Original post date: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, 1:49 p.m.

In another round of leaked documents, newly released information by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is a series of memos, campaign overviews and briefings about the Florida House campaign battle plans.

Many of the documents show the Democratic candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, personal experiences and career history. Some Republicans were included in the latest batch, but the Democratic candidates were the main focus.

But the documents, leaked by a hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 on Monday, also shows how Democrats have focused on which demographics to cater to and where. And three of the documents that standout to News 13 focus on Central Florida.

“Presidential candidates may also target the city of Sanford to boost turnout among African American voters, but, due to its small size, statewide campaigns may look to large denser areas outside the district instead. The suburbs between Orlando and Sanford will likely be persuasion targets,” stated one document for District 7, called FL-07 Path to Victory Summary, which was dated March 02, 2016.

In a document for the Florida's 10th Congressional District, it suggested that a Democratic candidate will need to win a four-way primary for nomination and “primary victory depends on” three bullet points, with the first point mentioning the City Beautiful.

“Consolidate the support of African American primary voters in the Orlando area,” the document, FL-10 Path to Victory Summary, stated. That document was dated March 09, 2016.

The documents give insights to how DCCC view candidates within their own party during the primary elections. For example the April 8, 2016, document titled “FL-10 Campaign Overview,” for district 10 candidates, lists the strengths of former Orlando Police Department chief Valdez "Val" Demings, (her career in law enforcement and being an easily recognizable candidate), but also it mentions things that can negatively impact her campaign, such as when her service gun was stolen out of her car at her home.

This overview document lists Demings as the “most popular Democratic candidate” running, but also states that she maybe too conservative among liberal Democrats.

The Demings campaign stated in an email to News 13 that it had no comment about the documents.

Demings’ Democratic opponent State Sen. Geraldine Thompson is also listed in the same document. Thompson decided to run for Florida’s 10th Congressional District a day after Demings announced her run for the same seat.

Some of the negatives the document listed for Thompson was how she voted in favor of an anti-sharia law and how her consulting firm received “$50,000 in preferentially-awarded state contracts due to its ties to one of the state’s leading civil rights officials, who was fired for such conflicts of interest.”

News 13 is waiting to hear back from the Thompson campaign about the document’s statements about the candidate.

Another Democratic candidate in the race is Bob Poe, an openly gay businessman with a black partner. According to the document, Poe’s presence in the race maybe a game changer.

“Val is not a very strong fundraiser and if Bob spends in the $3-$4 million range and Geraldine stays in the race Bob may have a shot by splitting the African American vote and putting up large margins with white voters,” the document stated.

Another document, called “Poe Research, April 2016 (From Demings),” is a 61-page PDF about Poe and it includes his history and past and recent controversies that could be used against him.

When asked for comment about the documents and what it would mean for Poe’s campaign, his spokesman Franco Ripple stated it was just “negative politics.”

“This is typical campaign opposition research used by negative campaigns. It uses some facts, half-truths, and outright fabrications — information which is decades old, public knowledge, and previously reported on by the media — to smear an opponent. While Washington insiders are busy engaging in the negative politics people hate about Congress, Bob Poe is focused on bringing better jobs, higher wages, and economic opportunity to Central Florida,” Ripple wrote in an email reply.

That document mentioned the fourth Democratic candidate, Fatima Fahmy, only once.

One document, FL-07 Campaign Overview and dated April 1, 2016, discusses Republican incumbent John Mica. This document includes the GOP candidate’s political history, his positions and controversies, such as allegations that he used campaign funds to have meals with constituents and his “attack” on illegal immigrants.

“Attacked immigrants and said that ‘people who come here illegally should not have any rights,’” the document stated.

A Mica spokesman had this to say about the document.

“This confirms what has been widely reported, that the Washington Democrats struggled to find a credible Democrat to run against Mica. At the last minute, they found someone registered as No Party Affiliation, who was only able to qualify to run because of a loophole in state law. It has to be quite embarrassing for them,” wrote Alan Byrd in an email to News 13.

The DCCC, Florida Democratic Party and Orange County Democratic Party have not yet replied to News 13’s requests for comment.

 

 

Open PDF in a new window

Open PDF in a new window

Open PDF in a new window

Open PDF in a new window

Open PDF in a new window