Orlando mayoral candidate Paul Paulson says he filed a lawsuit Thursday against Mayor Buddy Dyer and the Florida Democratic Party for "illegal libelous flyers."
"The lawsuit, filed in 9th Judicial Circuit Court asks for an immediate emergency injunction against any more flyers that contain misrepresentations, lies and untrue statements that were made in the previous six (6) mailings," the email says.
The suit also names Clark Ricke, who appears in one of the mailers. Aside from the injunction, Paulson is also seeking $1 million in damages, which will reportedly be "donated to Help the Vets charity that Mr. Dyer has illegally maligned."
“The allegations and statements are clearly not true and the sources cited, official IRS documents and charity oversight organizations clearly demonstrate that the statements are untrue and outrageous,” Paulson says in a statement.
The email, which is still using a
local artist's illustration in its header, also says, "Recent independent surveys have shown Paulson to have closed in on Dyer in the past week." When we asked Paulson's campaign manager Mike Shirley who took those surveys, he said they are "internal surveys by the Paulson campaign."
Shirley also promised us a copy of the complaint, so we'll post it here when we get it (see below). According to
The Orlando Political Observer, a Florida Democratic Party spokesperson released this statement regarding the lawsuit.
“This ridiculous stunt shows how laughably desperate the Paulson campaign has become as election day approaches. If Mr. Paulson is uncomfortable with the residents of Orlando learning about his record, why did he run for public office?”
