ORLANDO, Fla. — Frank Artiles, the former Republican lawmaker accused of bribing a spoiler candidate to run in an important South Florida state Senate election, had a business relationship with the political consultant behind an advertising campaign that boosted that candidate and similar ones in two other races — including one in Central Florida, records released Friday show.
Emails and invoices obtained by prosecutors show that Artiles was working as a $5,000-a-month contractor for Let’s Preserve the American Dream, a politically active nonprofit with ties to the business-lobbying group Associated Industries of Florida.
The records also show the person Artiles reported to at the Tallahassee nonprofit was Alex Alvarado, the Republican strategist who ran two political committees that together spent $550,000 last year promoting mysterious independent candidates who appeared on the ballot in three key Senate races: Senate District 9 in Central Florida, which was won by Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur of Sanford; Senate District 37 in Miami, won by Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami; and Senate District 39 in Miami and the Florida Keys, won by Republican state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez.
