There’s less than 24 hours left for the candidates seeking to replace a former senator who resigned his seat in shame, Frank Artiles.
The shortened qualifying period for the special election for Florida Senate District 40 started today and ends at noon, tomorrow.
As of right now, Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz is the last to not qualify. Diaz left his House seat to run in the special election. The special election to replace him has been set as well by the governor.
Initially, Republican Alex Diaz de la Portilla filed in the wrong race but has since corrected it, and qualified along with fellow Republican Lorenzo Palomares.
Democrats Ana Rivas Logan, Steve Smith and Annette Taddeo have qualified along with only one no party affiliation candidate, Christian “He-Man” Schlaerth.
Rep. Daisy Baez was also in the race but weeks ago announced she would be withdrawing to care for her family and continue to represent her constituency in the House.
The special primary election is set for July 25 and the general election will be Sept 26.