Lawsuit filed amid Lake County property appraiser election controversy

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — There is more drama in a local property appraiser race after complaints about how the candidate filed to run for office.

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The man at the center of the controversy is speaking out for the first time.

A lawsuit has officially been filed against Mark Jordan amid demands that he drop out of the Lake County property appraiser race.

Jordan is the sole Republican candidate in the race.

Last week, Channel 9 reported on the controversy.

Read: Lake County GOP censures property appraiser candidate and his brother in “plot to steal” nomination

The sitting property appraiser cried foul when his plan to file as a write-in candidate didn’t work.

Carey Baker told Channel 9 he did it to avoid paying the $11,000 filing fee.

He said he hadn’t heard of another Republican planning to run.

But Jordan filed for the office, and he said he stands firmly that the field fair and square.

Read: Man sentenced in crash that killed a 30-year-old woman in Lake County

Jordan is digging in his heels for a fight even though the full Lake County Republican Party voted to censure him, accusing him of fraud and deceit.

Some support this lawsuit filed by the sitting Property Appraiser Carey Baker, alleging Jordan filed to run for the office after the noon qualifying deadline.

“To say there was a violation of the law or fraud is a stretch,” Jordan said.

The drama started on qualifying day.

Read: Fast-food powerhouse scoops up land in Lake County

Baker was waiting until just before noon to file to avoid paying the $11,000.

If no one else had filed to run as a Republican, he skips the primary and automatically wins re-election.

Lake County Tax Collector David Jordan was with his brother Mark on qualifying day when he rescinded his paperwork to run for a hospital board and instead filed to run for property appraiser as a Republican.

“They used my friendship to gain my trust  - and so when I turned in that paperwork, I thought I had a few friends with me - largest betrayal in my life,” Baker said.

“For me to tell Mr. Baker what my brother’s political strategy for political expediency, I wasn’t going to do that,” David Jordan said, “There’s a group of us that don’t care for the manners or incivility or entitlement that someone can hold office and keep holding it.”

The Jordan brothers believe there’s a bigger issue that the state should try once again to address: the rules surrounding qualifying as a write-in candidate.

“It’s used 99% of the time for something other than what it was originally intended for,” Mark Jordan said.

The Lake County Supervisor of Elections is also named in the lawsuit, which has no docket number yet.

Alan Hayes said that he checked with the State Division of Elections and he was told that anyone in the office and in line prior to noon could go through with filing.

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