On The Road To Winning Back The Florida State Legislature-- Lake County, Anthony Sabatini And Ryan Morales

Lake County is in central Florida, north of Orlando, or, as Ryan Morales explained it to me on the phone yesterday, it's a "hidden gem, just north west of Disney World, sitting on top of the Green Swamp which feeds the Florida Aquifer... better known as our drinking water... Lake County is in danger and it needs saving."

Ryan, a former Bernie organizer is running for the state House against one of the most odious Republicans in Florida, annoying gadfly Anthony Sabatini, a violent racist and homophobe who recently tweeted, after the murder of George Floyd, that protesters will be met with an AR-15. FL-32 is mostly southern Lake County, Leesburg and Clermont being the only two viable cities. Morales told me that the area is considered one of the fastest-growing counties in Florida and we expect a boom in population in the next 5 years. It's still very rural but he senses Lake County is becoming more and more progressive. Right now Lake County has 106,063 registered Republicans (44.9%), 73,459 Democrats (31.1%) and 61,509 independents (26.1%).

The last Democratic presidential candidate who won Lake County was FDR in 1944. Trump beat Hillary 59.5% to 36.6% in 2016 and two years later Ron DeSantis beat Andrew Gillum 59.7% to 38.9%. Still, Morales, a community leader, sees a change in the mood of the electorate. If elected he plans on helping legalize cannabis and protecting the local environment from further harm. Education and accountability are two other areas Ryan feels need urgent attention. His most immediate goal is to help the state recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as possible without hurting any more people or businesses. If you'd like to help him win the election in November and replace Sabatini, please click on the Blue America Florida 2020 thermometer above and contribute what you can.


My Opponent Really Is A Classic Villain
-by Ryan Morales

Currently, Lake County is represented by Anthony Sabatini, a young man hell-bent on "owning the Libs." Many of you might know this individual, or probably have seen him on TV recently, including CNN for his war on the mask mandates here throughout Florida. This loathsome individual believes he is the next in line for the Florida Governor’s seat and is doing everything he can to become the first governor under 40 years of age. Not only is this a disturbing thought but we must stop him at all costs to prevent this pint-sized bully from taking over Florida. In the last few months, he has become one of the most hated politicians in the state. To add to his abuse of power, as a lawyer, he has been filing frivolous lawsuits against cities and counties trying to contain this virus, which has killed over 4300 Floridians since March. This should be considered blood in his hands for trying to stop these efforts. His Trumpian ways are his only weapons in this fight, and his only goal is to be divisive to get his base amped up.

As we try to understand this polarizing young man’s obsession with extremist beliefs, we see a history of his unabashed ways. Wearing a blackface costume mocking his African American friend, and a Brown Face one to mock people of Mexican descent, are just two of the most notable ways he has been caught in his Proud Boy ways. Most memorable to his educators was that he drove a junker painted like the “General Lee” with the Confederate Flag on the roof, and was known for his racial slurs used against minority students in class.

Once he graduated High School, it looks like his family sent him to the National Guard so he could claim military status on his mission to becoming Governor, while playing it safe so he wouldn’t have to see any war action. With a silver spoon in his mouth, he hasn’t had to do much to get what he wanted most of his life. His family has pretty much paved the way to enable this young man and his demonic ways. His next step was becoming commissioner of the city of Eustis, which the mayor who served at the same time when he was there claims Sabatini had to be thrown out several times for his reckless behavior. Not gaining allies during his tenure he decided to run for higher office for the 2018 election.

While claiming to live in grandma’s property in the city of Howey in the Hills, even though he still resided in Eustis, he threw his name into the race for FL House District 32. He fooled many people who voted for him in 2018 by promising to bring money into Lake County but he has failed miserably the last 2 sessions he was a part of. His only bill that made it to the governor’s desk was the only bill this governor has vetoed, which was for the Ban on the ban of plastic straws by local communities trying to protect the environment. During this time it appears he got himself barred with the state, and is now practicing law here. This has probably been the worst thing anyone could have done by giving this man a license to sue everyone and hurt taxpayers, all the while enriching himself and his buddies through his frivolous lawsuits.

Now here comes 2020 with COVID-19. Boom! The conspiracies are flying and Sabatini is jumping all over them like a kid in a piñata party. Trying to become the Q-anon cult hero on the far-right, he has been pushing his conspiracy theorist followers into a frenzy during this time and intensified his polarizing posts. Claiming to be a fighter for all conservatives he seems to only care about the law when it’s convenient for him and his republicans. Since day one his only concern has been to reopen the bars, since his grandma owns a few in the county, and wants to reopen her business without care or worry about her employees or customers getting sick. Most of her employees have no health insurance so her grandson is helping her by pushing for legislative rules to change in order to protect businesses from COVID19 lawsuits that could arise from employees or customers that can get infected due to their carelessness. Money and greed drive this young man but hate is definitely a major reason this man came into power.

As the country is burning and people are dying, a new champion emerges. A local business owner, a local coach and most importantly a local father worried about the future of Florida for the sake of the children and all the people of this great state. He is gearing up to take on Sabatini this November 3rd. This warrior brings with him many fresh progressive ideas that can help take Florida into the future and really bring a change that Florida needs.