During the political race for Osceola County Commission district 4, candidate Jackie Espinosa, and others on her behalf, tried to talk fellow candidate Carlos Irizarry out of running, in her bid to unseat incumbent Cheryl Grieb.
That was the theme of a series of text messages Espinosa turned over to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office as part of the lawsuit she filed on Sept. 9, after the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Canvassing Board certiifed the results of the election. Grieb, named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with Irizarry and the Canvassing Board, earned 48.4% (3,629) of the votes cast in the Aug. 23 winner-take-all open race involving the three Democrats.
Espinosa received 2,919 votes and Irizarry, who Espinosa accuses of being a “ghost candidate,” received 953. She is challenging the validity of those results, claiming Irizarry, a former Kissimmee city commissioner, was put in the race by outside forces not to win, but to siphon away part of the area’s Hispanic vote.
As part of the FDLE investigation, Espinosa sent transcripts of text conversations between Irizarry and herself, and School Board member Jon Arguello, and another between her and Maria Irizarry, Carlos’ wife. The News-Gazette obtained those messages through a public records request to the Sheriff’s Office. In most cases, they were translated from Spanish into English.
In an exchange on May 6, days after Irizarry, a former Kissimmee city commissioner, filed to run for the office, Espinosa implores Irizarry, who she called a longtime friend, for answers why he is running. She encourages him not to run, and instead expose anyone who may have put him in the race, or paid him to run.
“This is dividing the community, not us,” she says of his actions. “You can come out of this like a hero and unmask the corruption … What they’ve offered you is not enough, your honor is a lot more … You say this is politics, and that’s what hurt my heart.”
In an exchange two days later – May 8, Mother’s Day – with Carlos’ wife, Maria Irizarry, Espinosa talks of being a longtime friend of Carlos.
“Carlos has to do the right thing … confess everything they’ve offered to run,” Espinosa says. “He can win if he becomes transparent and keeps his honor.” Maria responds, “That’s the way politics runs, and they have done that to him, too.”
An exchange between Irizarry and Arguello was also furnished. Irizarry’s response to Arguello pressing him for an answer to who put him up to running was, “The White Republicans asked me to do it … let’s see if they deliver.” Arguello’s further pressing for names provided none.
In the days just prior to the June 16 qualification deadline, Irizarry received five campaign contributions of $1,000 from companies (B Florida Soil Cement LL, Tramac Paving and Milling, Track & Roller Equipment LLC, B Knji LLC, B Grassroots Seeding and Mulching) listed at the same address in Riverview, Florida, which is east of Tampa. Backed by a couple other smaller, local donations, he qualified for the race by paying the $5,700 filing fee, rather than collecting petitions.
Following Monday’s County Commission meeting, Grieb chose to say little about the lawsuit, other than that she is aware of it, that through her legal team she will respond to Espinosa’s legal complaint when she’s subpoenaed, and that her counsel has deemed her an “affected party” in the case.
