ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA — Past controversies continue to haunt Democrat Allie Braswell as voters head to the polls to choose a representative in Florida’s 45th State House District. The redrawn Horizon West area is a community just west of Windermere’s town limits, south of Winter Garden’s city limits, and includes the Walt Disney area.
MISMANAGEMENT OF MONEY
Braswell ran for Florida’s CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in 2014 after appearing on CNN to discuss the Trayvon Martin case. Florida’s CFO oversees accounting, auditing, and fraud prevention divisions and is considered the state’s top financial manager. However, Braswell eventually dropped out after reports of a pattern of mismanaging money.
The Florida Standard obtained public records revealing that Braswell declared bankruptcy four times between 1995 and 2015. Records show that Braswell had liens for unpaid association and water bills as his home went into foreclosure. In addition, two auto companies sued him for failing to make payments on luxury cars.
“DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION”
In 2017 Braswell obtained a master’s degree and supplemented it with a certificate from Cornell University in “Advanced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” He served as a diversity and inclusion officer for the Mayo Clinic and VyStar Credit Union. Braswell’s company, the Braswell Group, offers seminars and a “Cultural Inclusion Assessment,” which involves an index for a company to track its progress towards “inclusion.”
Braswell has faced new criticism, with some alleging that he’s a “carpetbagger” because he does not live in the district he seeks to represent. He’s also been called a flip-flopper because he switched parties from Republican to Democrat in July 2008.
A TIGHT CONTEST
To win on November 8, Braswell will have to beat Republican Carolina Amesty, who holds a slim edge in campaign funds over Braswell. The race is one of the tightest contests in the Florida House this election cycle.
Making anti-socialism the central issue of her campaign, Amesty has brought together an impressive amount of Republican support. Endorsed by Florida’s current CFO, Jimmy Patronis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Donald Trump Jr., former Orlando Mayor Richard Crotty, and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, Amesty wants to see “common sense leadership” for district 45.
“As an American with a Venezuelan heritage, I know too well the consequences of embracing socialism, and I want to work with Governor DeSantis to defend our state from the agenda being pushed at us on a daily basis by the establishment in Washington,” Amesty said in a campaign statement.
PDF of bankruptcy records below:
