Florida Democrat "disheartened" to be asked to denounce GOP attacks on her primary opponents
State Senate candidate Olysha Magruder demanded a formal apology from leaders of the local GOP after finding its former chairman is tied to “dark money” ads that supported her and attacked her primary opponent, Kayser Enneking.
Magruder took to Facebook Thursday just an hour after The Sun published a story that linked the leader of a newly created PAC, Moms Speak Out, to former longtime Alachua County Republican Party chairman William Stafford Jones.
Jones said Friday he had nothing to do with the mass mailers, but deferred answering any questions until after the election.
The PAC has pushed out thousands of dollars’ worth of advertisements, with help of the nonprofit Liberation Ocala African American Council and a Washington, D.C.-based marketing consultant.
Moms Speak Out is also behind ads attacking Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, who is running for re-election.
Earlier in the week, Magruder issued a statement that said she was disheartened that community leaders asked her to denounce the “truthful” ads. But late Thursday, she said she wants the group to stop tarnishing her character.
She said the effort is a distraction from the donation money her opponents have received. She also said she is more energized to unseat Perry, R-Gainesville, and to prevent such tactics being used on other “grassroots candidates” with few resources in the future.
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20180824/state-senate-candidate-demands-apology-tv-ads-pulled
