Oliver Gilbert-linked PAC attacks Shevrin Jones over votes for Donald Trump airport renaming

A new attack ad making the rounds in Florida’s 24th Congressional District is highlighting state Sen. Shevrin Jones’ early support of legislation this year to rename Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump.

The short digital spot, funded by a PAC linked to Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, one of Jones’ six Democratic Primary foes in the CD 24 race, says Jones “helped” the controversial measure to pass by voting for it twice in Committee.

That’s true. But the ad omits that Jones also tried to block Trump and his family from profiting off of the airport renaming. After his GOP colleagues stopped that push, Jones voted against the measure in its final Committee stop and on the Senate floor.

American Made PAC, which lists numerous expenditures through Plantation consulting firm MDW Communications on behalf of Gilbert’s campaign, announced the 30-second ad in a press release Tuesday that repeatedly misspelled Jones’ name as “Chevron Jones.”

“Chevron Jones’ record speaks for itself,” a spokesperson for American Made PAC said. “He voted twice to advance legislation renaming Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald J. Trump, despite the costs that would ultimately be borne by Florida taxpayers. Voters deserve to know where their candidates stand on his support for Donald Trump and the use of taxpayers’ dollars.”

The ad contrasts those votes with financial pressures facing working families and asks whether tax dollars should fund political symbolism rather than voters’ top concerns, closing with the question, “If we can’t trust Jones in Tallahassee, how can we trust him in Washington?”

Contacted by Florida Politics for comment, Jones’ campaign fired back by highlighting the spelling error and Jones’ effort to curb any personal benefit Trump would yield from the airport’s rechristening.

“If you can’t be bothered to get his name correct, why would anyone believe they got his record right?” a campaign spokesperson said. “This isn’t opposition research — it’s a reeking pile of garbage, thrown together by Republican-backed, dirty-dark money groups to boost someone who’s carried water for Republicans time and time again. … This district doesn’t need a candidate bought and paid for by Republican allies whom he’s supported time and again. It needs a fighter. Shevrin Jones is exactly that — a new generation of leadership ready to take on Washington, not join its worst instincts.”

Jones, who was on track to be Florida Senate Democratic Leader before launching his congressional campaign, voted for a Senate version (SB 706) of the bill, sponsored by Melbourne Republican state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, in the Senate Transportation and Community Affairs committees on Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, respectively.

He reversed course by the time the bill reached the Senate Rules Committee on Feb. 17, voting “no” after Trump posted a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as gorillas.

That same day, he filed an amendment to bar Trump or his companies from collecting royalties, licensing fees or trademark revenue tied to the airport’s new name. Senate Republicans rejected it unanimously before advancing the bill.

Jones also voted against the House companion (HB 919), sponsored by Republican state Reps. Meg Weinberger of Palm Beach Gardens and Kim Kendall of St. Augustine, on the floor two days later, when it passed along party lines.

The renaming became law after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 919 in March. Later, lawmakers allocated $2.75 million to effectuate the rebranding.

Palm Beach County Commissioners also narrowly approved a trademark licensing deal with Trump’s company in a 4-3 vote, even as a Trump-owned entity sought trademark protections covering merchandise from clothing to luggage bearing the new airport name.

Jones is one of seven Democrats vying to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in CD 24, which covers all or part of Aventura, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Biscayne Park, El Portal, Golden Beach, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Miami Shores Village, North Bay Village, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Opa-locka, Sunny Isles Beach and Surfside in Miami-Dade County and Hollywood, Miramar, Pembroke Park, Pembroke Pines and West Park in Broward County.

His six Primary opponents include Gilbert, cultural leader Marshall Davis, physician and veteran Rudy Moise, former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jean Monestime, civil rights lawyer Roderick Vereen, and lawyer Kendrick Meek, the son and grandson of two former members of Congress.

Recent polling shows a tight, two-man race between Jones and Gilbert, with Jones at 24% and Gilbert at 27% — within the poll’s 5.6-point margin of error. No other candidate exceeded 10%, though Meek was near that threshold.

Gilbert fell under scrutiny last week amid reporting that he accepted $70,000 in donations from CDR, a Miami-based emergency management company that was among the main contractors for the now-shuttered immigrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz.

The reporting followed a campaign video Jones’ campaign released highlighting the donations, with Jones later asserting, “You cannot claim to be a champion for people and someone South Florida can count on to uphold human dignity while quietly taking money from companies that get paid per detainee, per bed, per day.”

Gilbert’s camp called Jones criticism “hypocritical” and “disingenuous,” noting that Jones took $7,500 from CDR between 2020 and 2021, plus $10,000 between 2019 and 2026 from private prison company The GEO Group, which has worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through his now-closed state-level political committee, Florida Strong Finish.

“As a State Senator, it was his job to oversee our state prison system and detention facilities like Alligator Alcatraz,” said Gilbert’s senior adviser, Ben Pollara. “Instead, he showed up for a photo-op and took cash from the entities he was supposed to regulate.”

On the Republican side in CD 24, self-described real estate developer and “pro-MAGA, pro-Constitution conservative” Te Mayonna Brown is running.

Rounding out the ballot are no-party candidate Andy Daro, a sitting North Bay Village Commissioner and real estate pro, and write-in candidate Patricia Gonzalez, who Federal Election Commission records show also ran in the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

The Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.