Politics
‘A disgusting attack’: Fake Equality Florida text smears Shevrin Jones with false HIV claim
As the Aug. 18 Primary nears, political maneuvering is getting uglier in Florida’s 24th Congressional District.
A homophobic text falsely claiming state Sen. Shevrin Jones has HIV — and incorrectly claiming LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida paid for the message — is being sent to CD 24 voters.
Equality Florida, which endorsed Jones last month, says it didn’t pay for the ad, calling it a violation of federal election law.
The group says it’s looking into who is responsible.
The message tells recipients Jones “was denied to donate blood” to a COVID survivor after “testing positive for HIV/AIDS because of his homosexuality.” It urges recipients “to stand with our Gay community” before closing with a “Paid for By Equality Florida” disclaimer.
The text includes a link to a CBS 12 report on Jones being turned away from donating convalescent plasma at a Pembroke Park blood drive in August 2020 due to his sexuality. Jones, who is running for the open CD 24 seat, is Florida’s first openly gay state Senator and the Legislature’s first openly LGBTQ Black member.
The CBS story makes no mention of HIV. Jones, then a state Representative who had recovered from a COVID infection, was deferred under a since-abandoned U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy restricting donations from sexually active gay men.
Equality Florida spokesperson Brandon Wolf called the ad “a disgusting attack against a public servant who has poured his heart and soul into his community.”
“We can all see it for what it is: a desperate attempt by a shady, dark money group supporting one of Shev’s opponents that traffics in ugly tropes, misrepresents a trusted statewide organization, and weaponizes a Black man’s identity,” he said.
Wolf said whoever fabricated the ad “will face accountability” and pressed Jones’ rivals to respond, saying their “willingness or unwillingness to denounce this smear tactic today will tell us all we need to know about who you are.”
He urged voters to answer at the ballot box and “tell the dark money fraudsters that power still belongs to the people.”
Federal law bars candidates and their employees or agents from fraudulently misrepresenting themselves, or an organization under their control, as acting on behalf of another candidate or political party on a damaging matter, or from conspiring to do so.
A separate provision requires political advertising to accurately state who paid for it and whether a candidate authorized it.
Violations can draw civil penalties from the Federal Election Commission, and knowing and willful conduct can be referred for criminal prosecution.
Jones told Florida Politics he doesn’t know who is behind the text, but that it’s sadly nothing new to him.
“These are the same tactics they used when I ran for the Senate, and it’s obvious those tactics didn’t work,” he said. Anonymous texts seizing on the same plasma story targeted him during his 2020 Senate Primary, which he won.
“It’s unfortunate that people would drop this low to win a race when these issues, these types of things, hurt real people,” he said.
Jones noted that in just this past Session, he worked with state Sens. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Rosalind Osgood, Alexis Calatayud and Ileana Garcia and others on bipartisan legislation Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March that restored financial aid for thousands who previously lost coverage under the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
“My focus is on the real issues at hand — that is, not just affordability but also making sure people who are living with HIV, that not only do they continue to know they have support from me in continuing to fight for funding to ensure they receive treatment, but also that they’re not alone in this,” Jones said.
“And I remain focused on winning (the Democratic Primary on Aug. 18). So, the very individuals who our opponents are trying to attack, they know there’s someone ready and willing to fight for them, not just on day one, but right now, through this.”
In the Democratic Primary for CD 24, Jones faces cultural leader Marshall Davis, Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, lawyer Kendrick Meek Jr., physician and veteran Rudy Moise, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime and civil rights leader Roderick Vereen.
Senate Democrats elected Jones as Democratic Leader-elect in February, a post he is forgoing to run for Congress.
CD 24, as redrawn by the GOP-dominated Legislature this year at President Donald Trump’s behest, covers Miami Gardens in Miami-Dade and Hollywood, Miramar and Pembroke Park in Broward County.
More than 68.7% of its voters backed Kamala Harris in 2024, making the Democratic Primary decisive in the contest to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson.
Newly released polling shows Jones expanding his lead over Gilbert, with Jones at 33.1% to Gilbert’s 23.4%, and Meek at 17.5%.
Twenty-six percent of voters remain undecided with just over a week and a half before Election Day.
Prior surveys showed Jones and Gilbert neck-and-neck among Primary voters.
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