The heated race for an open Florida State senate seat in District 38 has gone from warm to nuclear as both candidates take turns stinging each other and pointing fingers at each other like mosquitas muertas.
For weeks, they campaigned on their own merits. Republican Alexis Calatayud, campaign manager and onetime legislative aide to former State Rep. Vance Aloupis, stressed her experience with the Florida Department of Education for the last two years, including during the pandemic. Democrat Janelle Perez, who once interned for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, stressed her experience as a mom, cancer survivor and business owner (her family owns Doctors HealthCare Plans) with an intense interest in healthcare access.
They are almost interchangeable. Two young, well-spoken Cuban-American trigueñas with deep roots in the community and political aspirations. There’s a million Carolinas like them. The only differences are their positions on red meat party issues such as abortion.
So maybe it was inevitable that the campaigns went negative. The escalating attack ads have even led to at least one police investigation before the two finally went at each other live on WPLG Local 10’s This Week in South Florida. In an era when many candidates refuse to face each other, it was refreshing. Kudos to both for having the guts.
Michale Putney immediately brought up the negative tone hit on Perez that says her company profits from denying the medical claims of seniors. Both Calatayud and the Florida Republican Party, which has been paying for the negative attack ads, “know those allegations are completely false. Actually fraudulent with the intent to mislead the community.”
She explained that the figure in the attack piece is for approved claims that have not been paid out yet.
Putney said he thought the hits on Perez were homophobic, because she is pictured with her wife all “lovey dovey,” in a baseball cap and smoking a cigar. What can you say? He’s really old school. A cigar symbolizes extravagant wealth and hedonism more than machismo these days.
Perez said she was celebrating the end of her chemotherapy. The hat covered her balding head.
It’s interesting that the hit on Calatayud — exposing her grandfather’s arrest for fraud and racketeering — also includes a photo of the candidate with her own cigar. Antonio “Tony” Calatayud, a well known Cuban exile activist and Miami Cuban radio guy was arrested in 2014 in relation to a ring of fraudsters that aimed to buy distressed real estate that allegedly bilked the buyers of at least $1 million. Prosecutors dropped the case, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. (This post was edited after first saying erroneously that Calatayud was convicted. The case was not prosecuted.)
Read related: Alexis Calatayud comes out with ‘sick’ hit ad vs Janelle Perez in FL senate race
“The reality is my opponent is irresponsible and reckless, attacking an 83 year old man… because she cannot attack the history and sterling record of the 29-year-old woman running against her,” Calatayud said.
Perez, who was endorsed by Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, said the old case was fair game because Calatayud says in an ad that she learned everything she knows about the American Dream from her family. “Voters should know about how they attained it,” Perez said.
“I am the only homeowner in this race. The only business owner. The only parent,” Perez said. “When I go up to Tallahassee, I’m going to have real world experience to tackle the issues going on right now.”
She also reported death threats against her and her family to the Pinecrest Police department after, she said, Calatayud’s camp sent text messages with her phone number and pictures of her house.
It’s only gotten worse as new mailers arrived daily last week from each candidate. Tuesday, one voter’s home got three different negative attack mailers about Perez from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign, which is also funding a flurry of TV commercials.
Do they know something we don’t? Would they be spending so much money if they didn’t think Perez was doing well?
Both candidates had their best fundraising period in the last campaign finance report, which documents contributions and expenses from Oct. 8 to the 21st.
Calatayud collected $75,782 in those two weeks. That brought her total haul to $354,241. Of that, she has spent $306,274, leaving her with $51,967 in hand. The bulk of her expenses, about $175,000, have gone through consultant Alex Miranda, the same campaign manager who is running Kevin Marino Cabrera‘s campaign for Miami-Dade commissioner. But she has the Republican Party of Florida helping out with $232,597 spent so far.
Perez got $43,136 in the 13 days. Comes in clutch because it’s about what she has left, in hand ($43,372). That last push brought her total to $314,779. Of that she has spent $271,407. Much of that has gone to advertising through Michael Worley, who has billed $121,636 and Christian Ulvert, who has billed $83,200. The Florida Democratic Party has contributed $138,781.
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