Jesse Scheckner
Mario Knapp, one of 15 candidates running for Miami-Dade Sheriff, is running with the backing of former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn.
Cawthorn, a self-described “constitutional conservative” who served a single term representing North Carolina during the 117th Congress before losing the 2022 Primary, recorded a video with Knapp at a Donald Trump rally this month in Doral.
In it, the 28-year-old said he’d only just met Knapp in person, but that the retired Miami-Dade Police major made quite an impression.
“I just ran into someone who wants to be a constitutional law enforcement expert, and he’s a great man about to be Sheriff, Mario Knapp,” Cawthorn said.
“What a wonderful guy.”
Knapp told Cawthorn of the race, “We’re going to (win) with your support and everyone else’s.”
Cawthorn urged viewers to vote before turning to Knapp and saying, “Mario, I love you, brother.”
“I love you too,” Knapp said.
Knapp wrote on Instagram that he’d had “months of communication back and forth” with Cawthorn before their first face-to-face July 9.
The first member of Congress born in the 1990s, Cawthorn filed 50 bills. None gained traction.
Cawthorn was the subject of many controversies during his short time on Capitol Hill. He suggested the Jan. 6 rioters were actors “paid by the Democratic machine and that there would be “bloodshed” if U.S. elections “continue to be rigged and … stolen.”
He claimed he was invited to an orgy by an unnamed lawmaker and faced several accusations of aggressive sexual behavior. He was also accused of financial impropriety while in office and tried twice to bring a handgun onto a commercial flight.
On Thursday, the Miami New Times reported on an article The Wichita Eagle published in October 2022 detailing questionable social media activity Knapp engaged in while running to be the Kansas metropolis’ top cop.
Screenshots showed Knapp “liked” posts from far-right accounts. In one such, pro-Trump comedian Terrence K. Williams wrote, “Now that we have Free Speech on Twitter … Joe Biden stole the 2020 Election.”
Knapp told the Eagle he was “very passively entertained by social media” but wasn’t “a social media guy.” He said he had “no reason” to believe the election was stolen.
“The election occurred. The guy that won, won. The guy that lost, lost,” he said. “Everybody needs to get over it.”
Knapp told Florida Politics that as Sheriff, he would restructure how uniform patrol officers operate in the county to prioritize public safety, create a public corruption unit to hold malfeasant elected officials accountable and crack down on “rampant” condo and homeowners association fraud.
He faces 10 Primary opponents. They include Iggy Alvarez, Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Ruamen DeLaRua, Alex Fornet, Jeffrey Giordano, Joe Martinez, John Rivera, Ernie Rodriguez, Joe Sanchez and Jose Aragu, whose campaign received a $300,000 cash infusion this month from hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin.
Recent polls show Knapp is trailing Sanchez, a Florida State Trooper, and Cordero-Stutz, an Assistant Miami-Dade Police Director, in the race. Cordero-Stutz carries an endorsement from Trump.
Four Democrats are running: John Barrow, Susan Khoury, Rickey Mitchell and James Reyes. Reyes, Miami-Dade’s recently appointed Chief of Public Safety, oversees the county’s Police, Fire Rescue and Corrections departments and has the backing of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The Primary is on Aug. 20, followed by the General Election on Nov. 5.
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