‘MAGA’ State House Candidate Files Lawsuit After Being Bumped From Florida Primary Ballot

‘MAGA’ State House Candidate Files Lawsuit After Being Bumped From Florida Primary Ballot
Tim Sharp, a former Republican candidate for Florida House of Representatives, has filed a lawsuit accusing state election officials of illegally removing his name from the Aug. 23 primary ballot. Dhillon Law Group is representing him. Courtesy of Tim Sharp
Patricia Tolson
Updated:
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Tim Sharp—an America First “MAGA” candidate in Flagler County, Florida—has filed a lawsuit against Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the Florida Division of Elections after allegedly being unjustly bumped from the ballot.

Sharp, who was running for the Florida House of Representatives, was disqualified from the Aug. 23 Florida primary despite completing all candidate requirements. The state elections department told Sharp he was disqualified because his qualifying check wasn’t labeled as his official campaign account, but Sharp disputes this claim.

In a Sept. 18 press release (pdf), Sharp’s campaign said he “was cancelled from running for state house representative despite completing meticulous paperwork and being fully qualified,” and announced that he’s being represented by the nationally recognized Dhillon Law Group.
Searchable online campaign records show that Sharp designated Middlesex Federal Savings in Sommerville, Massachusetts, as the primary depository for his campaign on Oct. 12, 2021.
Screenshot from Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidate form in which Tim Sharp designated Middlesex Federal Savings in Sommerville, Mass., as his official campaign account holder. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website)
Screenshot from Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidate form in which Tim Sharp designated Middlesex Federal Savings in Sommerville, Mass., as his official campaign account holder. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website

On June 17, 2022, Sharp hand-delivered a check for his campaign qualifying fee to the state elections department. According to the image of the check, it was written from his primary campaign account at Middlesex Federal Savings.

A screenshot of the check received June 17, 2022, by the Florida Division of Elections, written from Tim Sharp's designated campaign account at Middlesex Federal Savings in Sommerville, Mass. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website)
A screenshot of the check received June 17, 2022, by the Florida Division of Elections, written from Tim Sharp's designated campaign account at Middlesex Federal Savings in Sommerville, Mass. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website
The Florida Division of Elections 2022 Supervisor’s Handbook on Candidate Qualifying (pdf) says that if a qualifying check is hand delivered and does not have the words “campaign account” printed or handwritten on it, the elections employee is to “ask the person if it’s a campaign check.” If the person indicates it is a campaign check, the elections employee is to “have the person write ‘campaign account’ on the check” because the employee has “no authority to determine whether the account is a campaign account.”
Screenshot from Page 19 of the Florida Division of Elections 2022 Supervisor's Handbook on Candidate Qualifying, outlining the procedures to be taken when a candidate or campaign treasurer hand delivers a check that does not have "campaign account" printed or written on it. (Florida Division of Elections)
Screenshot from Page 19 of the Florida Division of Elections 2022 Supervisor's Handbook on Candidate Qualifying, outlining the procedures to be taken when a candidate or campaign treasurer hand delivers a check that does not have "campaign account" printed or written on it. Florida Division of Elections

Not Qualified

Sharp insists he was told by the elections employee who accepted his qualifying check that everything was in order and that they would update their website later that night to show that he had qualified. Sharp was stunned to find later that night that the website showed he had not qualified. The following Monday, Sharp made frantic phone calls and sent a flurry of emails to the division of elections, trying to find out what went wrong. He received no response. On June 22, Sharp drove for three hours back to Tallahassee, only to be told that he had been disqualified because his check did not say “campaign account” on it and the account it was drawn from was not a campaign account.

“What really makes it ironic is that I physically waited in the parking lot in Tallahassee until after 12 p.m. in case there was an issue so if I got a phone call I could run in and correct it,” Sharp told The Epoch Times. However, Sharp was never contacted by the Division of Elections with notification that there was a problem with his check, nor did they provide him an opportunity to rectify the issue.

“Initially I thought, maybe that is the rule and I just missed it,” Sharp confessed, adding that “the rules are very convoluted and anything the government does becomes a mess.”

As a first-time candidate, Sharp thought it was possible he had made a mistake. Feeling defeated, he got back in his car and started his three-hour drive back home. An hour into the drive he started getting text messages from his advisers. They had found records from several other candidates who had also paid their qualification fee with a check that did not say “campaign account” on it.

“That’s when I drove back to Tallahassee to physically talk to Donna Brown, because I wanted to show her the evidence I had,” Sharp said, referring to the bureau chief for election records at the Florida Division of Elections (DOE). “But she refused to speak with me because she said she didn’t have time.”

Jessico Bowman, one of Sharp’s campaign advisers, was with Sharp when Brown dismissed him.

