HERNANDO COUNTY, FL—Before announcing his candidacy as a conservative, pro-life contender for Hernando County Commission, Marvin Baynham signed a petition in favor of Florida's abortion amendment, documents show.
Baynham claims fraud.
"Political season is in full swing. [The] Establishment put out lies that I support later-term abortion. Ask them to produce the petition I signed. They can't," Baynham, a firefighter, posted to his Facebook account earlier this week. "I'm a Christian I love my two beautiful children and I'm unequivocally PRO LIFE."
"When the hate don't work they start telling lies."
The pro-abortion petition was signed by Baynham on July 6th, 2023, and details his name, address, zip code, and birthday. His petition signature—which appears to match that in a treasury document filed with the state—was verified and accepted by the Hernando County Supervisor of Elections on August 1, his voter audit report shows.
Baynham insists the document is a fake, citing a June article about two Pasco petition circulators arrested for forging signatures, though there's no evidence that the pair was involved in the firefighter's case. He also shared a photo of an abortion petition signed by Republican Hillsborough School Board candidate Julie Magill (who also came under fire), with the word "FAKE" stamped across it. However, Magill didn't claim the petition was forged; she only said she doesn't remember signing it.
He did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this article's publishing.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Florida's Republican-dominated Legislature quickly passed a 15-week abortion ban and a six-week ban the following year. In response, the advocacy group Floridians Protecting Freedom began collecting signatures for the proposed Amendment 4, which guarantees the right to an abortion until fetal viability—around 24 weeks—or to "protect the patient's health" as determined by the healthcare provider.
Republicans have been staunchly against the amendment—calling it a "radical" change that would "guarantee abortion all the way till the moment of birth," Governor Ron DeSantis said earlier this month—and took the amendment to the Florida Supreme Court, which disagreed.
Now, if the ballot initiative receives 60% voter approval in November, abortion will become enshrined in the state constitution.
Baynham, who was a registered Democrat until 2021 when he became an Independent, did not become a Republican until June of 2023. He announced his candidacy for city commission soon after and has since run on an anti-establishment platform. He will take on Republican incumbent John Allocco, a two-term commissioner and DeSantis-appointee to Pasco-Hernando State College, on August 20th for the party nomination.
Baynham has raised over $110,000 ($96,000 of which is self-loaned) compared to Allocco's $63,494 ($610 of which is self-loaned or from his campaign).
The winner will face Burton Melaugh, an NPA and veteran, and Democrat Luciano Vignali, an entrepreneur, in the hard-red county on November 5th.
