Did Carlos Gimenez Break the Rules by Advertising That He's a Republican?

​Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in Miami-Dade by more than 166,000, yet it's not all that odd that the three main establishment candidates in the Miami-Dade Mayoral race are all registered Republicans. County politics are non-partisan, and candidates are legally not allowed to declare their political affiliation in their advertising. Yet, Carlos Gimenez released an ad informing voters that he's a Republican, well, actually a "republican."

Some polls show that Gimenez, who is in second place, may be more popular amongst Democratic voters than his main rival Julio Robaina. Though, often in local races, older Cuban voters, more often Republicans, are more likely to turn out to vote. So Gimenez has been airing a Spanish-language ad declaring "Carlos Gimenez, man of principle, conservative and Republican."

According to Naked Politics, though, the Florida Division of Elections has previously ruled that "information stating [candidate's] political affiliation may not appear in [their] political advertising" in nonpartisan races on the municipal level.

Gimenez's campaign, however, says that they meant "republican," with a lower case "r". That just denotes someone who prefers a government where the head of state is not chosen through heredity or dictatorship.

Though, we sure bet Gimenez's campaign wouldn't mind if listeners, especially those listening to the ads in Spanish, misheard it as "Republican" with an uppercase "R."

It's pretty well known that both Robaina and Marcello Llorente are both registered Republicans, yet Gimenez's political affiliation has been more of a question mark among voters. It really shouldn't matter in a nonpartisan race, yet it's no surprise he's trying to slyly clarify it.

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