In a press release this afternoon, Carolyn Fries, candidate for City Council District 4 says that she is the “first to qualify for election.”
That’s a very misleading statement.
Yes, Fries was the first candidate to arrive at City Hall today when candidate qualifying began. But only because she had to be. Fries did not qualify for the ballot by collecting petitions, as her opponent Darden Rice did.
What Fries is the first to do is to qualify for election by writing a check to qualify for the ballot.
“I could have written a check for $150 to qualify, but I thought it was more important to qualify by petition signatures from voters. I want to show that my campaign is about talking to St. Pete citizens face to face and listening directly to their concerns and ideas about the direction of the City,” said Rice in May after qualifying for the ballot. “Petition gathering is no easy task, but it is a more meaningful way to run a campaign to connect to voters in a sincere, personal way.”
So, actually, Rice was the first to qualify in District 4.
Fries was the first to qualify for the ballot by writing a check.
And for that, we congratulate her.
