Karl Etters

Democrat staff writer

Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant blasted state Rep. Alan Williams in a sharply worded email Saturday, saying she was furious and felt betrayed by a campaign mailer he sent claiming he’d secured the party’s endorsement for Leon County supervisor of elections.

“The toothpaste is out of the tube with this because Alan's flyers are already in the hands of voters,” Tant wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat. “I firmly believe he and (campaign consultant Sean Pittman) thought I would just look the other way on it. I will not. I have not. And I am FURIOUS about this. There are grounds here for a complaint. And I believe it should be filed by someone.”

Williams sent a mailer to voters earlier this week saying he'd been endorsed by the Florida Democratic Party when in fact he hadn't. The party is staying neutral in the non-partisan race because Williams is running against a fellow Democrat, Mark Earley.

In the email, Tant said Williams told her he needed to level the playing field in the race because Earley's photo had appeared in the elections office's official voter guide. Earley serves as voting systems manager at the elections office.

“I am furious with him for him impugning my integrity with this bull----,” Tant wrote.

Williams said Saturday he never spoke to Tant about the mailer as a response to the sample ballot photo.

Tant said Saturday she was frustrated the private email to a personal friend had been distributed publicly. She pointed out Early's photo in the voter guide also was an example of the "toothpaste out of the tube," and was inappropriate.

"Both of these guys need to run on what makes them a better candidate and that's it," Tant said.

The mailer, which went out to about 1,000 registered voters, includes a large photo and quote from Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who'd already publicly endorsed Williams.

The bylaws of the state Democratic Party say it can't endorse one Democratic candidate over another. State statutes require candidates to have endorsements in writing.

Florida Dems: Williams' endorsement mailer misleading

Earley has worked in the supervisor's office for more than two decades and has the endorsement of retiring elections chief Ion Sancho.

The endorsement has been controversial among Williams’ supporters who believe Sancho is tilting the election unfairly. Sancho has been criticized for wearing Earley campaign paraphernalia and being vocal about who he would like to see as his successor.

Williams said he has spoken with party officials about the mailer and has removed any reference in future campaign materials.

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He said in an interview Friday the endorsement was an “oversight” by a campaign staffer who took a Florida Democratic Party slate including 16 local and national party candidates to mean he had been endorsed. Earley’s photo also appears on that slate.

“My campaign interpreted this as a co-endorsement allowing both candidates to promote our suitability to Democratic voters,” Williams said in a Friday Facebook post. “Our only mistake was accidentally using the state party indicia instead of the local party.”

Tant, however, said co-endorsements are not something the state party does. She said her trust was violated.

“There is no such thing as a co-endorsement. I will make that very clear,” Tant wrote. “I feel personally betrayed by this. And, I feel that a breach of trust has occurred here. I told Alan: If you can't be honest about this, you can't be honest about the job.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

Read Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant’s full email below.

I can't pull the flyers b/c I have none to replace them with. And no budget to do so. But, I am furious with him for him impugning my integrity with this (expletive.) And Sean as well. I can tell you that Andrew did not know he was on the flyer until it went out. And he is not happy to be pulled into this which I frankly don't blame him for. The toothpaste is out of the tube with this b/c Alan's flyers are already in the hands of voters. And he knows it. I gave him holy hell about it. I firmly believe he and Sean thought I would just look the other way on it. I will not. I have not. and I am FURIOUS about this. There are ground here for a complaint. And I believe it should be filed by someone.

Alan actually told me he had to even the playing field b/c Ion's voter guide has a photo of Mark Earley in it. Since I have voted like day one via mail, I have not received any mail so I have not seen it. So, he feels he has leveled the playing field with this. BC Kaine was in town yesterday, I was tied up the rest of the day.

You should absolutely not be admonished. you should speak out to the DEC. And I encourage you to reply all to the email I sent with the point about how told you that there is no endorsement between 2 dems.

And there is no such thing as a co-endorsement. I will make that very clear. I am about to send an email out to the DEC with the article. And with a reminder about Patrick Murphy, working the polls, and souls to the polls.

And for the record, I feel personally betrayed by this. And, I feel that a breach of trust has occurred here. I told Alan: if you can't be honest about this, you can't be honest about the job and if you keep pushing me, I am going to say that out loud.