If School Board candidate LaDonna Corbin’s version of what happened last week at Mainstreet Vero’s Downtown Friday is accurate – and there’s no reason to believe it’s not – Indian River County Republican Executive Committee precinct chairwoman Karen Osborne saw a Black woman and immediately thought:
Democrat!
“When I told her I was a registered Republican,” Corbin said, “she looked like something hit her in the gut.”
Perhaps Osborne forgot there were Black women in the Republican Party.
But there’s no excuse for the shabby way Corbin was treated when she approached the REC booth at the festive Friday night event and politely asked Osborne if she could place her petition cards on the table containing those of other local Republican candidates hoping to get the signatures needed to qualify for this year’s elections.
“She told me to take my Democrat mess someplace else,” Corbin said, adding that she was taken aback, disappointed and hurt by the REC’s rejection.
Corbin, a Treasure Coast Community Health Center wellness coordinator and Gifford resident, is challenging District 2 incumbent Jackie Rosario in hopes of becoming only the third Black School Board member in county history.
She’s a political newcomer, but she already has met with several influential local Republicans and groups, and her fledgling campaign is gaining traction in what’s supposed to be a nonpartisan race.
In fact, Corbin’s candidacy was vetted by one of our community’s most prominent Republicans, Linda Teetz, former president of the Republican Women of Indian River and a big-money fundraiser for the party on the local, state and national levels.
“I’ve not only vetted her, but I spent almost two hours interviewing her,” Teetz said during a phone call Saturday morning on her drive to Orlando for Conservative Political Action Conference 2022. “She’s got a lot of credibility. She’s a legitimate candidate. She had every right to be there with her petitions.
“The REC is supposed to support all Republican candidates, at least through the primary.”
Teetz was so disturbed by the REC’s treatment of Corbin that she said would file a complaint with the Republican Party of Florida and call other party leaders in Tallahassee, including some in the governor’s office.
She is concerned with the hostile takeover of the REC here by an extreme fringe faction that she said doesn’t follow rules, shuns decorum and no longer embraces traditional Republican values – behavior that has driven out many longtime members.
“They’re downright mean, and it’s gotten ugly,” Teetz said. “To do what they did to a Black woman running as a Republican? You know how that looks? This has to stop.
“The REC is losing its credibility and stature, and unless something changes, that’s going to hurt local Republican candidates.”
Former Indian River Shores Mayor and current School Board member Brian Barefoot, another well-respected local Republican, agreed with Teetz’s assessment and supported her decision to appeal to the party’s state leaders.
He learned of the REC’s snubbing of Corbin the next morning and described it as “disgraceful,” saying such conduct doesn’t reflect well on Republicans and undermines the party’s efforts to reach the Black community.
“This crowd there now, I think they’re a joke and don’t give them much thought,” said Barefoot, whom the REC voted to censure last year after he supported a mask mandate in the county’s public schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“But when you treat a legitimate local Republican candidate like this … It’s tough to ignore them,” he added. “Who do they think they are?”
They’re Rosario supporters.
That’s what Corbin said she was told by Osborne and another REC member who declared,
“This is Rosario country,” and urged her to go away.
Apparently, the REC – the umbrella organization that oversees all other local Republican clubs – doesn’t much care about the Republican Party of Florida’s “Rules of Procedure.”
RPOF rules prohibit county RECs from endorsing specific candidates prior to primaries until all of the party’s candidates have been notified and permitted to speak to the group. Then, at least two-thirds of the members in attendance at that meeting must vote in favor of the endorsement.
However, local REC Chairman and former Vero Beach Mayor Jay Kramer said his group has held no meeting or conducted any vote on endorsing a candidate in the District 2 School Board race.
“It’s up to the group to decide whether we do or not, but first we’d have to go through a process,” Kramer said. “The earliest something like that could happen is probably May or June.”
So why turn Corbin away?
Kramer wasn’t on site – but he was made aware of the situation almost immediately, when he received a call from Corbin’s campaign manager, Jeff Andros, who couldn’t get Osborne to come to the phone.
Andros said he explained to Kramer what Corbin told him had occurred, adding that she was streaming her response to the incident on Facebook Live, but Kramer wasn’t eager to address the situation.
“When I told him I planned to file a grievance with the RPOF, he hung up,” Andros said. “So I went back to LaDonna’s live stream, which she did right in front of the REC booth, and I saw Osborne on the phone.”
Minutes later, Osborne reversed field and told Corbin she could leave her petition cards on the table – but Corbin declined.
“After everything that happened, I was concerned that, if I left them, they’d either not get signed or be thrown away,” Corbin said. “I just went home and regrouped. It’s just a minor setback. This isn’t going to be an easy campaign.”
It’s already a three-woman race, with Democrat Cynthia Gibbs also seeking Rosario’s seat, but why would the REC make it more difficult for one of its own candidates?
“While other Republican politicians were allowed to have their petition cards on that table, it’s evident that the people running that booth did not want the African-American lady to leave her petitions, too,” Andros said. “Is it a question of race? Or do they realize she’s the best candidate in this race?”
Kramer tried to downplay the incident, initially saying that Corbin was ultimately given the opportunity to leave her petition cards on the table, then adding in a snarky tone, “I guess she expected people behind the booth to help her get them signed.”
He also cited Corbin’s failure to notify him that she was coming to the booth to leave petition cards, as he said other candidates do.
“Keep in mind that when somebody puts something on our table, we’ve got to verify that they’re a Republican, especially when they show up out of the blue,” Kramer said.
Andros’ response?
“If that’s the case,” he said, “why didn’t Osborne simply explain that to LaDonna?”
Kramer said he was “sorry the whole thing happened,” but as of Sunday night, Corbin still hadn’t heard from anyone connected to the REC. No one should be surprised.
For whatever reasons, Corbin is not the REC’s candidate. But she is a Republican.
“It’s not a black or white issue for me,” Corbin said. “I was just upset because of the way I was shut down, but it does hurt to see we’re not treated equal even when we’re the same.”
Sometimes, they’re treated like Democrats.
