The Florida Democratic Party has egg on its face after the candidate they hyped last week as he entered a statewide race withdrew after only four days, hobbled by news about past bankruptcies.
After entering the race Thursday, Allie Braswell on Monday ended his bid for the Democratic nomination to challenge Floridas CFO Jeff Atwater on after revelations that he had filed for bankruptcy three times. Braswell had been supported by the Florida Democratic Party including Chairwoman Allison Tant who had high words of praise for the candidate at the end of last week.
"The bright spotlight of a statewide campaign has cast the ups and downs of my life into harsh relief, and I now know that this campaign is not the way I was meant to serve my community," Braswell said in a statement issued on Monday. "Running statewide is a daunting challenge for any candidate; as a political outsider, I have now learned that I underestimated how my campaign would affect those I care about most."
Originally from Sanford, Braswell led the Central Florida Urban League and served in the Marine Corps during the Gulf War. He also worked for Walt Disney World as a diversity manager and with technology. During his brief candidacy, he played up those credentials and took aim at Atwaters record in Tallahassee.
Before news broke of his financial history, Braswell promised to be a fiscal watchdog who will hold our government and politicians accountable and fight to shift the focus of our leaders away from helping their friends and back to attracting good jobs to Florida.
After the death of Trayvon Martin, he was a leading voice calling for the arrest of George Zimmerman and for repealing the states Stand Your Ground law. In his many media appearances during the aftermath of the Martin shooting, Braswell even said the Stand Your Ground law gives Floridians more clearance to fire a gun than he did as a Marine.
By Monday morning, the Braswell for CFO sites had been pulled offline. The campaign Facebook and Twitter accounts are no longer online and the campaign website now directs visitors to a website for a book Braswell wrote.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
