Miami Congressional Candidate: I Was 'Weinsteined' by a Fellow Democrat

Not to be outdone by the revelation of nonpartisan sex scandals in Tallahassee, along comes all-Democrat  sex allegations  in a 2018 race South Florida can call its own.

It  involves a pair of Democrats with a common history: running in independent races.

 

Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who is  pursuing the congressional seat Illena Ros-Lehtinen will vacate, says she was the victim of sexual assault. The accused is Rafael Velasquez, a candidate for the Miami Beach City Commisson, who Gonzales says exposed himself to her during a car ride. In a message to Politico, Gonzalez said, “I was 'Harvey Weinsteined' by Rafael Velasquez, the candidate I have been supporting and raising money for in the Miami Beach commission race.”

 

The alleged episode occurred roughly two weeks ago, when the two met to discuss Velasquez's upcoming campaign. Following a dinner, Gonzalez was driving Velasquez back to his car. During that ride, Gonzalez claims, he became amorous, professing love for her, and then escalating the situation by exposing himself and then attempting to move her hand onto his body. 

 

● “He took it out. I tried not to look. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. And I can’t forget it. And that’s the worst part,” she said. “I have felt guilty and horrible and ashamed about this and I wasn’t the one who did anything wrong. He put me in a situation, and it’s, like, what do I do?”

 

In defending himself, Velasquez not only denies the episode, but he claims to have texts from Gonzalez well after the event where they continued talking favorably, about his campaign.

 

● “The whole Weinstein thing is in the news. Maybe she thinks she can get some traction from it,” Velasquez said. “I don’t want to speculate, but I know that she seeks national attention as she’s running for office herself.” Velasquez suggested she might be trying to help his opponent, Mark Samuelian, in the Nov. 7 election. 

 

Velasquez alludes to the fact that, despite Ros-Lehtinen being a departing Republican, the seat in the 27th District is considered to be a lock for the Democrats. So much so that no fewer than nine candidates are running for that office. 

 

Gonzalez denies she is working against him, declaring that despite this event she is not supporting Velasquez's opponent. Furthermore, a second woman has come forward with a sexual aggression claim against Velasquez. Publicist Frances Alban has stated that four months ago Velasquez physically groped her. She also said he followed this up with a text message. It's the text message that seals both women's stories.

 

The result is that Velasquez has come under pressure from the local Democratic Party to drop out of the election, set for Nov. 7. The party chairman has also declared they will be suspending any further campaign advertising on behalf of Velasquez. This is likely due to the party's embarrassment over another ongoing scandal, one involving the very seat that Velasquez was running for. 

 

Incumbent Michael Grieco ended his reelection attempt last month as a result of campaign finance violations. He recently pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions, and has since dropped out of the race.