Leesburg property manager Cheryl “CJ” Blancett, 63, founder of the United Conservatives Alliance, is running for State Senate District 13 as a “constitutional conservative” in the Aug. 20 Republican primary. She is currently awaiting trial in September on two counts of felony grand theft for, as VoxPopuli originally reported, allegedly stealing nearly $48,000 from the Orlando homeowners association she managed for 16 months between 2018 and 2019. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 fines for each count.

Early voting takes place Aug. 5-18, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Check our list for locations. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Aug. 8. Ballots must be received by the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Aug. 20.

Blancett is running against Bowen Kou, the Winter Garden owner of Fresh International Inc., a chain of grocery stores and bakeries, as well as incumbent State Rep. Keith Truenow of Tavares, elected twice to the Florida House. (State Sen. Dennis Baxley, who retired because of term limits, announced last spring that Truenow was his preferred successor.)

The winner will face Democrat nominee Stephanie Dukes in the Nov. 5 general election. But District 13, comprised largely of Lake County with a small portion of southwest Orange County, is so reliably Republican, the primary winner is widely expected to go to Tallahassee.

“Gladiator for the U.S. Constitution”

Blancett, who declined to be interviewed for the voting guide after VoxPopuli broke the story about her alleged crimes, describes herself on her campaign website as a “Gladiator for the U.S. Constitution.” She trafficks in disproven 2020 election fraud conspiracies and other culture war issues, such as the false idea that public schools are exposing preschoolers and kindergarteners to pornography through books like And Tango Makes Three. She has called using gender pronouns “delusional” because someone might identify as a “chocolate chip.”

Speaking at the conservative political rally Rock the Red in Ocala in 2022, Blancett said that prior to 2016 she had not been interested in politics and had never even voted. But Trump’s election and the ire he inspires from the left inspired her to get involved, she said. Trump’s loss to the “globalists and Communists” along with “increased acceptance of deviance and deviant behavior that continues to erode the fabric of our families and our communities” spurred her to form the United Conservatives Alliance.

Rather than Republican versus Democrat, she views politics as a battle of “good versus evil,” she told the right-wing podcast The Brian Perras Show. “When we take back our country” she said, “we need to get rid of them,” referring to “every single RINO, every single liberal Democrat, every single person that fought to destroy America these last few years.” Blancett did not elaborate on her statement.

Ban books in public schools

Blancett has said that she supports removing certain books from schools. Without naming which books she found objectionable, she said she would work “to make sure these books stay out of the hands of anyone in elementary school and middle school.” She added that families of high schoolers could make their own choices about reading “so they can opt out if they want. No one should be forced to have to read or do or be involved with something that they absolutely don't want to be.”

[Ed. Note: Parents have been able to opt their children out of reading individual books they find objectionable and request that a teacher assign other reading material for “many, many years,” according to Stephana Ferrell, director of research and insight at the Florida Freedom to Read Project. “Library reading is always voluntary and restrictions could always be set,” she said in an email to VoxPopuli.]

Gun Control

A member of Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association, Blancett opposes most gun control measures, telling The Brian Perras Show that they infringe on citizens’ Second Amendment rights and that “it is our God given right to keep and bear arms.”

She told Perras that no one protects Americans anymore so Americans must protect themselves, adding that she is “armed each and every day.”

Immigration and crime

Blancett is an immigration hawk who favors extreme measures against undocumented immigrants, she said since entering the country illegally is “a slap in the face to those who came here legally.” She believes undocumented immigrants are taking American jobs and are responsible for high levels of crime. She personally notifies law enforcement agencies about people whom she believes are in the country illegally and has stated that she supports tapping the National Guard to “actively look for and round up the people who have come across our border illegally.”

[Ed. Note: A crime wave fueled by undocumented immigrants is a favorite right-wing talking point, but data from the Brennan Center for Justice indicates there is no connection between violent crime and illegal immigration. Sanctuary cities, for instance, don’t have higher crime rates than cities without sanctuary policies, and illegal immigrants are up to 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans.]

One-day voting and paper ballots

A 2020 election-denier, Blancett advocates getting “rid of our mail-in ballots” because “that's how they stole our election.” She favors ending the use of drop boxes, voting machines and early voting to return to Election Day-only voting, using paper ballots.

[Ed. Note: According to a statement released by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the 2020 election “was the most secure in American history,” and there was “no evidence that any voting systems deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” Gov. Ron DeSantis finally admitted while campaigning for president last year that the 2020 election was not stolen. As Politico reported, he said, “All those theories that were put out did not prove to be true.”]