Servia threatens legal action against Rahn in Manatee County District 4 primary race

Republicans Mike Rahn and incumbent Misty Servia are locked into a fierce political battle in the race for the Manatee County Commission District 4 seat over comments made last year in criticism of a COVID-19 pop-up vaccine site that served only residents of Lakewood Ranch.

The vaccine site made national headlines because it went against the county's lottery system for selecting COVID-19 vaccine recipients to establish fairness in access for residents.

Rahn’s campaign has now latched on to a Fox News clip that claims Servia called Gov. Ron DeSantis racist during her criticism of the vaccine site at a public meeting in February last year and has circulated the clip as ammunition in his political campaign.

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"We're in an election cycle, and elections unfortunately sometimes take a dirty turn," Rahn said. "In politics, you have to put on your big boy or big girl pants, and that's what it is. We are aggressively campaigning against a liberal incumbent.."

Servia criticized the clinic at a public meeting on Feb. 16, 2021, for its unfairness, as did many Manatee County residents who protested and called for Commissioner Vanessa Baugh to resign.

Servia maintains that the comments were taken out of context, and sent a cease and desist letter to both Rahn and Baugh on June 29 threatening legal action against them if they continue to circulate the claim.

“It’s ridiculous, and another lame attempt to discredit me,” Servia told the Herald-Tribune. “He is lying, and he knows he’s lying. I never called Gov. DeSantis a racist. Mike Rahn is lying because he doesn’t have a real plan to help Manatee County.”

Servia sends cease and desist

That vaccine site controversy embroiled Baugh, and she now has a hearing for a Florida Commission on Ethics case in early August over her role in organizing the vaccine site during her time as commission chair.

It was established as a part of the state's effort to distribute the vaccine quickly throughout Florida communities at a time when vaccine availability was limited.

Baugh has been publicly criticized for limiting vaccine access to only residents who lived in the two zip codes that encompass Lakewood Ranch, and for creating a “VIP” list to give herself, Lakewood Ranch developer Rex Jensen and several others pre-arranged access to the vaccine.

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"It does compromise our system, it does pit people against each other," Servia said during that February meeting. "We ask why do we think there is a racism problem perceived in Manatee County? This adds to that argument because you are taking the whitest demographic, the richest demographic in Manatee County, and putting them ahead of anyone else."

Her statement was used by a Fox News anchor during an interview with DeSantis over the controversy when the network insinuated that Servia called him a racist for the vaccine site's location.

Rahn’s campaign has circulated the Fox News clip as a part of its political advertising, prompting Servia to hire an attorney and threaten legal action.

The attorney, Jonathan E. Hackworth, then sent cease and desist letters on June 29 to Rahn and Baugh, stating that Servia is prepared to pursue legal action if they don't stop making defamatory statements.

The two letters reference an email advertisement sent by Rahn and a Facebook post by Baugh that claims she called DeSantis a racist. Rahn's advertisement also touts his support for naming a local park after DeSantis to show his loyalty to the governor.

Rahn doubles down

Rahn doubled down in a statement from his campaign and continues to circulate the Fox News clip. He added that the letter is a violation of his free speech rights.

"There is a tremendous amount of seniors in there, so the governor wanted to make sure that the most affected could get those shots as quickly as possible because people are the highest at risk," he said.

Servia is defending her record as a conservative Republican.

“I’m a Republican that has worked hard for the local party for years, I’m fiscally very conservative, and strongly believe that we need to cut unnecessary spending and replenish our reserves now, and that’s what I’m running on,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Servia threaten legal action against Rahn in Manatee's District 4 race