# Florida: Want to Win Election? Run Sham Candidate with Same Last Name as Opponent **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 19, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247 "2021-03-19T15:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/21 "2021-03-20T00:23:54Z")
I don’t know specifically about the Florida Legislature, but in Congress each chamber is the judge of the qualifications of its own members. The House of Representatives can and has found that in elections where there were incidents of widespread fraud that the purported victor was not “duly elected” and refused to seat him or her, forcing a special election to fill the seat. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/22 "2021-03-20T00:37:10Z")
By the way, there’s a [remarkably similar story in a Houston-area state house race](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/grieder/article/Grieder-Ghost-candidate-saga-in-Texas-15804989.php) where a candidate named “Natasha Ruiz” placed a surprisingly strong third in the Democratic primary. Except that when reporters started looking into it, no one could find any evidence that Natasha Ruiz exists. Another candidate in the primary has been charged with fraudulently registering “Natasha” as a fake candidate, hoping that a Hispanic surname would draw enough votes to force the African American incumbent into a runoff. It worked, although the charged candidate did not make it into the runoff and the incumbent ultimately won anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/23 "2021-03-20T00:41:26Z")
You should re-read what I wrote, and get back to me. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/24 "2021-03-20T04:11:49Z")
I did. You’ve provided no evidence, just your assertion that because it’s Florida, _they_ (your emphasis) would handle it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/25 "2021-03-20T13:51:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is that even within a hundred miles of what is described in the OP? Yep. Candidate paid another person to run in his election. Pretty much spot on. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/26 "2021-03-20T15:17:02Z")
I just don’t see how promising political donations to someone who might not otherwise have run for office is fraud. This happens all the time. National campaign committees identify preferred candidates in all kinds of races and use the promise of campaign funding as an incentive for them to run. What’s alleged in the article is that the _amount_ of the donations exceeded Florida limits on campaign finance. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/27 "2021-03-21T01:32:43Z")
“Alexis Rodriguez, a machine-parts dealer who had been struggling financially, agreed to help Artiles, who promised him $50,000 in return. He switched from Republican to no party affiliation and qualified for the ballot as Alex Rodriguez. He did not disclose that he actually lived far from the district, in Boca Raton, or that the money for his candidacy came from Artiles.” … “On Thursday, Artiles, 47, and Alex Rodriguez, 55, turned themselves in for arrest. They were each charged with three third-degree felony charges related to violating campaign finance law, including for conspiracy to make campaign contributions in excess of legal limits, making those excess contributions and false swearing in connection to an election.” Apparently this is one of three separate races in Florida last cycle where a sham candidate was put in place to siphon votes from the Democratic candidates. The big remaining question is where the money came from originally. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/28 "2021-03-21T05:27:48Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I just don’t see how promising political donations to someone who might not otherwise have run for office is fraud. If the “candidate” is not eligible for running then that is fraud. Or as **MulderMuffin** posted " > [@MulderMuffin](#): > > “On Thursday, Artiles, 47, and Alex Rodriguez, 55, turned themselves in for arrest. They were each charged with three third-degree felony charges related to violating campaign finance law, including for conspiracy to make campaign contributions in excess of legal limits, making those excess contributions and false swearing in connection to an election.” ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/29 "2021-03-21T13:49:42Z")
Nowhere in the article does it say that Rodriguez was ineligible to be a candidate. He and Artiles violated campaign finance laws, but he apparently met the qualifications to be on the ballot. The Houston case I cited really was fraud – they registered a candidate who didn’t exist. The point I’m trying to make is that running a “ghost candidate” is not illegal. If Republican bigwigs want to back a candidate named Mancy Pelosi in the CA-12 Democratic primary, they can. As long as they obey campaign donation limits, it’s unseemly but it’s legal. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/30 "2021-03-21T18:21:31Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#): > > He did not disclose that he actually lived far from the district, … You have to live in your district to run. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/31 "2021-03-22T01:51:10Z")
Thanks, that information wasn’t in the Political article linked to in the OP. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/32 "2021-03-22T03:55:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You have to live in your district to run. Not true. You only have to be a resident of Florida for 2 years and a resident of your District _upon taking office_. See here: [FAQ - Candidates - Division of Elections - Florida Department of State](https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/contacts/frequently-asked-questions/faq-candidates/) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247/33 "2021-03-22T04:17:06Z")
It appears he said he was, which is why “false swearing in connection to an election.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-want-to-win-election-run-sham-candidate-with-same-last-name-as-opponent/938247.md?page=1)