We should have known.
It looks like Frank Artiles is behind the Tampa transplant plantidate that is running in House District 115 against longtime Miami-Dade Fire Captain and union president Omar Blanco. Pero, por supuesto.
Artiles, if you all remember, is the disgraced former state senator who was arrested and charged in 2021 for having paid a fake candidate to throw the Senate District 37 race to Ileana Garcia in 2020. His trial is coming up in Septemer. But, somehow, he has found time in between meetings with his defense attorney, to mount another bogus campaign for Alian Collazo, a former aide to Sen. Alexis Calatayud, who just moved to her house, or at least registered to vote at her house, from Largo, FL, in February.
Last time, Artiles went to Boca Raton to find Alex Rodriguez, the sham candidate he paid more than $45,000 to run and steal votes from former Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez (no relation, but no coincidence, either). This time, Artiles had to go a little further, and to the west.
Read related: Tampa transplant candidate for HD 115 is registered to vote at Senator’s home
“ATTENTION VOTERS!! Republicans, friends, family, supporters, patriots, veterans and neighbors of Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Falls, Cutler Bay and Westchester,” the dishonored legislator posted on social media this week. Multiple times. “Omar Blanco supported Democrats while he was Union Boss of the local firefighter union and endorsed Annette Taddeo, Dwight Bullard, David Perez, Daniella Levin Cava and many other left wing Democrats.”
In the post, Artiles — who urges everyone to repost the message — claims to have “found” a photo of Blanco with Gillum. But what he did, or what Collazo’s consultant did, was crop other firefighters from a photo taken at a black firefighters’ event. But the Miami-Dade Firefighters didn’t endorsed Gillum. It was the state union. Blanco was at the event and he’s not going to say no to taking a photograph with someone. That’s what they’re trying to twist. It’s an old argument.
But it is true that the firefighters’ union, of which Blanco was president, has endorsed Democrat and Republican candidates over the years. They have stood by Jose “Pepe” Diaz, for example. Because Blanco — who is a lifelong Republican — had to represent his members, not his own self interests, just as he will represents his constituents, and not his own self interests, in Tallahassee.
Artiles doesn’t know anything about that.
Read related: Waiting for the other shoes to drop from Frank Artiles arrest in sham senate race
And this has nothing to do with Gillum. Because if it did, then Artiles would be just as harsh on his buddy, former and also disgraced Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who did support Gillum. This photo doesn’t seem to be cropped. But, anyways, ADLP was not a union president representing the will of those who elected him. He was a political consultant. Making cheddar.
And, wait, didn’t his hero Donald Trump take a photo with his former “lock her up” opponent Hillary Clinton and President Bill?
The point is that public figures take photos with public figures at public events. Means nothing.
But by promoting Collazo, Artiles is supporting someone who has tried to bring Joe Biden to FIU, someone who has liked a bunch of Biden and Barack Obama tweets on the platform formerly known as Twitter, someone who has vacationed in Communist Cuba. Are those the “conservative values” Artiles espouses?
This is really all about a personal vendetta. Artiles hates Blanco because Blanco stood up to him and because Blanco had the loyalty and integrity to support a fellow firefighter against former Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr., in the 2018 race for the seat vacated by Rene Garcia, now a Miami-Dade Commissioner. Artiles hates Blanco so much that he held the firefighter cancer bill hostage because of him. Imagine that. Hurting hundreds of firefighters who are battling cancer because of a personal grudge.
Ladra also happens to think that Artiles — who has always really wanted to be a police officer — is jealous that Blanco, a member of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1, was so integral during the county’s response to the Champlain South Tower collapse in Surfside in 2021. And/or Blanco’s friendly relationship with Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.
So, it makes sense that Artiles would import a challenger against Blanco.
It’s okay. Let Carpetbagger Collazo have Artiles, who is facing five felony charges related to another sham candidate. Let him have the racist who was caught publicly yelling racial slurs at black legislators in a drunken rage at a Tallahassee restaurant. Let him have the hothead who punched a college student at a bar. Let him have the lawmaker who broke the law when he lived outside his district as a state representative.
Read related: Frank Artiles must resign despite sorry-not-sorry apology
Because Blanco has none other than former Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, whose voice is coming on Spanish language radio practically every 10 minutes urging voters to vote for the firefighter. She is absolutely beloved in her district and beyond. She never beat up a college kid or uttered a racial slur. She’s never been arrested.
And, for all her abuelita kumbaya BS and the alleged perks at the port, a Sosa endorsement beats an Artiles endorsement every day of the week.
Surprise (not)! Frank Artiles backs ghost candidate in HD115 GOP primary added by Ladra on
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