Ryan Nicol
Sen. José Javier Rodríguez is defending himself in a new ad against what he calls “lies” and “scare tactics” from his Republican opponent, Ileana Garcia. On Thursday, Garcia was doing the same after a negative mailer went out criticizing her policy positions.
Garcia was a late entrant to the race, filing for the seat on June 1 after earning support from Senate GOP leadership.
The two have sparred throughout the campaign though, particularly on the issue of socialism. Both candidates are of Cuban descent. Non-party affiliated Alex Rodriguez is also seeking the Senate District 37 seat.
The new mailer accuses Garcia of supporting the caging of immigrant children and backing the arming of teachers trained under the state’s Guardian program, among other issues.
“He sent out a flyer with some pretty pathetic things,” Garcia told Florida Politics. “Like caging kids, arming librarians and said I did not address common sense solutions? I’ve never been in office.”
She also called Sen. Rodríguez “an embarrassment” on Twitter. “Call yourself an attorney [with] these flagrant lies? You have no merits in [SD 37], you work for yourself, union attorney begging for favors then don’t return calls. Enabling the radical left.”
In response to the mailer’s allegations, Garcia pointed to 2016 comments made to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution following Trump’s win in the presidential contest.
“If the same people who supported him – like me – get in front of him and say, ‘Let’s look into DACA so that innocent children and innocent people don’t get lost in the progress’ and if we continue to be a democracy, I think that anything is possible,” Garcia said. “And I wholeheartedly believe he will be a President for the immigrants.”
Trump’s record on immigration has been far from welcoming. Trump ramped up detention of undocumented immigrants, prompting a surge in families being separated. He banned travel from several countries. Trump attempted to rescind DACA, though the courts sought to stop those efforts.
As to the issue of arming teachers, Garcia pushed back on the mailer’s claims. “I never had a position on it,” she said.
Asked whether she had one now, Garcia declined to answer, instead speaking generally about helping kids through mental health issues.
“Never had to sit and consider this,” Garcia said. “My understanding is it’s left up to each school district so really it’s not about arming teachers or a guardian it’s school districts making the decision. What makes a child or an adult open fire and hurt others is the issue.”
She advocated “finding diverse ways to safely protect children like camera systems and reforming how students, parents and teachers handle bullying and each other so you can foresee the issue before it happens.”
The Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (FDLCC) also released a new TV ad Thursday featuring Sen. Rodríguez.
“My opponent is at it again with lies about my record,” Sen. Rodríguez says to kick off the ad.
“The scare tactics won’t work because my record is clear. We don’t need to defund the police. We do need community reform.”
While Sen. Rodríguez discusses his position on police reform, the ad blasts two new endorsements he picked up Wednesday from local police unions. Garcia, meanwhile has been backed by the Hispanic Police Officers Association.
“While my opponent is busy retweeting the President’s divisive rhetoric, I’m fighting for better wages, access to health care and a clean environment because my only focus is standing up for you,” Sen. Rodríguez says to close the ad.
When asked about specific erroneous claims Garcia has made regarding Sen. Rodríguez’ record, the FDLCC declined to answer directly, instead repeating the charges lobbed in the ad.
“This ad sets the record straight and has the Senator speaking directly with voters on his values,” a spokesperson said.
The ad repeats attempts by Sen. Rodríguez to tie Garcia to President Donald Trump. Garcia helped found Latinas For Trump and served as the first Hispanic female Deputy Press Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump.
“In my time serving District 37, I have been extremely proud of the work I have done supporting our first responders, finding solutions to our climate crisis, and expanding access to health care,” Sen. Rodríguez added in a statement released alongside the ad.
“The people of District 37 won’t be distracted by these scare tactics from my opponent because they know that the problems we face are bigger than tired rhetoric and can only be solved by working together for a better future.”
