Phil Ammann
Newly announced congressional candidate Annette Taddeo has already raised the ire of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who asks what constitutes “middle class”?
In an opening attack email, NRCC spokesman Chris Pack says it certainly isn’t Taddeo. She is challenging first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in Florida’s 26th Congressional District, which seesawed between the two parties in the past two election cycles.
As proof, they provide a convenient link to a clip of Charlie Crist’s former running mate telling MSNBC that she is indeed “middle class.”
“Taddeo’s comments … are comical,” Pack said, “when you consider that 15 months ago she listed her net worth at $5,713,300.”
The Miami Democrat’s assets include a 6,500-square-foot mansion — not even in the 26th Congressional district, they helpfully note — assessed at $1.25 million.
According to the South Florida Business Journal, the average annual salary of Floridians is $40,750, so few will be moving to a mansion like Taddeo’s anytime soon.
“Only in the fantasyland of Annette Taddeo does being worth $5.7 million dollars make you part of the middle class,” Pack said. “Someone should tell Taddeo that the reason why she has lost every campaign she has ever run in is because voters don’t appreciate being lied to and having their intelligence insulted in the process.”
However, if this attack email right from the start demonstrates anything, it’s this: The contest could quickly become among the toughest (and priciest) in the nation. In 2014, outside groups and campaigns together spent $15 million in the race between incumbent Joe Garcia and Curbelo, who one by only 2 points, 51 to 49 percent.
With that, it would undoubtedly take a millionaire to run in this race, anyway.
