Rebekah Jones, a Democratic hopeful for Florida’s 1st Congressional District, is allowed back on the ballot for the race for Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) congressional seat for the primary race Tuesday.
Jones, the former Florida COVID-19 dashboard manager who gained national attention for claims she was instructed to manipulate pandemic data, was booted from the ballot earlier this month after a lower court deemed her ineligible due to a party registration swap last year. The Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed that decision Monday.
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“Rebekah Jones appreciates the speed and certainty of the Florida First District Court of Appeal in soundly rejecting her opponent’s last-minute litigation while the election was underway. The Voters now have the real opportunity to put Rebekah Jones on the General Election Ballot,” Jones’s lawyer Benedict Kuehne said in a statement, per WTSP.
Under Florida law, candidates must have been registered with their party for a minimum of one year before the qualification deadline for a primary. Jones briefly switched her party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated in June 2021 when mulling a congressional bid.
Her chief primary opponent, Peggy Schiller, filed a lawsuit over her eligibility status and won in the Leon County Circuit Court earlier this month. The appeals court issued a stay in that ruling the following week, temporarily placing her back on the ballot. The decision Monday permanently allows Jones back on the ballot.
Judges on the appeals court argued Florida law “provides no express authority to disqualify a party candidate if she was not, in fact, a registered party member during the 365-day window,” according to WTSP.
Jones is facing off against Schiller, hoping to clinch the Democratic nod for the congressional seat currently held by Gaetz.
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After Jones garnered national attention for claims in 2020 that Gov. Ron DeSantis pressured her to fudge COVID-19 data, state Inspector General Michael Bennett released a report concluding that her allegations were false.
Jones was fired by state officials for alleged insubordination, such as posting on social media without proper permission and potentially exposing personnel data on the dashboard system she oversaw, according to state records.
