Florida Democratic Party Backs Away From Allie Braswell

The tables have turned for short-lived chief financial officer candidate Allie Braswell, and now the Florida Democratic Party is backing away from supporting him in his campaign.

We advised Mr. Braswell to slow down so he could better prepare, said spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party Joshua Karp. He was very eager to announce and its clear now he was unprepared for mounting this kind of campaign.

FDP Chairwoman Allison Tant had high words of praise for Braswell last Thursday, when she announced the FDP would be fully supporting Braswell in his campaign against current CFO Jeff Atwater.

"I am thrilled that Allie Braswell is running for Florida's CFO, because he's exactly the kind of leader we need in Tallahassee," she said. "We need a leader who will fight the politicians who are giving taxpayer money to their donors and friends. Floridians deserve a leader who will fight to hold government accountable, and attract new jobs to our state."

But now it appears the FDP is backing away from Braswell, who came under fire after the Florida Times Union reported he'd declared bankruptcy three times since the mid-1990s.

We suggested to his team that they wait until the usual check boxes that you would want were checked before running a campaign of this level, said Karp.

Karp defended Tant's support of Braswell.

I think the reality is with any Democrat [who] announces, it is our job to say good things about them, he said.