House Republicans compare Ashley Brundage to hurricane in mailer reaching Helene survivors in Tampa

Image via anti-Ashley Brundage ad.

As Tampa Bay faced Hurricane Helene, Florida House Republicans sent a mailer comparing Democratic candidate Ashley Brundage to a Category 5 storm.

The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee (FHRCC) sent a mailer showing Brundage in a bikini. The Democrat’s photo, taken from her social media, is superimposed in front of a storm, with lightning touching a fingertip extended in the air as money swirls in the air.

“ASHLEY BRUNDAGE IS A CAT 5 FINANCIAL HURRICANE,” a headline on the mailer reads. A smaller caption states, “Ashley will create a financial disaster for Florida’s families.”

The same image appears in mass texts sent out by the FHRCC, calling the Democrat a “monetary disaster.”

“She’s filed for bankruptcy, failed to pay personal bills, had a foreclosure, and had a lien for nonpayment,” the text reads. “How can we trust someone with our hard-earned money when she can’t manage her own?”

Brundage won the House District 65 Democratic Primary in August to challenge Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman, a Tampa Republican. The ads largely attack Brundage on her personal finances. But the use of hurricane imagery in the wake of a storm that killed 12 people in Tampa Bay has Democrats saying the ads reflect poor taste.

“At a time when so many families across Tampa Bay are still in shock and grieving from the loss of their homes and belongings, it is beyond offensive for the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee and Karen Gonzalez Pittman to mock financial hardship,” Brundage said.

“I know the pain these families are going through because, just like too many Floridians, I have faced financial struggles — bankruptcy, foreclosure, and the constant worry about keeping a roof over my head.”

The mailers were shipped out and already in the postal system before forecasts predicted Helene would form or strike Tampa Bay. The mailers reached mailboxes midweek, as the region saw strong winds and floods. The text messages went out on Monday this week, four days after Helene made landfall, and notably used the word “disaster” instead of “hurricane.”

The back of the mailer includes images of court dockets from legal fights between Brundage and the River Bend of Hillsborough County Homeowners Association, including a judgment against Brundage ordering a payment of more than $5,500. The mailer also has info from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filed by Brundage and ex-wife Whitney Brundage.

But the metaphor with a natural disaster — “Brundage is a personal financial disaster and should be disqualified from holding any public office,” the ad states — was the part with which the Democrat took the greatest issue. Brundage said the ad brought additional insult, as Helene impacted Brundage’s family significantly, she said.

“My own mother lost everything in Hurricane Helene, and I have spent the past few days helping her pick up the pieces,” Brundage said. “For the Republicans to compare me to a Category 5 hurricane when our community is still reeling from a real disaster is appalling. Floridians deserve solutions, not attacks.”

The Gonzalez Pittman campaign referred questions about the correspondence to the FHRCC.

Meanwhile, Brundage said the storm also showed policy failures by the Legislature. She used the storm herself as an occasion to attack Gonzalez Pittman, a freshman lawmaker, on the issue of property insurance reform.

“One of the reasons Florida has become so unaffordable under Republican leadership is the property insurance crisis that Republicans like Karen Gonzalez Pittman have ignored,” Brundage said.

“She even voted for a $1 billion insurance company bailout with no relief for Florida families. And now, after this storm, we can expect things to get even worse for homeowners. Instead of focusing on real solutions, like addressing our broken property insurance system, Karen and her allies are making jokes at the expense of the people they’re supposed to represent.”