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Former Senator Randolph Bracy III has been quite press shy in the run-up to the June 24 Democratic Primary for the Senate District 15 special election.
He didn’t sit for an interview for the VoxPopuli voting guide.
He declined the Orlando Sentinel’s invitation for a video interview with the editorial board.
And he’s never responded to VoxPopuli reporters’ questions about his delinquent homeowners association dues or why he’s attempting to cast himself as the incumbent senator from Florida District 15 when he left office in 2022.
So, when I saw him this morning with his wife Kietta Mayweather Bracy, walking to the Juneteenth celebration at Charlie Mae Wilder Park in Winter Garden, I ran to catch up with them to ask him some questions.
“Mr. Bracy! Why are you pretending that you’re the senator of District 15?” I asked.
No response.
“Why are you lying about being the senator of District 15? … Why are you pretending to be the senator from District 15?”
At this point, Bracy was simply walking and ignoring me. But his wife spun around, phone in hand, camera on, to say, “This lady is obsessed with my husband. He’s a married man. This is ridiculous.”
She was not wrong. That was ridiculous. The only thing I was interested in was why Bracy insists on Facebook that he is “representing District 15” when the late Geraldine F. Thompson was the senator. It was her unexpected death in February that opened the seat and prompted the special election.
Glenn Burhans, election law expert with Stearns Weaver Miller in Tallahassee, told VoxPopuli that Bracy's wording doesn't technically violate the Florida Election Code because it's not an advertisement, but it violates the spirit of the Election Code because he’s trying to pass himself off as the incumbent.
I wasn't getting anywhere with the incumbency question so I switched things up and asked Bracy why he hasn’t paid his homeowners association dues. He owes the Hull Island HOA in Oakland $5,000 in unpaid dues and late fees, according to the HOA president. The HOA liened his home and, when VoxPopuli last spoke with the HOA president, the board was planning to foreclose.
Bracy didn’t answer that question either.
But Mayweather Bracy, still convinced I was after her man, told me, “If you want to find a man, I suggest you get on a dating app. I can give you a good one.”
What I really, really wanted, to quote the Spice Girls, was for her man to answer the questions that Senate District 15 primary voters deserve answers to. And more than the ones I was able to sputter out as I stood there, but other ones, like "Why do your Oakland home refinancing documents state that you're unable to pay your mortgage but your financial disclosure documents state your net worth is $4.26 million?" Things like that.
Eventually Bracy got tired of hearing me ask him the same questions over and over and said, “Stop harassing me.”
That was my cue to back off and leave him to enjoy the Juneteenth celebration with his wife.
However, Mayweather Bracy, put together a Facebook reel, comparing VoxPopuli’s single, in-person attempt to get Bracy to respond to serious questions for voters to paparazzi and TMZ.
I hope she got my good side.
