If you’re freaked out that Daphne Campbell won the Democratic primary for State Senate District 38, you’re not alone.  I had my theories how she pulled this off, but until now I was leery about posting them for fear of being labeled a “racist.”  In this strange climate of political correctness, anyone who dares to analyze demographics and quote statistics is immediately attacked for “generalization.”  Which usually translates to “racism.”

Never fails.

Fortunately, the one of the bloggers at Eye On Miami took that bullet for me.

On September 2, 2016 column, Geniousofdespair posted Daphne Campbell is Not a REAL Democrat even though she ran as one and WON the State Senate Primary for District 38!

The blogger wrote, “There were too many Democrats in the race and that gave Daphne Campbell the edge with the super voters — many Haitians. I blame Michael Gongora for her win, he joined the race on the last day of qualifying.”

Well, there you go.  Geniusofdespair publicly put out there what people have been whispering in in private conversations since the results where tallied.  The general consensus, unfortunately, is that the vast majority of Haitian voters chose Daphne.  More than likely, they only voted for her because of her nationality and not because she was the best candidate for the job. Far from it, in fact.

As the Eye On Miami blogger (and others) have pointed out, Daphne Campbell has often voted with Republicans on typical “right-wing” issues.  For example, she crossed the aisle to vote for a bill to increase regulations and ban public funding of abortion, and against the repeal of a gay adoption ban.

(For the record, this  Republican is a staunch supporter of gay rights, including marriage and, especially, adoption.)

Despite her voting record, Daphne Campbell received 31.01% of the vote.

Considering that non-Hispanic blacks in SD 38, who are mostly Haitian, represent 30.10% of the voting population according to the 2010 census demographics, this theory has been pretty much confirmed.

The other Haitian candidate in this race was Anis Blemur, but he only received 5.26% of the ballots cast.

Of the four non-Haitian candidates, Jason Pizzo (23.69%) and Michael Góngora (21.47%) came in second and third, respectively, with a combined percentage of 45.16% of the votes.  Kevin Burns (15.26%) and Don Festge (3.32%) trailed with a combined total of 18.58% of the votes.

Based solely on these statistics, it appears that most of the 67.30% of Whites and non-Black Hispanics in this district chose non-Haitian candidates, which received a combined total of 63.74% of the votes.

Even taking into account any margin of error, it certainly appears that while most Haitians voted for the Haitian candidates, the non-Haitians did the exact same thing.

Aside from this sad commentary on the state of the electorate in general, as the Eye On Miami blogger pointed out, it appears that the real reason that Daphne Campbell won this election, was due to Michael Góngora’s last minute decision to run for this seat only after Gwen Margolis withdrew from the race.  He obviously siphoned votes away from Jason Pizzo, who would clearly have been the front runner.  It also didn’t help matters that serial candidate Kevin Burns, who hasn’t won an election since 2007, and who didn’t have a chance in hell, threw his hat in the ring anyway.  Most of the 15.26% of the votes he grabbed might have gone to Pizzo as well.

Of course, in America any United States citizen has a right to run for office.  But, as we’ve seen time and time again, elections have consequences.  Before filing to run for any office, an individual should seriously consider his or her chances of winning and, as we have just seen, how his or her candidacy will affect the overall results of the election.  In this particular case, the overall results were devastating.

If Michael Góngora and Kevin Burns really wanted to make that sure Daphne Campbell didn’t win, instead of creating a situation that was unwinnable for any of her opponents they would have sat this one out and supported Jason Pizzo.

The good news, however, as Geniusofdespair also noted, “Luckily there is another choice in the General Election: Phillip Brutus, who is a real Democrat but strategically looked at the race and at the last moment switched from Democrat to no party affiliation.  Looks like that was a brilliant decision.”

That it was.

Here’s the thing.

Regardless of Daphne Campbell’s voting record, which absolutely should concern all Democrats, she has been implicated in a plethora of crimes, including absentee ballot fraud, nursing home violations which resulted in a rape and four deaths, and medicaid fraud.  She has been slapped with $145,000.00 in federal tax liens, has had ten foreclosures filed against her properties, and is prone to grossly inappropriate behavior, both on the House floor and when dealing with the media.

Fortunately, State Senate District 38 voters have a choice this November!

Philip J. Brutus is challenging Daphne Campbell in the general election.

Although Mr. Brutus and I recently had a public clash of (both of our oversized) egos, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the infinitely better choice to represent his district.

While in Tallahassee, Rep. Brutus sponsored and co-sponsored a long list of bi-partisan and diverse House Bills for the benefit of his constituents and all Florida residents.  The most notable ones are:

• HB 1463 providing for an increase in HIV & AIDS coordinators and expanding HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
• HB 71E prescribing penalties for knowingly falsifying records of individual in care & custody of state agency.
• HR 9021 expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism.
• HR 9809 honoring the Florida National Guard and designating April 1, 2003, as “Florida National Guard Day.”
• HR 9003E honoring the East Boynton Beach Little League United States Championship Team.
• HR 9009 recognizing the sacrifices of the families of American military personnel from the State of Florida serving in the war on terror and expressing to those families the appreciation of the citizens of the state for their patience, steadfastness, and patriotism.
• HR 9001B honoring the memory and the legacy of Rosa Parks.
• HB 61 providing for revisions to the testing of DNA evidence in petitioning a criminal conviction, including the abolition of time limitations imposed on such testing.
• HB 1363 providing for affordable housing and creating the Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program.
• HB 1637  reaffirming support of Israel and concurs in United States Senate Concurrent Resolution 79 relating to the Palestinian Authority.

Inexplicably, two of Philip Brutus’ most important bills were not passed by the House of Representatives.  These were:

• CH-SB 65, which would have prohibited nepotistic hiring practices by the school board.
• HB 3B, which would have limited salary increases for the legislators.

I can’t imagine why the House rejected those proposals, can you?  (Yeah, sarcasm.)

Unlike Daphne, Philip J. Brutus is an attorney and is extremely intelligent.  He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School.  Mr. Brutus also served as a House Representative from 2000 until 2006, when he chose not to run again.

Also unlike Daphne, and as you can see by his legislation record in Tallahassee, Mr. Brutus has concerned himself with the best interests of all  the residents of District 38, not just the Haitian community.

And most importantly, unlike Daphne Campbell, Mr. Brutus has never been arrested, charged or convicted of any crime.

(And, no, an unfounded and unsubstantiated allegation in a failed business dealing does not count as a crime!)

Finally, if Philip J. Brutus is elected as the State Senator of District 38, the voters will never have to be embarrassed by the internationally scandalous Daphne Campbell.

Just saying.

In light of all these reasons, and despite our recent “spat” (I have no pride left to swallow anyway), I am choosing to support and endorse Philip J. Brutus for State Senate District 38!

PLEASE VOTE RESPONSIBLY!

Stephanie