerial spraying, as if he had a choice not to.

A lot of other candidates have turned the Zika crisis into campaign fodder. Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla sent a mailer with “Zika awareness tips” and urged voters to put it on their refrigerators. Scott Fuhrman, the Democrat most likely to face Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in November, sent a mailer with a photo of him and his pregnant wife — the virus is known to cause birth defects and the CDC has warned expecting mothers to stay away from Miami-Dade — in which he tells voters that his family lives close to Wynwood, where the first locally-transmitted cases were reported. The message: We are with you on the front lines! Democrats, like former Congressman Joe Garcia, have used the Zika crisis to bash their Republican counterparts, because they refused to increase spending to combat it.

Alfred Santamaria, a no-chance mayoral candidate, was in Wynwood Tuesday passing out medical “neutralizer” treatments (read: snake oil) for Zika — only after he tipped off reporters and got the TV cameras rolling first. But Wednesday, he had to backpedal and say the balm he distributed to already freaked-out people did not neutralize the virus, simply alleviate the itching. Sounds like a true politician!

Santamaria may be in trouble since the “donation” to his campaign from a medical company — with the same address as the video production company that donated $90,000 in-kind to the campaign — could be a violation of state election laws because the medication has a value and it could be considered buying votes. Former State Rep turned attorney to the pols J.C. Planas said he would file a complaint against Santamaria.

Hancock said the yellow wristbands, which have a little mosquito on them as well as his name, fall well within the rules for campaign trinkets — like hats and pens and balloons — that don’t require a disclaimer as long as they cost a few dollars or less. He said they cost 74 cents a piece.