A former substitute teacher is expected to testify in court Monday that she was recruited for a vote-siphoning scheme by the Seminole County GOP Chairman.
Jestine Iannotti is expected to testify in court that Seminole County GOP Chairman Ben Paris asked her to run as an independent in the District 9 Senate race back in 2020.
Paris’ goal was to help former boss Republican Senator Jason Brodeur win his election by using Iannotti to siphon off votes from competitor Democrat Patricia Segman.
Paris now faces one criminal charge of contributing to Iannotti’s campaign under his cousin’s name.
Iannotti faces a felony charge and five misdemeanors and political advisor Eric Foglesong faces three felony charges and two misdemeanors for the scheme.
Brodeur claims he didn’t know anything about Paris’ plans to use a so-called ghost candidate, an independent candidate added to a ballot to help fix an election.
It’s unclear whether the scheme worked in the race, but elsewhere in Florida ghost candidate Alex Rodriguez pleaded guilty in a scheme to help elect Republican Ileana Garcia.
