Rodrigues, Fitzenhagen campaign to prove who’s fit for Florida Senate

Campaign attack ads don’t seem to stop ahead of an election. In Southwest Florida candidates, such as Florida House Rep. Ray Rodrigues (Fla-R) and Florida House Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen (Fla-R), are trying to “out-Republican” their opponents.

We see their faces on TV, social media and in our mailboxes — the “all-above” approach just days away from Tuesday’s primary.

Rodrigues thought he would move to the Florida Senate unopposed. But, at the last minute, Fitzenhagen dropped out of the race for U.S. Congress to take on Rodrigues.

“She’s taken money from big sugar in three of her four campaigns,” Rodrigues said. “So it’s a bit hypocritical to slap a label on somebody and criticize them for doing something that you yourself have done repeatedly.”

Both candidates have been using television to prove one is more Republican than the other. The Lee County Republican Party chairman told us that’s a good thing.

“They’re very important seats, and there’s a lot at stake in these elections,” county chair Jonathan Martin said. “And I think that having a conversation about the differences in each candidate is healthy.”

Rep. Rodriguez told us he does not believe his commercials are “attack ads.” He said he simply identifies a bill number, notes how Rep. Fitzenhagen voted on it and lets the viewers take it from there.

We sent texts, left calls and email for Fitzenhagen, hoping she would agree to be part of this story, but she did not respond.

“I found it’s better to be accessible to voters, accessible to the public and accessible to the media,” Rodrigues said. “And that’s why I’m here.”