Smear campaign targets Democrat's sexuality in Florida congressional primary

Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald on Aug 11, 2026

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MIAMI — The LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida is condemning a false and illegal text campaign unleashed Tuesday by hidden actors intent on smearing a South Florida congressional candidate over his sexuality.

The texts, which target state Sen. Shevrin Jones in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 24th congressional district, claim to come from Equality Florida and are written to appear as an appeal for sympathy for Jones on the false premise that he was turned away from donating blood to a COVID survivor because he is gay and HIV positive.

But almost none of that is true. Jones does not have HIV, and the text message did not come from Equality Florida.

In a statement, Equality Florida said the fabricated texts prey on HIV and anti-gay stigma. The LGBTQ advocacy group endorsed Jones in the Democratic primary, which will be decided on Aug. 18.

“This is a disgusting attack against a public servant who has poured his heart and soul into his community,” Equality Florida spokesperson Brandon Wolf said in a statement. “We can all see it for what it is: a desperate attempt by a shady, dark money group supporting one of Shev’s opponents that trafficks in ugly tropes, misrepresents a trusted statewide organization, and weaponizes a Black man’s identity.”

Jones, who is gay, denied that he had HIV or AIDS and said messages like that further stigmatize people who have been diagnosed with either, regardless of their sexuality.

“What makes it so disgusting is that somebody decided to use my sexuality and HIV as weapons in a political campaign,” Jones told the Herald. “There are people across South Florida who are actually living with HIV every single day, raising families, going to work, serving their communities, and living full lives. I think their health status should never be used to shame them.”

Federal campaign laws require that political advertisements and communications carry accurate disclaimers disclosing the organization behind the messaging. It is unclear who was behind the texts.

In 2022, a similar campaign against Jones surfaced in his state Senate campaign after the Herald wrote a story about Jones attempting to donate plasma after getting COVID-19, but being turned away due to an FDA policy restricting donations from gay and bisexual men.

Shortly after the article was published, someone used the story as a campaign tactic and sent a text blast to voters — including Jones’ family — that he “was discriminated against for recent homosexual contact.” The text also linked to a website called “ShevJones.com,” that posted the Miami Herald article detailing the incident word-for-word.

Jones said Tuesday’s latest text blast is a distraction from discussing the real concerns of residents, but he’s not surprised by the attacks on his sexuality.

“They do stuff like this. They use things like this to try to deter people to vote, but they don’t know in this day and age, you actually motivate people to go vote because people don’t like that type of stuff,” he said.

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