Last week, something unusual happened in the special election in southwest Florida to replace GOP Rep. Trey Radel. A candidate named Paige Kreegel called one of his Republican primary opponents and left a voice mail message, apologizing in advance for the fact that his own super PAC (which legally, he does not control) would be funding ads against him.

“It’s not something I wanted, and not something I can prevent,” Kreegel told opponent Curt Clawson. “Anyway, that’s the way it is.” Clawson’s campaign gave the audio to the Tampa Bay Times, which posted it online.