Republican House candidate Mery Lopez-Palma faces blistering criticism after mocking firemen and declaring only Spanish-speaking lawyers belong in the State Legislature. Lopez-Palma, a candidate for the State House 102 nomination, made the remarks at February club meeting in Sunrise. Clips of her speech have gone viral on social media.
Who better to write legislation than an attorney? I always say that if you’re going to represent the families of Florida, you should know how to write law.
You should know how to write.
And when I look at my opponents—a dentist, a twenty-one year old and fireman—no offense but they’re not the right people for the job!
—-Mery Lopez-Palma
Mery Lopez-Palma said she believed Tallahassee needed more lawyers because they know how to write laws. Then, she said a State Legislator should know “how to write.”
“[W]hen I look at my opponents—a dentist, a twenty-one year old, and a fireman,” Lopez-Palma said. “No offense, but they’re not the right people for the job.”
Mery Lopez-Palma’s “opponents” are Michael Friend, a dentist, Jayden D’Onofrio, a twenty-something Democrat and Republican Jason Paul Smith, a Cooper City Commissioner and a veteran firefighter.
It gets worse.
Lopez-Palma did not stop at claiming that dentists, college kids and firefighters cannot write.
She went on to tell the audience that the “Florida House requires and should require that someone [seeking a seat] got a lot of spunk [and] a big voice representing Spanish-speaking Americans.”
The ability to write laws, possessing a lot of “spunk” and being fluent in Spanish is NOT a requirement to hold any elected office in Florida.
Heck, the ability to write is not a requirement either.
Backers of first responders were quick to blast Mery Lopez Palma on social media.
The campaign for Jason Paul Smith released a campaign video blasting Lopez-Palma’s comments as “an insult to every one of us who runs toward danger so others can run to safety.”
“Public service doesn’t require a law degree, it requires integrity, leadership, and the ability to make decisions under pressure,” Smith wrote on social media. “I respect and value Spanish deeply in our community….But representation isn’t limited to one profession or one language. It’s about service, accountability, and results.”
Mery Lopez-Palma is not backing down from her Spanish Lawyers Only messaging. In a social media post this week, Lopez-Palma said she was “Proud to run as the first Latina Republican woman ‘your baking lawyer’ for Florida House District 102 in Broward County.”
Do Broward Republicans really want more lawyers in Tallahassee?
