ORLANDO, Fla. — Democrats have taken aim at the Republican nominee for an open Central Florida seat in Congress with a new website highlighting a lawsuit filed last month against the candidate’s company and past claims that the home services firm didn’t pay its employees properly.

James Pericola, the Democratic nominee in the race to represent District 11 in the U.S. House of Representatives, and his campaign unveiled the website, “ScammerStrada.com,” last week after Joe Strada won the GOP primary.

Strada, who lives in Lake Mary, is a political newcomer who made a splash when he entered a local congressional race and then immediately loaned his campaign $5 million, committing at least $1 million to a TV ad campaign called “Full of Crap,” which is his view of Washington, D.C.

The Democrats’ website says Strada, who owns Sanford-based Strada Services, “has some explaining to do” and spells out allegations of wrongdoing by the company, including the suit filed last month by a group of homeowners claiming that the billion-dollar home services company installed subpar electrical components in thousands of new homes that didn’t meet state and federal safety codes and put residents at risk.

Pericola suggests that decision reflects poorly on Strada’s judgement and consideration for the people he is now asking to support his Congressional run.

“Strada cut corners to save a few dollars,” the website alleges. “Now he expects voters to support his bid for Congress after leaving families to foot the bill for the safety risk his company hid from them.”

Strada previously did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit filed by the owners of four homes on behalf of thousands who bought new homes in more than a dozen counties, including Orange, Lake and Sumter, which make up Congressional District 11.

Strada’s campaign consultant, Erin Isaac, said in a statement Monday that Strada’s campaign looks forward to “a substantive conversation” with Pericola about his views.

“As Florida Democrats usher in their Big Socialist Era, it comes as no surprise that James Pericola would come out of the gate with sleazy political tactics used to target good people,” Isaac said in a statement.

ScammerStrada.com also mentions lawsuits filed by past employees of Strada Services who say they were underpaid. And though Strada describes Strada Services as a “family-owned” businesses, he sold the company to a private equity firm several years ago, the Democrats’ website notes.

Pericola and Strada are vying to represent Congressional District 11, which takes in most of Lake County, as well as part of west Orange County and all of Sumter County. The district leans heavily red, with registered Republican voters making up roughly 44% of the electorate, compared with the Democrats’ 27%.

Pericola said by phone on Monday he knows he is an underdog in the race. But he thinks Democrats often play defense during campaign season, and he put out the website because he wants to use his limited resources wisely.

“I want to be as aggressive as we can in prosecuting the case,” he said.

Pericola had just over $32,000 left to spend on his campaign at the end of July, when the last financial reports were filed, according to the Federal Election Commission. That’s a fraction of Strada’s $2.2 million, acquired from that loan to himself.

While Pericola won the Democratic primary handily last week, locking up the nomination with more than 52% of the vote, Strada survived a much closer race.

His margin of victory over the runner-up, former Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker was so slim — less than half a percentage point and fewer than 400 votes — that Secretary of State Cord Byrd last week ordered a machine recount of the votes in all three counties. The second tally upheld the original result and Strada was declared the winner.

The lawsuit targets Strada and his firm, claiming that during the COVID-19 pandemic, contractors faced a shortage of a variety of materials, including federal code-compliant grounding electrode conductor wiring for new homes. The wire is intended to provide a safe path for electricity to travel to earth in the event of a fault or surge. Over the span of about two years, Strada Services substituted a steel core, copper-clad conductor that is not approved for that use, in thousands of new homes, many of them in Central Florida, according to the suit.

Pericola is a Central Florida native with extensive Washington D.C. experience as a political operative who worked for former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. More recently, he founded a D.C.-based government relations and consulting firm. He has the backing of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis, state Reps. Rita Harris and RaShon Young, and Orlando City Commissioner Tom Keen.

Aside from trumpeting his business experience, Strada’s website describes him as a “100% supporter of President Trump” and touts endorsements from leaders like Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma and State Attorney Bill Gladson.

But Pericola criticized Strada for skipping debates during the primary campaign and said he wasn’t doing enough to connect with voters.

“People expect you to go out there and talk to them, not just invade their homes with expensive ads and mailers,” Pericola said. “You have to show up and listen and do the work and he’s done none of that.”

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