Rep. Ross Spano lost the GOP nomination to Scott Franklin, the Lakeland City Commissioner, who attacked Spano over an investigation into allegations of potential campaign funding violations in the race for Central Florida’s 15th Congress District.
Last November, Spano said it intended to “cooperate fully with the Department of Justice” after the House Ethics Committee announced that at the department’s request it would postpone a review of allegations that Spano may have obtained bad loans in more than federal campaign contribution limits.
Spano said at the time, “we acknowledged that mistakes were made with regard to the campaign loans, but those mistakes were completely unintentional and unintentional,” he added, “We are confident that by episode the Department of Justice will see it that way as well.”
Franklin covered the issue, with one campaign ad outlining the word “CRIMINAL” in all capital letters over an image of Spano. Another ad says via voiceover, “Whether Spano is incompetent or corrupt, he should not be your congressman.”
Spano, meanwhile, campaigned as a “dumb Trump ally” and his campaign had accused Franklin of not being a true conservative. The political arm of the Club for Growth had been on the air to defend Spano and attack Franklin.
Spano was also endorsed by the top three House Republican leaders: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise and House GOP Conference President Liz Cheney.
Franklin’s campaign, on the other hand, was reinforced by the encouragement of one of Spano’s own House Republican colleagues: GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, representing the state’s 1st Congressional District.
In a video announcement, Gaetz said that “Scott is the right person to make sure President Trump has the strongest possible campaign in the state of Florida.”
Spano had raised more than $ 1 million as of July 29, while Franklin had raised $ 237,000 on the same date and lent his campaign $ 350,000, according to FEC data.
Inside Elections, a nonpartisan political analysis published by CNN political analyst Nathan Gonzales, values the 15th District as a lying Republican in the November general election.
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