Politics
Former Republican Michael Kirwan blasts L.J. Holloway in mailer for shaking hands with James Fishback
Trailing in polls, Democratic congressional candidate Michael Kirwan has started sending increasingly negative mailers attacking opponent L.J. Holloway. The latest tries to associate her with Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback.
The latest mailers include a picture of Holloway shaking hands with Fishback, who gets labeled in the mailer as a “far-right extremist.” That claim gets backed up with a Florida Politics headline: “James Fishback calls Black opponent ‘a slave.’” That headline regarded a story about Fishback’s racist taunts of Republican Primary opponent Byron Donalds.
The same mailer shows a picture of Holloway superimposed on top of one of President Donald Trump, appearing just above a clear disclosure that Kirwan’s congressional campaign paid for the ad.
Holloway’s campaign said the photo with Fishback was taken at Holloway’s campaign kickoff, where Fishback showed up unannounced. “Fishback surprised LJ at her campaign kick-off and they shook hands and spoke briefly. That’s all,” said campaign spokesperson Michael Ludwick.
Holloway has vocally criticized the treatment of Black communities in Florida, particularly in the redistricting process in 2022 that led to the dismantling of a Black access district in North Florida that resulted in the election of Republican U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean. Holloway faced Bean in elections in 2022 and 2024.
Meanwhile, Kirwan’s role in Democratic politics hasn’t been so pronounced. Indeed, he was a registered Republican, according to his voting records, from 2016 through 2021. A voter audit file from the Duval County Supervisor of Election shows he changed parties in February of 2021, roughly five years after he left the Democratic Party to be a Republican.
The records show Kirwan was a Democrat from 1997 until 2016, then became a Republican early that year, when President Donald Trump later won the presidency. He made the switch back to Democrat a month after President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
The Kirwan flyers reached mailboxes two weeks after The Tyson Group published polling showing Holloway leading Kirwan 41% to 11% among Democratic voters in the district.
The post Former Republican Michael Kirwan blasts L.J. Holloway in mailer for shaking hands with James Fishback appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..