Florida candidate for state representative Joe Saunders is the latest victim of a ballot confusion scheme that appears to be increasingly popular, where a candidate with the same or similar name to a major party's candidate joins the race.
In this case, Saunders' name double is his aunt, Maureen Saunders Scott, who has filed to run as an independent candidate in the same Miami-Dade County district under the name Moe Saunders. Joe Saunders says that the scheme will "siphon votes away," according to LGBTQ Nation. He has filed suit against his aunt, as well as the Republican Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Miami-Dade Election Supervisor Christina White.
The major party candidates in the race are Joe Saunders and reality TV star and current Florida Rep. Fabian Basabe. It's expected to be a tight election, as Basabe won in 2022 by a razor-thin margin of 242 votes.
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While Maureen Saunders Scott says that she's always called herself "Moe," her nephew points out that she always spelled it "Mo" until she filed as a candidate, LGBTQ Nation reported. He also alleges she's misrepresented herself on her paperwork, saying she lives in St. Johns County, rather than Miami-Dade.
Maureen Saunders Scott disputes the allegations she only entered to cause ballot confusion.
“I know my nephew and I know he is bad for Florida. I have seen the incumbent’s record and believe he is also a bad choice for Florida,” she tweeted.
Attempts at causing ballot confusion with candidates with the same or similar name is increasingly common. This year, in Washington state, a conservative activist recruited two candidates both named Bob Ferguson to run against the expected frontrunner and Democrat, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. The imposter Fergusons dropped out after the attorney general said he would file a criminal lawsuit against them otherwise.
In the 2020 election for Florida's 37th district state senator, Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez was running for reelection against Republican Ileana Garcia in what was expected to be a tight race, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Then another candidate with the same last name as Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, filed as an independent candidate, despite not raising any money or even having a campaign website. Garcia won her election by 34 votes. Alex Rodriguez got 6,000 without campaigning.
In April 2024, a Florida Senate Republican consultant admitted that running Alex Rodriguez was an intentional ploy to defeat Jose Javier Rodriguez, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The scheme was orchestrated by former state Senator Frank Artiles.
In March 2021, Artiles was arrested, as was Alex Rodriguez. The latter pleaded guilty; Artiles' case is still pending.
Ileana Garcia still holds the state Senate seat.
