Alian Collazo has major support from a state senator
The heated race for an open Florida State senate seat in District 38 has gone from warm to nuclear as both candidates take turns stinging each other and pointing fingers at each other like mosquitas muertas.
For weeks, they campaigned on their own merits. Republican Alexis Calatayud, campaign manager and onetime legislative aide to former State Rep. Vance Aloupis, stressed her experience with the Florida Department of Education for the last two years, including during the pandemic. Democrat Janelle Perez, who once interned for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, stressed her experience as a mom, cancer survivor and business owner (her family owns Doctors HealthCare Plans) with an intense interest in healthcare access.
For weeks, the two relatively unknown candidates in the state Senate District 38 race have been playing footsies with each other. A barrage of mail pieces from both camps focus on their promises — accessible health care, improved education, environmental protections, jobs and the American Dream, blah, blah, blah.
But this week, voters in the district started seeing another side of Republican Alexis Calatayud, who came out with a negative hit piece against Democrat Janelle Perez. Text messages were linked to a video that has also been aired on local TV, all paid for by the Florida Republican Senatorial Committee.
