Former Florida House candidate Emily Nunez receives civil penalty for violating election laws

YULEE, Fla. – Emily Nunez, former 2022 Republican candidate for the Florida House District 15 seat, was fined by the Florida Elections Commission for violating the state’s election laws.

According to legal documents obtained by Florida’s Voice by the elections commission, Nunez “certified that [her] campaign’s 2022 P5 Report was true, correct, and complete when it was not.”

Nunez ran as a first-time candidate in the 2022 election and lost against Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville.

One expense for campaign signs was not included in Nunez’s initial report, totaling to more than $1,700, according to the commission, which they said she later fixed to include the missing transaction.

The legal documents also state Nunez’s campaign signs did not include a “proper disclaimer.”

According to the commission, Nunez alleged that she “relied on her campaign team to handle advertisements” and assistance throughout the campaign as it was her first time running for office.

The legal documents state that Nunez “neither admits nor denies” that she violated Florida statutes, but the commission staff and Nunez stipulated that “the facts” could be proven by “clear and convincing evidence.”

The elections commission ordered Nunez to pay a $500 civil penalty, “inclusive of fees and costs” for violating two Florida statutes including Sections 106.07(5) and 106.143(1)(a).

According to the elections commission, in 2022, Nunez filed a complaint against Black, her then-opponent, who she alleged “made or caused to be made false, malicious statements” against her, which is against Florida law.

According to a 2022 letter from the commission to Nunez, the issues that sparked her complaint were regarding mailers made by a political committee that Nunez described as “‘hit piece’ mailers that Mr. Black funded with his campaign account, as well as his PAC account, True Conservatives.”

The letter from the commission said that in response to Nunez’s complaint, Black stated that Nunez “admitted the statements were made by a political committee” and not by Black.

According to the letter, Black said Nunez “did not offer any evidence to the contrary” and that the complaint was “legally insufficient.”

The commission concluded that Nunez “provided no evidence based upon personal information or information other than hearsay to support that [Black] made or caused the statements at issue to be made.”

Nunez’s 2022 complaint was found to be “legally insufficient” and was dropped by the elections commission.