ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Senate Democrats are urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate “widespread and ongoing” attempts to tamper with elections, citing last week’s arrest of a former state senator accused of paying a Palm Beach County man to put his name on the ballot of a Florida Senate race and a mysterious out-of-state organization’s contributions of more than $500,000 to send mailers touting candidates who did no campaigning.
The Democrats on Friday also called for Senate President Wilton Simpson to form a special committee to investigate the matter, a tough sell in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The election schemes involved independent “ghost” candidates who filed to run in three hotly contested Senate races, including Seminole and Volusia counties’ District 9, and were featured in mailers containing language that seemed designed to appeal to left-leaning voters. The ads were paid for by two committees whose only funding came from the same dark money source, a key piece of evidence tying the races together, the state senators said.
