TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa Bay area Congressional candidate’s campaign has been reportedly flooded with hundreds of fake registrations for a free event they plan to host this week in Tampa, the campaign announced Monday.
James Judge, a military veteran, local businessman and Republican candidate running for U.S. Congress in the Tampa Bay area against Democrat incumbent Kathy Castor, says his campaign has been inundated by fake registrations to his kickoff rally scheduled for this Thursday on the American Victory WWII Museum ship in downtown Tampa.
The event, which is being called the Mandate Freedom Rally, has already seen more than 1,200 people sign up on Eventbrite.com, but the campaign estimates more than half of those registrations are fake.
“Sadly, I’m learning firsthand that getting hit with dirty tricks is just part of politics. It certainly makes it a lot more difficult to gauge the proper quantity of food and drinks to order, and how many first responders we’ll need to have present,” said Judge.
According to an article published in the Daily Caller this past February, this isn’t the first time someone has targeted conservative events with fraudulent registrations.
“While it’s certainly frustrating, we’ll just roll with the punches and whether it’s 10 people or 10,000, I am going to be grateful for all of those who show up to support restoring faith and freedom,” Judge said.
The Mandate Freedom Rally, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled to be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 at the American Victory WWII Museum ship in Tampa.
A yet-to-be-revealed, Platinum-selling, Billboard #1 country music artist is scheduled to perform for the event and Chuy’s Tex Mex is catering the food and drinks, which will be served for free until they run out.
“At this point, the entire Tampa Bay area is invited to come out and enjoy some margaritas, sangria, Tex Mex food and great music. Whether you’re Republican, Democrat or Independent, it’s going to take all of us coming together to fix the problems facing our nation,” said Judge. “So, I hope you can make it out and also enjoy a beautiful sunset evening from the deck of a historic ship in a beautiful location.”
Anyone interested in registering for the event can do so by clicking here.
About James Judge
Judge, who publicly announced his run for Congress earlier this year, is a Tampa Bay area native, having been born in Clearwater, Florida. Judge graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, he served in Kabul, Afghanistan as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2010 until 2011. He now owns Judge Public Relations, a Tampa-based PR firm and marketing agency with clients worldwide.
Judge is married to his wife Danielle, who is the founder and owner of Rowdy’s Pet Resort, a dog daycare a boarding facility near Apollo Beach. The Judges are avid animal lovers and together, they have four dogs, three cats, two horses and 10 chickens.
Judge is a proud member of the NRA, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.
The Judges are also active members at Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa.
