Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power ripped into a Miami Herald report that Jose Javier Rodríguez, a Miami Democrat who lost a razor-thin election to Sen. Ileana Garcia (R-Miami) in 2020, is now running for Florida Attorney General to replace James Uthmeier.
"Guy who tried to run for Congress-failed, lost a senate seat, and now wants to run for statewide office," Power said "JJR makes temu Charlie Crist (David Jolly) look like a top recruit. Bang up job @FlaDems."
Rodriguez, 46, served two terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2016. He was also elected to the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2020.
Recently, Rodriguez was in the Biden Administration as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training. His background includes a degree from Brown University and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School.
However, his last political race was the most talked-about.
Rodriguez lost to Garcia in SD 37 by just north of 30 votes. The race included an Independent candidate with the same surname as Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, who received about 6300 votes.
The result drove claims of a "ghost candidate" scheme, a candidate in this case (Alex Rodriguez) with no intention of winning. The idea was to take votes away from Jose Javier Rodriguez.
It ultimately worked, but not without fallout.
Frank Artiles, an ex-GOP state senator, was convicted on three charges of election conspiracy for his role in the scheme. Artiles was accused of giving Alex Rodriguez $50,000 to run in the race, possibly to siphon votes away from the Democrat Rodriguez.
According to the Herald report, Rodriguez said he didn't feel victimized by the scheme. Instead, he told the paper he was running for attorney general to "challenge operatives and corporations" in the Republican-controlled state.
He added property insurers and utilities as two key problems.
Uthmeier was appointed attorney general by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February. The election for the state's highest-ranking legal officer is set for November 3, 2026.
