District 4 voters have received a mailer from a political action committee blasting Commissioner Ashley Hofberger as “unqualified, unserious & already corrupt.”
- Floridians for a Better Florida sent the mailer that attacks Hofberger, who won the GOP primary and Gov. DeSantis appointed to serve until the election, for “taking over $100,000 from Escambia taxpayers for a part-time job.” It says that she is “backed by corrupt politicians ripping us off.”
BACKGROUND: Hofberger has had no problems going negative during her campaign. In a very tight Republican primary for the District 4 commission seat, Committee to Protect Florida mailed a flyer to District 4 voters that darkly colored Walker Wilson and called him out for being friends with Lumon May. The flyer said: “We don’t need another ‘Downtown Democrat’ on the County Commission!”
Buck Mitchell, who also was running for the District 4 seat, had no ties to Mark Zubaly, who runs the Committee to Protect Florida. His campaign told Inweekly, “The Mitchell campaign has no paid or unpaid political consultants. Buck is advised by only family and close friends.”
- Voting records show that the mailer hurt Walker Wilson because it was received as early voting started. Read more.
Committee to Protect Florida is a PAC run by State Rep. Michelle Salzman, who denied any knowledge of the mailer. Hofberger also denied any knowledge of it, but we found out that it was a lie.
- Salzman told us, “I had no knowledge of the mailer and was not consulted about any negative mail. I adore Lumon and am very saddened that he has been affected by a race he has nothing to do with. Lumon has been a great partner and friend to me; politics could never change that. He and I have spoken several times since the incident occurred, each time I have told him I have no idea who was behind it, paid for it, or designed/approved it.”
REALITY: Just like Hofberger’s attack on Wilson, there are facts behind the mailer. Wilson is a friend of Lumon May, and Hofberger did win several bikini contests during her younger days, even the 2012 Panhandle Showdown. However, neither fact disqualifies them from being county commissioners.
- We abhor negative politics and wouldn’t even have posted this, except Hofberger’s early negative attacks on her opponents warranted showing how dirty the District 4 race has continued to be.
For more, you can read:
Blackface mailer architect paid $50K in defamation case
Daily Outtakes: Fish House refinance, D4 racist mailer and Salzman’s spending spree
