A.G. Gancarski
Two Republican Congressmen and military veterans are weighing in on a controversial ad in a Tampa-area state Senate race.
U.S. Reps. Brian Mast and Mike Waltz are rallying to the defense of Jay Collins after what a press release calls the “latest attack ad” from Democratic Sen. Janet Cruz in the competitive Senate District 14 race.
Invoking Collins’ Purple Heart, the Congressmen attack Cruz for daring to air a negative spot against a military veteran.
“Just because Jay Collins and I lost legs, in combat, defending Janet Cruz’s freedom of speech, it does not mean she needs to squander that freedom spewing the garbage she has on television attacking him,” Mast said.
“He fought to protect our families and to keep women and girls safe. She ought to be ashamed of lying about that service while having the nerve to offer hollow gratitude to those deployed around the world,” Mast added.
“Jay Collins put his life on the line and even lost his leg fighting for our country,” said Waltz, the first Green Beret elected to Congress. “Slandering the character of a wounded veteran who is willing to extend his service to representing his community is beneath the office Janet Cruz holds.”
The three-pack ad from the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee deems Collins as “too extreme for Tampa.” The spot contends Collins would jail women who have abortions, and alleges he would raise property taxes and prescription drug prices.
Collins is “so extreme that he’s against helping domestic abuse victims” and “women in jail,” claims the ad.
“Higher prices for all, and more abuse for the abused,” claims the spot, which has seen more than $18,000 of spending in its first day on air.
SD 14 is a blue-leaning seat but a competitive one. About 51.25% of voters under the new SD 14 lines favored Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential Election, while 47.33% voted for Republican Donald Trump.
Voter registration mirrors the slight Democratic advantage with 122,751 registered Democrats, 114,588 registered Republicans and 103,528 nonpartisan voters, according to the most recent L2 voter data.
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Florida Politics staff contributed to this report.
9 comments
marylou
October 27, 2022 at 11:47 am
Pathetic.. trying to use lost legs to silence his opponent. The meaningful information in this article is the fact that Extremist Jay Collins would jail women who have abortions and raise property taxes and prescription drug prices.
Charlie Crist
October 27, 2022 at 11:52 am
DeSantis raped a dead woman in Iraq and also collaborated with ISIS against coalition forces. Vote for me instead.
Jay Collins
October 27, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Collins is going to win. These attack ads show it and Democrats know that here in Florida they will be taking a beating at the polls.
Mike Fanning
October 27, 2022 at 12:23 pm
Her comments had nothing to do with his service record and had the added benefit of being true.
Ron the Con
October 27, 2022 at 3:54 pm
But when republicans air aids and send mailers attacking democratic veterans, they’re silent. Party of hypocrites
Tjb
October 28, 2022 at 9:35 am
Brain Mast,
Just because you are veteran, it does not make a vet Teflon proof. Why didn’t You complain when Trump called veterans “ losers and stupid” for serving our country?
Also, let’s review all of the unfounded lies used in Republican campaign ads attacking Democratic’s . And Brian Mast… . do you remember when Trump stated he did not want wounded soldier in military parade… was he thinking about vets like you? Sad.
GGS
October 31, 2022 at 9:15 pm
I knew Janet Cruz before she drank the Kool Aid served up by the progressive democratic party. It is tragic to see how far she was willing to fall for votes. Very sad indeed!!!!
FrankenStrat
November 2, 2022 at 3:03 pm
Janet, Janet, Janet.
I have known Janet for decades. She is a very pragmatic person, but she will not buck her party. She knows the game. She knows she cannot buck. If she did retribution from the party and its activists would be swift and decisive.
Janet claims that she doesn’t care about what her party says. Don’t let her fool you. Janet has been a party enforcer. Stumping for votes, twisting arms, and punishing people when they stray from the party line. She is not as independent or free thinking as her ads would lead you to believe.
Janet has not been a very effective elected either. She really has not sponsored anything of substance. Rumor has it that she is trying to get some of the more effective democratic lawmakers in Tallahassee to co-write and co-sponsor some bill so that she can change that narrative.
Her daughter Ana Cruz (Mayor Jane Castor’s wife) is a piece of work. Supposedly the feds are even investigating Ana and Jane. Seems Ana may be “deriving personal benefit” from Jane’s position leading the city.
Janet and Ana suck on the teet of government and pursue their own enrichment. They don’t care about anything other than themselves.
Make no mistake, a vote for Janet Cruz is a vote for the ongoing leftist lunacy that has beset this country. She doesn’t believe all of it but she will support it to save her own skin.
samantha albers
November 3, 2022 at 1:33 pm
I have known Cruz for several years. She used to be Tampa and pragmatic about issues. She has gone rabid because her daughter Ana with Ballard Partners is advising her. She has drunk the progressive Kool-Aid and will do anything to get elected. It’s really too bad.
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