In the city of Miami special election, if we are to believe the text messages that voters are getting, we have a child molester, a communist sympathizer and an unethical attorney running for the seat vacated in District 2.
Of course, none of that is necessarily true. It’s just part of Miami elections. The smearing of candidates is something voters in the Magic City have been subjected to for decades.
One text message against Downtown Neighbors Alliance President James Torres even has racist undertones.
“Puerto Rican criminal transplant James Torres is running for office and from his past,” it says. Why is it important that he’s Puerto Rican?
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The rest of the text alludes to an arrest for endangering the health and welfare of a minor in Maricopa, Arizona. “We don’t need child abuser James Torres on the city commission.”
For the record, Torres explained that the incident — which he says was not an arrest — involved the disciplining of his son during a rough divorce. “I was called into court. It was all handled in the judicial system.”
But the attack shows how seriously he is being taken as a candidate who could win Feb. 27. And he’s not the only one.
Former TV journalist turned communications pro Sabina Covo has been linked to far left Colombian President Gustavo Petro and criticized for a bankruptcy she filed early in her life.
And Miami City attorney attached-to-the-mayor Eddy Leal, who is on leave from his job — and there should be a resign to run amendment for government employees — has been hit with an old ethics complaint that was actually filed by a developer and quickly dismissed unanimously by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.
There’s no there there. But as we get closer to special Election Day in the city of Miami to fill the vacancy in District 2, the hit piece attacks are coming out against the front running candidates.
“I think it’s a racist thing,” Torres said about the text message against him. “Now we’re beating up on brown people?”
Torres told Ladra that the only crime he’s ever been charged with is having dark tints on his car in 2010. He paid $185 and that was it. But he went through a nasty divorce and his ex-wife’s now-husband made a bunch of accusations against him, none of which stuck.
“Every single one was dropped and not prosecuted,” he said.
Read related: Endorsements come in for the four front runners in city of Miami District 2 race
Torres believes the attacks are coming from former and disgraced Circuit Court Judge Martin Zilber, the best funded candidate in the race being pushed by Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.
The text sounds very ADLP.
So does the text about Covo’s bankruptcy, which uses one of his favorite words. Can you guess what it is? “Sabina Covo can run but she can’t hide from her past,” it says. “Do we really this fraudster to get a hold of our tax dollars?”
Yep. Fraudster.
In a graphic web ad, she is called a con artist.
Covo told Ladra she filed for bankruptcy on the advice of a lawyer because she was newlywed and pregnant and she had incurred about $45,000 of debt from medical costs when she was between jobs and without insurance. She isn’t proud of it. But it doesn’t mean she can’t do the job.
And she readily admits that her dad’s cousin, Adelina Covo, is a Petro supporter. But what the text doesn’t tell you is that Covo ran the campaign for his opponent, Federico Gutierrez, in the U.S. and Europe (he won Miami by 80%). “I never wanted Petro. The only person in my family who was with Petro, because she aligns with him, is Adelina.”
There’s one in every family, right?
Leal was hit first, on a 2010 ethics complaint from the developers of the Babylon who were pissed off that Leal represented some opposing neighbors. He was cleared of any wrongdoing. But of course, the attack doesn’t say that.
An email sent out says he is greedy because he owns a bunch of commercial and residential properties. Shouldn’t it say he’s smart?
“Eso es pura envidia,” Leal told Ladra. “You work hard. You buy property. What’s the problem? Last time I checked, it’s legal to buy property in Miami. In fact, one could say I have more of a vested interest in the city because I have real estate holdings.”
All three of them are featured on a smear website where they are called “a gang of criminals,” so everyone knows the attacks are coming from Zilber.
“By process of elimination and because he s the only one with the funding and the capacity,” Leal said.
But the judge himself got hit Monday with a text message about his own ethics lapses and ties to commissioners and developers and pay to play endorsements.
“Roses are red, violets are blue. Martin gives us the blues, you should be weary too,” it starts. “Miami-Dade got Zinged by Zilber once We cannot allow to be zapped by Zilber now.
“Investigated by the FL Supreme Court and FL Bar for corrupt practices. Preyed on pregnant women and mistreated them routinely. Funded by deep pocketed developers who want to destroy historic neighborhoods and end city control over development projects. Over $100,000 raised by city hall insiders. Pay to play endorsements that will cost taxpayers millions through promises for campaign contributions and giveaways for special interests.
“So let’s not be fooled by Zilber. His pay to play endorsements will only bring more chaos and disorder to City Hall. Our courts were Zinged by Zilber. We cannot be Zinged by Zilber in District 2.”
Text messages don’t need to have the same political disclaimers that other campaign advertising is required to include — though they should. There’s no way to tell who paid for them and they are being used more and more rather than the traditional methods of communication that do require political disclaimers. This may become, if it hasn’t already, the principal way to communicate with voters.
But a mailer that went out last week attacking Zilber and ADLP was paid for by Miamians for Truth, Fairness and Justice, a new political action committee formed last month by Raul Miro, brother of Steven Miro, a former Carollo staffer who sued for wrongful termination (and settled last November for $120,000 after three years in court).
It basically faults Zilber for being similar to ADLP, which is definitely among the reasons voters are saying they won’t vote for the former judge.
Raul Miro said there were a couple of others coming out soon.
Miami District 2 race gets heated with attacks and smears on lead candidates added by Ladra on
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