‘Ghost’ candidate, 2 operatives face charges in Florida

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Two political operatives and an independent candidate who opponents say hardly campaigned and only entered a state Senate race in central Florida in 2020 to siphon votes from a Democrat have been criminally charged. Prosecutors on Tuesday filed election finance charges against the candidate, Jestine Iannotti, as well as Seminole County GOP chairman Ben Paris and political consultant James “Eric” Foglesong in Seminole County, a suburb of Orlando. According to state investigators, Iannotti illegally accepted a $1,200 cash donation from Foglesong. Investigators say Iannoitti and Foglesong falsely used the names of others as contributors in state campaign finance reports.