State Rep. Allison Tant (D-Tallahassee) says she didn’t agree to endorse Leon County Commissioner Nick Maddox, who is running for re-election -- but she got a surprise in the mail.
Tant told WFSU she’d agreed to help Maddox’s campaign in a “small” way, but that she’d learned about claims she’s endorsing him only when a flyer arrived in her mailbox from the Maddox campaign. It features her photo and a glowing quote that reads in part “Nick is a trusted leader with a heart for service and he will continue to serve Leon County well!”
“Nick is a longtime friend,” she said in a text. “I told him I wasn’t doing big endorsements, but if there was a small way to help, I’d look at it. But I never heard back.”
Maddox ally Sean Pittman texted the Tallahassee Democrat that while Tant supports Maddox, it was due to “human error and miscommunication” on his part that the endorsement went forward.
Tant agreed. “Neither Nick nor I saw the piece,” she texted. “Nick never received it. Sean Pittman is his campaign guy. Sean apparently never got it to him to review. It’s just a miscommunication.”
Pittman declined an interview with WFSU.
Maddox will participate in a candidate forum with his opponent, Josh Johnson, on Monday, Oct. 10 from 11:00 to noon. It will be live-streamed on WFSU, the Tallahassee Democrat, Facebook and YouTube.
