Political text messages spark complaints over accuracy and frequency among Florida voters
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. —
Florida political text messages are overwhelming phones, with residents raising concerns about their frequency and accuracy.
“We’ve been getting a lot of them on the phone,” said Jonathan Bright, of Naples.
Bright’s granddaughter, Sayla Fogle, described the constant notifications as disruptive. “He’s really annoyed. It’s like constant. He like got one at 9:30 one time, it was like ridiculous,” she said.
One text message has drawn particular ire, claiming that Republican Yvette Benarroch had canceled her endorsement of Casey Askar.
“I screenshotted that and reached out to Yvette to ask her if that was true, and she said no,” said Lisa Stedman, a Naples resident.
Benarroch, who is running in District 81, clarified the situation. “It’s deceiving. It was like, although I am supporting Casey Askar, I had decided not to endorse publicly and just left everyone [to] make up their minds,” she said.
She also expressed surprise at the alleged source of the text. “The text said it came from Belinda Keiser’s campaign. So that’s who I’m going to assume it came from,” Benarroch said.
Keiser, who is running against Askar in District 22, did not respond to requests for comment. Askar’s campaign also did not reply.
“This cycle has been even worse, and I just think as Republicans we need to do better,” Benarroch said.
Meanwhile, some residents, like Beverly Edelscein, say they haven’t received any political text messages. “I am not receiving any text messages, and I think it’s because I’m a registered Democrat,” Edelscein said.
Edelscein added that she would appreciate receiving texts if they provided truthful information. “It’s a bad thing in terms of me not knowing anything about the people running in the Democratic primary,” she said.
As political campaigns intensify, Naples residents are calling for honesty and transparency in their outreach efforts.
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