Jacob Ogles
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.
