JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville sheriff candidate Lakesha Burton is ignoring the demands of the Republican Party of Duval County to withdraw from the race following complaints that she violated election laws.
A complaint filed accuses Burton's campaign of urging donors to donate multiple times - which reportedly overreached donation limits.
The GOP claims Burton didn't take responsibility for her "clear failure in judgement" but former Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland says based on the evidence, Burton did not violate any laws.
"She was running for the spring election and contributors gave to that," explained Holland. "Then there was a special election due to the vacancy, so she asked her contributors to give to the special which is permissible. The problem now comes if you want to roll the money over from the spring election, you have to give back the money if it exceeds $1,000 which she did, so I don't think there is going to be any kind of penalty for what she did, I think it was a timing issue."
In a statement, Burton's campaign team said: "We've seen desperate campaigns before, but we're surprised TK Waters and the Duval GOP are showing their fear this early."
Holland says Burton's actions will not disqualify her as a candidate but if the Florida Elections Commission finds she did violate any laws she can be fined.