Politics in Homestead have gotten down and dirty, with the vice mayor accusing the current mayor of running a ghost candidate to siphon off voters in the upcoming election.
Vice Mayor Julio Guzman is taking on Mayor Steve Losner. And the question many are asking is where is the third candidate?
Sonia Castro Natal is also in the race but NBC6 found no website or campaign signs.
Nobody answered the door at her Homestead house Thursday and she has not returned emails and phone calls.
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At a news conference outside City Hall, Guzman leveled a serious allegation against the mayor.
“I strongly suggest, and I strongly suspect, that she was strategically placed as a ghost candidate by Steve Losner to divide the Hispanic vote,” said Guzman.
Losner pushed back on that claim.
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“The vice mayor is complaining, kind of the foundation, that he is entitled to all of the Hispanic votes, I have a wide range of support of folks throughout the community,” said Losner.
Guzman showed reporters pictures of Castro Natal with Losner. Two of the photos show her wearing his campaign T-shirt.
“Four years ago she worked with my campaign, that was four years ago, okay, so pictures,” said Losner. "How many pictures are out there of Trump and DeSantis smiling together? Four years in politics is a lifetime.”
Guzman also questioned the timing of Castro Natal getting into the race.
“Just one day before the qualifying deadline, Sonia Castro Natal, another Hispanic candidate, entered the race,” he said.
Finance records show Losner and Guzman have raised tens of thousands of dollars for their campaigns and have made conventional campaign expenditures.
And each shows individual donors.
Castro Natal’s campaign records show a $500 contribution from one donor along with another $850 from herself.
Election day in Homestead is October 3rd.
