It wouldn’t be the 305 if there wasn’t at least one seat switch in the midterm elections, right?
Janelle Perez, the cancer survivor, healthcare executive and lesbian activist who had announced last month she would run against Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar next year, has switched races and will challenge Florida Sen. Ileana Garcia instead.
Was it the polling? Is former Congresswoman Donna Shalala going to run, after all?
Know more: Cubanita cancer survivor, LGBT activist challenges Maria Elvira Salazar in 2022
Perez says the specter of a Texas-style abortion ban in Florida made her do it. Last month she said the same thing, however, about Salazar’s vote against the Equality Act having been the decisive moment for her.
¿Le da lo mismo chicha que limoná’?
In her announcement, Perez said she wanted to fight the “radical agenda being advanced that takes aim at women’s rights and individual freedoms.” She also said that she will transfer the $300,000 she’s raised so far for the congressional race to the Florida Senate race.
“Though we started with great momentum, over the last few days, it became very clear that absolutely the best way for me to have a positive impact on our community is to run for the state senate. “For my family and me, running for the state senate is an opportunity to take on the challenges our community faces head on.
“Over the course of the last few months, our state government’s dysfunction has reached new lows. Governor [Ron] DeSantis has made our children less safe during a pandemic by restricting health and safety measures in schools,” Perez said in a statement last week.
“Voting rights are under constant attack as Republicans get desperate to maintain their power. Threats from the climate crisis are affecting us now, but our children – my daughter – will feel the most dire impacts,” she said.
“And what happened in Texas highlighted the need for Democrats to step up and fight for our rights at the state level because women are not host bodies, we are individuals and deserve every right to decide what happens with our health and reproductive rights.”
In a fundraising email sent Friday, she brought up the draconian abortion ban again. “We watched as the State of Texas essentially nullified Roe v. Wade by almost eliminating a woman’s right to reproductive care and make decisions about her own body,” the email reads.
“Immediately following the Supreme Court’s decision, Republicans in the Florida Senate announced they would pursue similar policies in Florida.”
Perez released a digital ad where she tells her story of her parents coming from Cuba, being diagnosed with Stage IV Follicular Lymphoma, a very aggressive incurable cancer, and coming out to her family as a lesbian. She shares photos of her wedding to Monica and their 4-year-old daughter.
The video also has a photo of Garcia over which Perez says, “We have leaders today who choose to deny families their American dream.” She doesn’t say how, though.
For sure, Garcia has denied voters their representation. She won last year by the thinnest margin of 34 votes against former Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez in a tainted race with a GOP plantidate. The State Attorney’s Office is prosecuting Alex Rodriguez, who was registered Republican before he changed it to run for office at the behest of and with payment from former State Sen. Frank Artiles. Rodriguez is said to be cooperating with investigators in the case against Artiles.
Know more: Stolen election? Look no further than Senate District 37 in Coral Gables
Perez hinted to the scandalous way she got into office in a fundraising email sent last week.
“The only way that Republicans flipped the 37th Senate district was by playing dirty tricks,” it reads. “They stole this seat. It’s time for us to take it back.”
Two days after she announced Wednesday, Sen. Lauren Book issued a statement Friday saying she endorsed Perez in the Senate race, indicating Florida Democratic Party support.
“When my colleagues in the Florida Senate elected me as their Democratic Leader, I promised that I would fight to expand our caucus with intelligent, pragmatic, and diverse candidates,” Book said in a statement. “This election is pivotal in our efforts to bring Democratic values – human values, really – back to the State of Florida. We cannot allow Republicans’ failed leadership to continue hurting working families, putting children in danger, and stifling our economy.”
Said Perez: “Our district deserves someone who will always stand up for people.”
Janelle Perez moves from Congressional bid to Florida senate District 37 race added by Ladra on
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