“She said, ‘It’s not a campaign account. You can’t use that check,’” Bowman recalled. “I feel like the establishment has complete control of the Division of Elections. They acted outside of their own written procedures and the law to disqualify Tim after expressing that everything was in good order. This is very disappointing and discouraging for all regular folks who may have interest in running for public office.”

Other Qualifying Checks

According to the Florida elections website, Randy Ross, a Republican candidate for Florida House District 39, filed his qualifying paperwork on May 16, 2022. His qualifying check, received by the department on June 16, 2022, did not have the words “campaign account” printed or written on it.
Screenshot of check submitted by Randy Ross to the Florida Division of Elections to qualify as a candidate in the Florida primary. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections)
Screenshot of check submitted by Randy Ross to the Florida Division of Elections to qualify as a candidate in the Florida primary. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections

Moreover, the check was written from an account at Harris Bank in Chicago. According to his campaign bank account records, Ross designated TD Bank in Orlando, Florida, as his official campaign account. Ultimately, Ross lost his primary bid to fellow Republican Doug Bankson.

Screenshot from Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidate form received May 16, 2022, by the DOE, in which Randy Ross designated his account at TD Bank in Orange County, Florida, as his official campaign account. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website)
Screenshot from Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidate form received May 16, 2022, by the DOE, in which Randy Ross designated his account at TD Bank in Orange County, Florida, as his official campaign account. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website
David Tillery is a Democratic candidate for Florida House District 66. While Tillery’s campaign paperwork does reflect that he designated PNC Bank as his official campaign account, his check did not bear the words “campaign account,” but he qualified. Because he ran unopposed, Tillery will face Republican incumbent Traci Koster in the Nov. 8 general election.
Screenshot of check submitted by David Tillery to the Florida Division of Elections to qualify as a candidate in the Aug. 23, 2022, Florida primary. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections)
Screenshot of check submitted by David Tillery to the Florida Division of Elections to qualify as a candidate in the Aug. 23, 2022, Florida primary. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections

Denali Charres, a Democrat-turned-Republican running for the Florida Senate in District 10, also submitted her qualifying fee without the words “campaign account” printed or hand-written on the check. She was not disqualified.

Screenshot of check submitted by Denali Charris to the Florida Division of Elections to qualify as a candidate in the Aug. 23, 2022, Florida primary. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website)
Screenshot of check submitted by Denali Charris to the Florida Division of Elections to qualify as a candidate in the Aug. 23, 2022, Florida primary. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website

According to Sharp, after discovering that he had been disqualified for reasons the Florida Division of Elections excused for other candidates, he decided to pursue legal action. However, while he had contacted several attorneys in Florida who told him they would take his case, he said they strung him along for a couple of weeks before they “came back and said they didn’t have the manpower.”

“That’s why there was such a delay in actually filing the case,” Sharp explained. “Because we didn’t actually file until about 90 days after the primary was over.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the Florida Division of Elections for comment.

The Lawsuit

The complaint (pdf), filed Sept. 9, 2022, in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, specifically names Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Donna Brown, bureau chief for election records at the Florida Division of Elections (DOE).

As secretary of state, Byrd oversees the DOE.

“Under Florida law, the DOE regulates the qualification of candidates and the entry of their names on the ballots that voters receive for state elections. Without the approval of the DOE and its designation that a candidate is qualified, a candidate’s name cannot appear on the ballot.”

Despite the admonitions in the supervisor’s handbook issued by the DOE, “Defendant Byrd’s DOE disqualified Sharp as a candidate after wrongfully determining that the check for the qualification fee that he submitted was not drawn upon a campaign account solely because the naming information on the face of the check referred to a business instead of a campaign committee,” the lawsuit states.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd. (Courtesy, The Florida House)
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd. Courtesy, The Florida House

As bureau chief of election records, Brown “was the primary official responsible for the wrongful determination that Sharp should be disqualified based on his qualification fee check and the wrongful decision to refuse to correct the error once Sharp brought it to the DOE’s attention.”

According to Page 2 of the supervisors handbook, “the qualifying officer’s duties are ministerial in nature. This means that the qualifying officer may not determine whether the contents of the qualifying papers are true or accurate.”

Questions regarding “the truth or accuracy of matters stated in a candidate’s qualifying papers becomes a judicial question if and when an appropriate challenge is made in the courts.”

According to Sharp, bumping candidates from the ballot isn’t the only way the establishment eliminates unwanted challengers.

“One crazy thing is there were several other candidates around the state who were actually propositioned to drop out of the race,” Sharp disclosed. “I’m talking grass-roots, constitutional conservative candidates.”

One of those candidates was Drake Wuertz.

