Just an update on what is occurring on the Democratic side in the race for Matt Gaetz's house seat. A Democrat is not likely to win in this heavily Republican district. Basically the candidate favored by the Democratic party, Peggy Schiller, took Rebekah Jones to court to have Jones disqualified in the Democratic primary because Jones was not registered as a Democrat for 365 days prior to qualifying. It is not even clear if this is even a pertinent requirement in Florida for house races based on the court information -- but it is the route the Democratic state party in Florida is using in their attempt to knock Jones off the ballot. Jones has been leading in some recent polling for the Democratic primary. Former COVID Whistleblower Can Stay in House Race for Now A former state Department of Health employee who gained national attention for questioning Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard numbers can remain a candidate for now in the race to be the Democratic challenger to Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...-whistleblower-can-stay-in-house-race-for-now TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former state Department of Health employee who gained national attention for questioning the numbers in Florida's COVID-19 dashboard can remain a candidate for now in the race to be the Democratic challenger to Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. A state appellate court on Friday put on hold, pending further review, a lower court's ruling against Rebekah Jones that would have prevented her from running for the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat in the Florida Panhandle. The lower court had agreed with arguments from a rival for the nomination that Jones had not met a legal requirement of being a registered Democrat for 365 days before qualifying. Jones could still be disqualified with an adverse ruling from Florida's First District Court of Appeal. Jones is facing Peggy Schiller in the race to be the Democratic nominee in the heavily Republican district that covers Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties. Jones received national attention when she raised questions about the state’s COVID-19 dashboard and claimed she was fired for exposing problems. The state said she was fired for insubordination after being reprimanded several times.
the dem old guard has a long history of pulling this crap GWB, it's likely you even liked it when done to candidates you disliked. India Walton, Katie Hill, Al Franken, Ilhan Omar, AOC, and on and on... The dem party primary is way more undemocratic than the GQP's, since there's no superdelegate bullcrap in the latter.
I have previously outlined why Rebekah Jones would not be a good politician and a very poor representative for this district in the house. Earlier the Democratic party's preferred candidate was leading in the polls - recently the primary race has become more close. At least the preferred candidate, Peggy Schiller, has the background and qualifications to possibly be a good representative in the U.S. House. The bottom line however is it probably does not matter much in this district what happens in the Democratic primary -- since the Florida's 1st Congressional District is a solidly Republican district -- and at this point Matt Gaetz is likely to be re-elected unless he gets indicted prior to November (in which case the Republican party would just replace him with another candidate who would also be a lock).
It is interesting to note that Matt Gaetz is taking a lot of heat from fellow Republicans in his district. Additionally noting the critics and their families were former large individual donors to Gaetz. GOP politician pens blistering op-ed slamming Matt Gaetz https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/matt-gaetz/ A Florida Republican politician has penned an op-ed lambasting Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for his presumed betrayal of his supporters. In a piece published by the Pensacola News Journal, Mark Lombardo voiced concerns on behalf of Gaetz's supporters who are displeased with his actions. "Like all of Matt Gaetz’s donors, my dad trusted him to use that money to further conservative ideals," Lombardo wrote. "Had my father known that Gaetz would use his money to pay pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s attorney, he would have never given him a penny." Lombardo went on to explain why voters feel betrayed by the Florida lawmaker as he detailed Gaetz's use of the money voters had donated to his campaign fund. "Gaetz broke my dad’s, and thousands of other donors’ trust when he used their money to pay the attorney most known for defending the world’s worst child-sex trafficker," he wrote. "To think that money my dad earned as a decorated combat veteran on the field of battle went to Gaetz’s sex-trafficking defense infuriates me and my family. "In addition, knowing Gaetz raises money from elderly and working-class people under the deception of making America great and then uses that money for defending himself against charges that have nothing to do with his work in Congress or campaign, is shameful. It’s a total betrayal of trust." He went on to criticize the embattled lawmaker over the criminal investigation he is currently facing due to allegations of sex trafficking. "An even bigger betrayal is that Gaetz put himself into a position that he needed a sex-trafficking defense attorney while serving on the Congressional Armed Services Committee," he wrote. Due to Gaetz's status, Lombardo stressed how vulnerable the lawmaker is to becoming a target for blackmail. "As a member of the Committee, Gaetz has access to Top Secret, classified information," Lombardo wrote. "Anyone who has worked in national security or for the military knows that engaging in prostitution, orgies, sex trafficking, and illegal drug use while holding a security clearance leaves them vulnerable to blackmail by foreign intelligence agents. This is especially true for senior government officials who partake in illicit activities on foreign soil – like Gaetz is reported to have done." He also made it clear that Gaetz's " behavior in a foreign country, poor choices and lack of judgment betrays our government, its veterans, our active-duty military, and intelligence agents whose lives depend on keeping secrets closely guarded, as well as Gaetz’s oath to protect and defend the Constitution."
