Florida Family Action backs Carolina Amesty days after forgery indictment
The state held back some info on Carolina Amesty until after the election. Image via Orange County Jail.

amesty mugshot copy
The social conservative group has slammed Republicans for impropriety before— but not often in swing districts.

One of Florida’s most prominent social conservative groups is endorsing a Republican lawmaker facing criminal forgery charges.

Florida Family Action, the political arm for Florida Family Voice, endorsed state Rep. Carolina Amesty on Tuesday. The support comes days after the Windermere Republican surrendered to Orange County authorities following a grand jury indictment on four felony charges.

The group made clear its support of Amesty was based on her policy positions, calling her pro-life and pro-family.

“Protecting and supporting Florida families has always been my top priority,” Amesty said in a statement provided by Florida Family Action. In it, the freshman lawmaker touted legislation she sponsored excusing new mothers from jury duty for six months after birth.

But the juxtaposition of a candidate most recently photographed by a mugshot photographer at an Orange County jail largely overshadowed any areas of legislative agreement.

A grand jury indictment shows the lawmaker now faces charges of forgery, uttering forgery, false acknowledgment or certification by a notary public, and notarizing her own signature.

The charges stem from allegations that in 2021, Amesty falsely notarized a form listing Robert Shaffer as an employee of Central Christian University, a private Orlando school founded by her father, Juan Amesty. Shaffer has said he did not work there and did not sign forms notarized by Amesty. He did later work at the related Central Christian Academy K-12 school.

Amesty has denied any wrongdoing and blames the confusion on memory issues some of Shaffer’s former coworkers said he has. She has asked for a speedy trial and insinuated the accusations were politically motivated.

“This prosecution, initiated just a few weeks prior to absentee ballots being dropped, is based on misleading reports from a partisan newspaper about a notarization of an employee verification background report, the truth of the contents which have not been questioned in any manner,” she said.

She tossed barbs at reports by The Orlando Sentinel, which prompted a complaint to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and an investigation of Amesty. From there, the matter rose to enough importance that State Attorney Andrew Fain, an appointee of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, put the matter in front of a grand jury. That jury last week returned the four-count indictment.

Regardless of her legal situation, Amesty already represents one of the most competitive seats in the General Election. Democrats recruited Leonard Spencer, a former Disney executive, to challenge the incumbent this Fall.

Numerous Republicans and conservative advocacy groups in the state have endorsed Amesty, including Attorney General Ashley Moody, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, U.S. Reps Byron Donalds and Cory Mills, and The Libre Initiative.

But all those groups endorsed Amesty before her indictment. Florida Family Action is the first group to endorse since the grand jury met.

The organization notably has been willing to rap Republicans such as former Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler in December, for issues of moral impropriety. But it hasn’t so often criticized officials in swing seats vulnerable to political challenges from Democrats.

The chief focus of political activity, as far as the November election goes, has been the defeat of an amendment to restore abortion rights in Florida. Amesty supported the state’s current ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


5 comments

  • Phil Morton

    September 4, 2024 at 7:07 am

    The GOP has a storied history of endorsing criminals. Kind of amazing they can’t find candidates without a criminal past.

  • Joe

    September 4, 2024 at 10:56 am

    To the surprise of nobody at all.
    FFA/FFV is a bunch of craven weirdos.

  • Sandra

    September 4, 2024 at 2:12 pm

    Soon you could blame it on dementia or legal pot..
    Really idk the issues.
    Meanwhile back at the ranch
    Donald you Want your mugshot less searchable ?. Want to Stop them from trying hard to make you look like a weirdo? Text your gov and call public records harassment by Internet
    No one has the right to exploit your records

  • Sundance

    September 6, 2024 at 6:49 pm

    There is crime and ripping your associates ..also called crime. Either way two wrong don’t make a I will rehabilitate Right

  • Sundance

    September 8, 2024 at 11:31 am

    But new america they say will be 3rd class with street working legalized, drugs.abd porn ( first amendment) freedom to Express.
    And all kinds of human trafficking including taking your all returns of cash .

Comments are closed.


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