DORAL, Fla. – Campaign season is officially underway and so are questions about who is on your ballot.
There are already signs that voters should beware of and make sure they know who they are voting for.
A no-party candidate filing under a similar name to an established Democratic candidate has raised questions about whether South Florida has another “ghost candidate” on the ballot.
First, we start with a real fake candidate: The one who admitted it in court, a Rodriguez planted in a 2020 state senate race by Republican operatives and dark money to confuse voters who meant to vote for the other Democrat Rodriguez.
The money trail in that case made it a criminal matter.
But heads up — fake candidates or plants can be legal if there are no payoffs or bribes, which brings us to the current 2024 race that suddenly has Moe Saunders running against Joe Saunders.
No response from Maureen Saunders Scott, who filed days before the deadline as a no-party candidate in a Miami Beach state house district, changed her ballot name to Moe Saunders — where Democrat Joe Saunders is running against Republican incumbent State Rep. Fabian Basabe. Is she for real?
Only she can say, but here’s what we know: she is Joe’s aunt.
She has a Twitter feed filled with retweets of sex abuse reports and allegations of family drama.
She lives 370 miles away from the Miami Beach district in St. Johns County, near Jacksonville — the address she gave while appointing herself her campaign treasurer.
She uses Maureen Scott as an email, Maureen Saunders Scott on her candidate statement and the check to file and the same name under penalty of perjury on her income statement showing her income from alimony and DoorDash.
Local 10 News tried to contact Saunders Scott, to no avail.