PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – An event from 2017, a new libel lawsuit, a flurry of flyers with misinformation and disinformation and more are the hallmarks of the Democratic primary race to succeed term-limited State Sen. Lauren Book.
Rodney Jacobs, Chad Klitzman and Barbara Sharief are the three candidates for the Broward-based District 35 seat. All are capable, with varying experiences, though voters are seeing a blitz of negativity.
“The ones that were sent on me have me Photoshopped with Donald Trump,” Sharief said.
“The flyers are completely false,” Klitzman said. “I am a lifelong Democrat.”
Rodney Jacobs can be connected to the political committees funding the flyers.
“Any messages that we have communicated are factual and we stand by those messages,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs directs Miami’s police oversight board and is an Army Reserve captain.
“I’m able to look at law through a different set of lenses,” Jacobs said. “A lot of the work I do has a public health focus.”
He is now being sued by Barbara Sharief, former Broward mayor and healthcare executive, for libel for accusing her of Medicaid fraud when, factually, her company had settled questions of overbilling and paid a fine.
“I think it’s the breadth of experience and knowledge I bring — from transportation, spearheading the surtax, to working on the (metropolitan planning organization) and the environment — a 16-county coalition for water resources,” Sharief said.
Lawyer Chad Klitzman is also on the receiving end of twisted info.
“I’ve knocked on 9,000 doors personally. I got endorsed by the Sun Sentinel. I’m doing the work,” he told Local 10 News.
They’re all Democrats, all with compatible Democratic positions on South Florida’s biggest issues, all struggling to get voters to cut through the noise.
Whoever wins in the primary will face Republican Vincent Parlatore in November, but the district is so heavily Democratic, August’s primary is widely considered to be the real contest.
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