Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat representing Tampa and the surrounding area in Florida, allegedly attempted to campaign at an early voting location with her media entourage filming.
Her Republican opponent, James, Judge, revealed the allegation in a press release on his website that cites a complaint filed with the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. According to Judge, Castor’s stunt forced election officials to eject her from the building and file an official complaint.
Judge claims the incident, which reportedly happened at a public library being used as an early voting location in South Tampa, involved a clandestine plan that saw Castor enter through the exit with members of the media covering her campaign.
Per Judge, “Castor violated the 150-foot exclusion zone, which prohibits candidates and campaign officials from campaigning at polling locations and is a violation of the law. Additionally, walking in through the exit is also in itself a violation of Florida election laws.”
The Florida Republican’s campaign, citing complaints stemming from the incident it reviewed, claims evidence of the malfeasance was beamed onto the televisions and smartphones of Floridians tuning in to multiple local TV stations.
Video captured by WFLA appears to show Castor outside the polling location, though it’s unclear whether she is within the mandated 150-feet exclusion zone.
According to Judge, polling center clerk Jackie Weaver apparently “intercepted Castor inside the polling station and escorted Castor and the news media outside” then “reported the alleged criminal activity to the Supervisor of Elections.”
An area businessman, Judge believes Castor’s behavior is further evidence the Democrat believes she is “above the law.”
“We’ve seen this time and time again from Democrats like Castor, who believe they are above the law,” said Judge. “This is nothing new.” He added, “I have no doubt that very little, if anything, will happen as a result of the infraction.”
James Judge with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (File photo)
“Unfortunately, the system is too broken to actually hold her accountable.” Judge noted, “Shockingly, this entire incident was reportedly documented by the media, and they reported nothing about it.”
“This is precisely why I am running for office, to get rid of the double standards and hold the media and career politicians accountable for everything which they are responsible.”
Judge also noted that, in possible violation of FCC requirements, multiple media outlets only aired comments from Castor, potentially running foul of equal time laws Judge says should entitle the Republican to the same amount of interviews and campaign coverage.
Voters in FL-14 will choose between Judge and Castor on November 8.
