MANATEE/SARASOTA COUNTIES – If you’re a Democrat, you may have gotten a mailer about State Senator Joe Gruters’ opponent this election that was sent by a group that’s gotten money from the same group Gruters chairs.
The flier calls Republican candidate Michael Johnson a “MAGA clown” who insists Trump won the election and spreads misinformation about COVID.
However, the fliers were sent by a group called Accountability in Government which received a 150-thousand dollar contribution from the Republican Party of Florida — Joe Gruters is the chair of the Republican Party of Florida.
He denies involvement in the mailer.
Despite the conservative group calling Johnson a MAGA clown, Gruters chaired Donald Trump’s Florida campaign in 2016 and twice awarded the former president a ‘Statesman of the Year’ award.
Johnson has recently moved into a villa in Sarasota: he says Gruters is corrupt and calls the mailer “a big joke.”
Because Johnson and Gruters are the only two running, both need Democratic support to win in August.