Some follow-up... COVID Whistleblower Wins Appeal, Will Appear on Florida Dem Primary Ballot https://www.thedailybeast.com/covid...l-appear-on-florida-democratic-primary-ballot Rebekah Jones, the Florida Health Department whistleblower who called out the state’s data during an early peak of the pandemic, will appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot after a state appeals court reversed a ruling that kicked her off. Last week, Leon County Circuit Court said Jones did not meet the requirements to run as a candidate in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 1st Congressional District because she did not meet the standard requirement for party registration. Florida law states a candidate must be a registered voter of the party that they seek a nomination for at least 365 days before the qualifying deadline, which was in June. Jones appealed the decision, and Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal ruled 3-0 in her favor. Jones became a national story after she called claimed COVID-19 data had been fudged. She was subsequently fired and arrested for allegedly hacking into the Health Department’s system, downloading confidential data and sending a text message to residents urging them to “speak up.” She denies the allegations. A state investigator’s report released in May and obtained by NBC News disputed Jones’ claims and concluded that she wasn’t fired out of revenge. Jones is facing a felony charge after authorities said she was unauthorized to access the department’s computer system on Nov. 10, 2020, when she sent a text message to 1,750 people, downloaded confidential data, and subsequently saved it. In a TikTok video after the decision, Jones, who was protesting against Matt Gaetz at Fort Walton Beach, said, “we’re going to win this race, we’re not going anywhere and in November, we’re going to beat Matt Gaetz.” Read it at Northwest Florida Daily News
Rebekah Jones won the Democratic primary for FL House District 1 -- fending off party-backed Peggy Schiller by over 20 points. It is interesting to note that Rebekah Jones basically ran a campaign taking on DeSantis. She rarely mentioned her Democratic opponent or Matt Gaetz -- much less the issues facing the district. It appears this type of campaign worked out for Jones in the primary. However FL House District 1 is deeply red. Matt Gaetz won the district by 30 points in 2020. He is likely to win with this type of margin again in November. Even if Gaetz gets indicted -- the Republican party is likely to find a replacement who will easily take the district. As a sign of the lopsided balance in the district -- the Republican primary this week has about 3 times the total number of voters as the Democratic primary.
More news... Former Florida data analyst Rebekah Jones to stand trial in January https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/...lyst-rebekah-jones-to-stand-trial-in-january/ TALLAHASSEE - Former Florida Department of Health data analyst Rebekah Jones, who drew national attention when she said Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration manipulated COVID-19 data, is scheduled to stand trial in January on allegations that she improperly accessed a department computer system. Jones' trial is scheduled to start Jan. 23 in Leon County circuit court, according to a notice posted this week in an online docket. Jones, who is running for a Northwest Florida congressional seat in the November election, was fired from her Department of Health job in May 2020. She was charged in January 2021 with illegally accessing the computer system in November 2020. Authorities accused her of sending a message on an internal Department of Health multi-user messaging account. "It's time to speak up before another 17,000 people are dead. You know this is wrong. You don't have to be part of this. Be a hero. Speak out before it's too late," the message said. Jones denied sending the message. In unsuccessfully seeking a dismissal of the case, her attorneys said the system was used by multiple people who shared a username and password.
We know that Matt Gaetz likes minors, but his activities in the 1st District election are getting weird -- even for Matt Gaetz. Rebekah Jones calls out Matt Gaetz on TikTok over Facebook post involving her autistic son https://www.dailydot.com/debug/matt-gaetz-rebekah-jones-autistic-son-facebook/ Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is facing backlash over a Facebook post comparing the popularity of his re-election campaign events with those of his opponents. Rebekah Jones is running against Gaetz and said that one of Gaetz’s recent posts included a photo of her autistic son with his face down on a table, using it to compare the enthusiasm levels of the two candidates. Jones said the photo wasn’t even from an event of hers, but rather a health expo she attended. And the photo wasn’t of some downtrodden Jones’ supporter, but rather her autistic son. “I took my son with me today, my 12-year old autistic son, to help me man a booth at [a] health expo… and Matt Gaetz apparently had someone take pictures, and posted it, mocking him on Facebook,” Jones said, adding “You don’t fuck with my kids.” On her website, Jones previously wrote about her son’s autism and how she will campaign for better disability rights in education. Jones called it “creepy and disgusting” and brought up Gaetz’s own current accusations of sexual assault and trafficking against minors, saying he “should really stay away from that one. Let’s show him how we treat pedophiles.” Gaetz is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for potentially paying for sex with women under the age of 18 and taking them across state lines for sex. In the comments of Gaetz’s Facebook post, numerous people responded, calling him out as well. “That’s her underage son you Creep,” wrote one user. Jones is challenging Gaetz after she became an internet sensation for her feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Jones was fired from her job as a data scientist during the COVID-19 pandemic. She repeatedly accused DeSantis of fudging the numbers to make Florida look better than the rest of the nation. At one point her house was raided by Florida police serving a search warrant. In the face of her public campaign, DeSantis and his supporters have painted Jones as a disgruntled employee who didn’t have access to the kind of data she claimed showed malfeasance by his administration. Gaetz’s campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry on its campaign’s comment form.