Senate Candidate Gary Farmer Branded Liar For False Ads
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The acronym of state Senate candidate Gary Farmer’s Floridians for Ethics, Accountability and Responsibility political committee is FEAR.
FEAR is an appropriate name.
Judging from the misstatements from Farmer’s group, voters should FEAR the truthfulness of anything Farmer says.
FEAR has been stuffing voters mail boxes in Senate District 34 with ads. The Democratic-leaning district stretches from Deerfield Beach to Hallandale Beach along the coast.
The ads were aimed at former state Rep. and Coconut Creek Mayor Jim Waldman, who is Farmer’s key opponent in the Democratic primary.
Jim Waldman
Farmer’s other Democratic opponent is state Rep. Gwendolyn Clarke-Reed of Deerfield Beach. I’m told she has largely been ignored by FEAR so far.
Trial lawyers have filled almost all of FEAR’s $365,000 campaign chest.
A trial lawyer and the trial lawyer’s lobbyist in Tallahassee, Farmer has kicked in a lot, too. Farmer, his firm and his father, also a lawyer, have donated $60,000 to FEAR.
So far the work of FEAR lives up to the reputation of trial lawyers – slippery, unreliable and misleading.
Read below and you decide:
- Farmer’s FEAR mailed an ad to voters claiming that Waldman received an “A” from the NRA. Not true! The highest grade Waldman ever received from the NRA is a “D” and he received many “F” grades.
- A FEAR ad stated “Waldman was a registered Republican before he decided to run for office in a Democratic district.” Highly misleading!
Waldman changed his party affiliation before running for the Coconut Creek City Commission, which is non-partisan. The citation for the allegation in the ad uses the date 3/30/2006, which is also misleading, since it was 13 years after Waldman changed parties.
It doesn’t end with FEAR.
A fund raising letter directly from Farmers campaign this week stated that we “can’t…elect people like Jim Waldman, who has twice voted for bills favorable to the NRA.” What it doesn’t say is that both bills had bipartisan support, including a large number of Democrats.
Farmer was asked to explain the ads. He refused.
After Browardbeat.com and Miami Herald contacted him about the false ads, Farmer doubled down and mailed the phony charges again to voters in the district. Twice.
Unlike Farmer, Waldman’s campaign was very willing to talk.
His campaign strategist Ashley Walker blasted Farmer to Browardbeat.com:
“As a lobbyist in Tallahassee and after lobbying JIm for 8 years, Gary knows Jim well and is well aware of his position on gun control, especially after seeing Jim file pro-gun control legislation. Multiple years he filed a bill to allow local governments to regulate guns to prohibit them in government buildings…He watched Jim on the floor argue against the NRA.”
And Waldman said, “It’s outrageous that lobbyist Gary Farmer, Jr. continues to mislead Broward voters about my record. As a state legislator, I sponsored responsible gun control legislation to enable local governments to restrict guns in municipal buildings… I have fought the gun lobby on their right wing agenda earning me D and F ratings from the NRA.”
The final word about Farmer’s lies comes from Marion Hammer, longtime NRA lobbyist in Tallahassee.
She told the Miami Herald this week that “Waldman has always been ‘terrible on our issues.’”
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Part of Waldman’s Real NRA record is below. The NRA assigns a “D” grade to “an anti-gun candidate who usually supports restrictive gun control legislation and opposes pro-gun reforms. Regardless of public statements, can usually be counted on to vote wrong on key issues.” The NRA an “F” grade to a “true enemy of gun owners’ rights. A consistent anti-
gun candidate who always opposes gun owners’ rights and/or actively leads anti-gun legislative efforts, or sponsors anti-gun legislation.”
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July 15th, 2016 at 5:13 pm
This is fun! Did Farmer hire Roger Stone?
July 15th, 2016 at 6:13 pm
A lobbyist lying! Who would have thunk it!
Honestly does State Senator Waldman really deserve to be slim balled like this?
Why are honesty-challenged people drawn to politics?
July 16th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Waldman and Farmer attack each other and Gwen walks into the seat. Don’t these two guys see the obvious?
July 16th, 2016 at 10:29 am
No he hired Judy Stern….
July 16th, 2016 at 4:52 pm
It’s too bad that Republicans have been excluded from voting … I’m sure that Jim would do very well against his sheister lawyer opponent.
July 16th, 2016 at 5:42 pm
I have known Gwendolyn Clarke-Reed since 1980. She is honest, she is trustworthy, she is a great lady. I just hope she gets the votes to put her into office.
YOU GO, GWEN!
July 17th, 2016 at 7:48 pm
Bad news: Waldman sent out a flyer with Poitier’s picture!
Good news: They didn’t use Sylvia’s mugshot.
July 18th, 2016 at 9:08 am
Farmer learned his politics from Donald Trump. He says lies enough times and hopes it sticks. We don’t need Donald Trump junior in the state Senate
July 20th, 2016 at 5:07 pm
As Farmer and Waldman pounce on each other and send non-stop mailers, I hope that Gwendolyn Clarke Reed will be gain the advantage and be our next state senator
July 30th, 2016 at 8:34 pm
The first time I received these Waldman and Farmer attack ads, I assumed they were sent out by Republicans to try to suppress the Democratic vote. I was very disappointed to find out what a couple of slimers these two Democrats are. I’m with Gwendolyn Clarke Reed now.
July 31st, 2016 at 11:48 am
Gwendolyn Clark Reed should win if my fellow Democrats have any sense of smell