Drew Wilson
Brevard County Rep. Randy Fine and Marcie Adkins are squaring off in a nasty Republican primary battle.
Adkins’ campaign has claimed to have a video of Fine with prostitutes — a video that Fine says is nonexistent — and one of her campaign consultants, Robert Burns, taunted Fine’s mother by offering to show it to her. On Mother’s Day.
All the while, Adkins has allowed anti-Semitism to fester among her supporters, with one posting on her campaign Facebook page that Fine should “go back to Israel.” Fine is Jewish.
On Tuesday, House Speaker José Oliva said enough is enough and issued a statement admonishing the Adkin campaign for the rhetoric and the candidate for allowing it to occur.
“Outright lying about your opponent and harassing their family is beyond the pale and Ms. Adkins and her campaign should be ashamed,” Oliva said. ”Compounding such outrageous behavior by turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism and bigotry on social media sites you control only further demonstrates why voters should keep Representative Fine.”
To the Miami Lakes Republican, whose term as House Speaker ends in November, Adkins’ has gone beyond the point of no return. He said he would support Fine’s reelection campaign “to the fullest extent possible.”
“There is no spinning this. Accusing someone of something that they demonstrably did not do and repeating those accusations to their elderly parent is not political discourse or the full contact nature of politics. It’s called being a liar and power-hungry,” he said.
“The people of District 53 should be proud to have a representative that stands up for their interests at great personal cost to himself. The people of Brevard County have a champion in Randy Fine and no amount of lies, misdirection, or spin can change that fact. His constituents know that and they should, and will, reject desperation demagoguery and send him back to the Legislature.”
Adkins’ campaign tactics stem from a longtime feud between Fine and Burns — a feud Burns has largely waged solo through harassment and attempted intimidation.
8 comments
Stephanie
May 19, 2020 at 6:13 pm
Randy Fine is an awesome community leader! He will have my vote.
Mary Ruth Kozma
May 19, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Rep Randy Fine has gone above and beyond for the people he represents! My husband and I are voting for him again in November. He shows leadership where ever he is, and such a willingness to serve the people! He is a family man, respectful, and a great father for his boys. He sets a great example for our community!
Frank Bonaiuto
May 19, 2020 at 7:58 pm
You have my vote and my wife’s VOTE Randy. She sounds more like a democrat then a Republican. How can she be trusted now with her lying to gain power. She is untrustworthy.
MJ
May 20, 2020 at 7:26 am
Randy Fine stand up for the community’s interest? You OBVIOUSLY do not live in his district. He has lied to his constituents on 3 different occasions about fixing the Red Flag Laws he helped sign into law. He was involved with a group of Palm Bay residents, one currently awaiting trial for fraud, drug and RICO charges. The community has been seeking answers he refuses to give. He is very good at deflecting, misdirecting and flat out lying to his constituents. He has learned to manipulate with emotional outcries. He has voted yes on bills that limit our 1st, and 2nd amendments. He is infamous locally for publicly calling Republican leaders racist and other foul names when he doesn’t get his own way. He is known to block and delete comments on his social media site and will unfriend you if you do not do as he demands. District 53 is tired of this petulant child.
Just for the record, as I understand it, it was Randy Fine’s mother who made the first contact with Robert Burns by commenting on his post. You cant make a comment and then cry foul when you get a response. This is a perfect example of who Randy Fine is. A monkey would be a better representative at this point.
Charlotte Greenbarg
May 20, 2020 at 7:42 am
How much did Adkins/Burns pay you to troll?
MJ
May 20, 2020 at 8:57 am
We agree on something, Robert Burns and Randy Fine are cut from the same deception cloth. It’s definitely Randy Fine’s style to pay people to push a false narrative creating an emotional outcome to take advantage of, for personal profit. He doesn’t even have the decency to live in the district he represents.
mj
May 20, 2020 at 7:59 am
Fine also said he had no problems with Red Flag Laws, and has NO intention of fixing Parkland “law” even though he had previously stated he would.
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