Florida GOP candidate unregistered as voter in fit of rage

A Florida man running for a state house seat may be doing so in violation of state law because he unregistered as a voter in a fit of rage around the time of President Biden’s inauguration.

“My vote means nothing. Cancel my registration,” wrote Kristopher Stark on a voter removal request, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “You and this system are a joke. Thank you communists.”

Stark is now running for Florida House District 37, which includes parts of northern Orlando. But he’s also violating a relatively new state law.

Last year, a Republican-led bill aimed at limiting vote-by-mail access included a requirement that anyone who runs for state office be a member of their party for 365 days before a primary election date.

Stark did not re-register as a Republican until January 2022, the Sentinel reported. That would make him ineligible for Florida’s Aug. 23 primary.

Stark is already the underdog candidate in the Republican primary against Susan Plasencia. The winner will face Democrat Carlos Guillermo Smith, the incumbent who is running unopposed in the primary.

“If Stark wins the primary, it is almost certain that the (Democratic) party will challenge the requirement, thus handing Carlos Smith the seat without the need for a general election,” a Plasencia campaign manager told the Sentinel in an email.

Stark is an avowed Donald Trump supporter who still refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election. However, he told the Sentinel that he regretted his screed to the voter registration committee.

“I wrote some bad stuff,” he said.