The ‘Righteous Fight’

Among the documents on the DOE website for Wuertz, his qualifying paperwork was received on July 26, 2021. Due to redistricting, Wuertz redesignated his campaign for state representative for District 38 on March 16, 2022.
Screenshot of form submitted to the Florida Department of State/Division of Elections by candidate Drake Wuertz, redesignating his campaign for State Representative for District 30 to District 38, due to redistricting, on March 16, 2022. (Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website)
Screenshot of form submitted to the Florida Department of State/Division of Elections by candidate Drake Wuertz, redesignating his campaign for State Representative for District 30 to District 38, due to redistricting, on March 16, 2022. Florida Department of State/Division of Elections website

This move placed Wuertz in a primary race against a Republican incumbent named David Smith.

“I ran on a very strong conservative platform,” Wuertz told The Epoch Times. Like Sharp, Wuertz was “tired of ‘go along to get along’ Republicans” who float on moderate campaigns and avoid bold commitments just to get elected. Shortly after switching to District 38, Wuertz said he was contacted by “someone in GOP leadership” and invited to meet for breakfast.

During the two-hour meeting, the GOP negotiator, “sent by order of the House Campaigns Committee,” tried hard to convince Wuertz to drop out of the race.

“The Speaker of the House, Paul Renner, got heavily involved in primaries this year when previous House Speakers did not,“ Wuertz explained. ”He definitely wanted his preferred candidates to win and was not shy about it.“ But Wuertz declined, telling the GOP’s alleged middleman ”the legislation we need to put forth and the changes we need to make are at the state level.”

The man reminded Wuertz that Smith was a powerhouse with “a lot of money” and a lot of support from PACs, lobbyists, and the corporate establishment.

Again, Wuertz declined to drop out.

Valerie and Drake Wuertz pause for a selfie while arriving at a bill signing by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Daytona, Fla. (Courtesy of Drake Wuertz)
Valerie and Drake Wuertz pause for a selfie while arriving at a bill signing by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Daytona, Fla. Courtesy of Drake Wuertz

The party representative then played the “take one for the team” card, Wuertz said, pressuring Wuertz to “think about what’s best for the party.” They could even move him to another district “for a future run” and slide him “$25,000 or $50,000 in campaign funds,” the man allegedly said.

“I was thinking, this is like something out of a Mafia movie,” Wuertz laughed. “So I looked at his face, thanked him for breakfast, and then I said no.”

Wuertz lost the primary, but not his integrity.

“When you get involved in this righteous fight and you’re a true America First conservative, they really stack the deck against you,” Wuertz said, adding that despite his election loss, he and his wife Valerie are “continuing the fight.” Wuertz serves as precinct committeeman and sergeant at arms for the Seminole County Republican Executive Committee. Valerie serves as the legislative chair for the Seminole County chapter of Moms for Liberty.

“One thing that bothers me is when people lose and never show up again,” Wuertz said.

‘It’s a Strategy the Establishment Uses’

“I think what you’re seeing is that establishment politicians don’t want true constitutional conservative candidates in office,” Sharp said, adding that his race “was pretty quiet until Anthony Sabatini got involved” and came out to publicly endorse him.
Tim Sharp (L), former candidate for Florida House of Representatives, with Republican Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, commemorating Sabatini's endorsement of Sharp in Orlando, Fla., in February 2022. (Courtesy of Tim Sharp)
Tim Sharp (L), former candidate for Florida House of Representatives, with Republican Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, commemorating Sabatini's endorsement of Sharp in Orlando, Fla., in February 2022. Courtesy of Tim Sharp

Sabatini said he’s aware of how the establishment got rid of Sharp.

“They did this with a lot of people this year,” Sabatini told The Epoch Times. “It’s a strategy the establishment uses. They find some technicality in their paperwork—their notary was from a different county, or the check was from a separate account, or the postage date was on the wrong date—and they disqualify them on these different technicalities. But it’s not legal. But they know that most people don’t have the time or the money to file lawsuits so they just kick people off the ballot that they don’t want challenging their preferred candidate. But if the preferred candidate makes a mistake they'll just fix it administratively.”

Sharp also remembered how U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) allegedly tried to derail Sabatini’s congressional primary campaign.

According to a Sept. 12 Politico report, McCarthy and his allies “neutralized his potential detractors in GOP primaries across the country, wiping out dissenters who might derail his speakership bid next year and prove to be major headaches in Congress.” In fact, the American Liberty Action PAC “dropped over $1.3 million to stymie” Sabatini’s congressional bid after he was endorsed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

“The establishment buys who they can, cancels who they can’t, and then comes at whoever is left standing,” Sharp asserted.

Sharp may have been removed from the ballot, but he’s fighting back legally, and he said the Republican Party hasn’t seen the last of him.

Patricia Tolson
Patricia Tolson
Reporter
Patricia Tolson is an award-winning Epoch Times reporter who covers human interest stories, election policies, education, school boards, and parental rights. Ms. Tolson has 20 years of experience in media and has worked for outlets including Yahoo!, U.S. News, and The Tampa Free Press. Send her your story ideas: [email protected]
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