James Bush sues Ashley Gantt, House Democratic Committee for ‘defamation’ in election ads

After back-to-back losses at the ballot box, former Democratic Rep. James Bush III is taking the woman who beat him and organizations that backed her campaign to court, accusing them of defamation.

He is seeking more than $1 million in damages and demanding a jury trial for alleged “slander, lies, and false information” he says harmed his reputation and led to “relentless public attacks” in his community.

Gantt and her lawyer call Bush’s accusations “baseless” and question the timing of the lawsuit, which comes as she and other Democratic lawmakers sue Gov. Ron DeSantis for allegedly denying them access to Alligator Alcatraz.

In a seven-page lawsuit^[1] filed Aug. 12 in Miami-Dade County, Bush names four plaintiffs: Miami Rep. Ashley Gantt, who unseated^[2] Bush in 2022 and beat him again^[3] last year; consulting firm Edge Communications^[4], which advised Gantt’s campaigns; political committee Stronger Together^[5], which paid for negative ads about Bush; and the Florida House Democratic Campaign Committee (FHDCC^[6]), which did the same.

Bush, who represented House District 109^[7] three separate times between 1992 and 2022, says the defendants “shamelessly and relentlessly disseminated lies” about him through campaign mailers, phone calls, and electronic messages.

Those messages, the suit says, portrayed him as a “bad person” and subjected him to “public ridicule from his constituents and community members.”

Bush’s lawyer, Michael Pizzi, wrote that the statements in question began during the former lawmaker’s 2022 re-election campaign and continued for years, causing him and his family “significant distress.”

The lawsuit, viewable below, highlights a series of political ads it contends went beyond opinion and contained knowingly false statements about his records. That included one mailer declaring, “James Bush sold us out to radical Republicans.”

Another, the suit said, asserted that “While (Gov.) Ron DeSantis attacked our right to vote, our right to reproductive healthcare, and our right to speak up against injustice … his favorite ‘Democrat’ James Bush III stood with DeSantis and sold us out.”

Other materials, attributed to Strong Community and the FHDCC, accused Bush of having “voted to ban abortion, roll back our rights, and put workers at risk,” and urged voters to “reject DeSantis Democrat James Bush.”

Bush’s complaint says the statements were presented as factual claims, not opinion, and were made “knowing their falsity” or with “reckless disregard for the truth … for the sole purpose of inflicting harm on … a man of impeccable honor and integrity.”

Bush was the only Democrat to vote for a 2022 law banning abortion in Florida after 15 weeks^[8] of pregnancy, with no exception for rape, incest or human trafficking victims.

He also cast the lone Democratic “yes” vote^[9] for the Parental Rights in Education measure critics labeled “Don’t Say Gay^[10].”

In 2021, he similarly sided against all others in his party when he supported a measure withdrawing Florida workplaces^[11] from oversight by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Those votes put Bush on the outs with many members of his party, several of whom openly backed Gantt in her Primary challenge against him, including members of Democratic leadership in both chambers of the Legislature.

The lawsuit brings two counts: libel and libel per se. The libel count accuses the defendants of publishing “false, scandalous, and defamatory statements” that injured Bush’s “representative, activist, personal, and social life.”

The libel per se count alleges that the statements exposed him to “distrust, disgrace, hatred, contempt, ridicule, and obloquy by the public,” and falsely attributed to him “criminal, dishonest, and deceitful acts.”

St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner, who is representing Gantt in the case — and is a founding partner of a law firm they and Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis of Ocoee launched in June^[12] — told Florida Politics she’s confident Bush’s lawsuit won’t go anywhere.

“It’s baseless. We know that speech in campaigns is protected, but certainly the thing we also have to consider is that the defense to any defamation claim is truth, and there’s nothing my client said that was not truthful, nothing that was defamatory,” she said, deriding the complaint as an attempt at “political retribution” by a “sore loser” seeking “to stay relevant.”

“What’s also interesting, if you read the lawsuit, is that it actually doesn’t attribute any statement to her, yet she’s named in this lawsuit. So again, I am unclear why she’s involved in any of this.”

Rayner said she also found it “interesting” that Bush’s lawsuit doesn’t name former Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo, against whom Bush demanded “swift action” in 2022 after the now-independent Senator called him “the Governor’s little bitch^[13].”

“It seems he only has this ire for Black women,” Rayner said. “It is a waste of judicial economy and time to have him file this lawsuit, but we’re looking forward to fighting it and prevailing and also having Mr. Bush recoup my client her attorneys’ fees and costs.”

Gantt — speaking as Ranyer’s lawyer in a complaint they and three other Democratic lawmakers filed against DeSantis in July^[14], when they said the state blocked them from entering and inspecting the Everglades-based Alligator Alcatraz detention facility — said the timing of Bush’s lawsuit is suspicious.

“The timing is very interesting, because we do believe that statutory laws and the Constitution were violated in that particular case,” she said. “If you look at what we pled in the writ itself, it is just very interesting how the timing all aligned.”

Bush represented HD 109^[15] — which covers Opa-locka, parts of Miami and Miami Gardens, and the unincorporated Brownsville, Gladeview, Pinewood and West Little River neighborhoods — from 1992 to 2000, from 2008 to 2010 and from 2018 to 2022. Over those spans, his cross-aisle relations enabled him to bring back^[16] millions to the district^[17] over the years while also attracting contempt within his party for supporting so-called “red meat” legislation.

Gantt defeated him in a 2022 upset^[18], taking about 52% of the vote. Two years later, she trounced him^[19] and former Democratic Rep. Roy Hardemon, taking 53% of the vote in a three-way Primary.

Ulvert said by text Tuesday that he believes Bush’s “sham lawsuit will be swiftly dismissed.”

“Though I have yet to be served and have not seen the claims made, I know it’s ridiculous and nothing more than a politically motivated effort to silence the facts,” he said. “Former legislator James Bush’s legislative record was crystal clear and his votes against the gay community speak for themselves. His lawsuit against me, a prominent and well-known gay consultant only reaffirms his actions and matches his vote record.”

Florida Politics requested a comment from House Democratic Leader Christine Hunschofsky, who chairs the FDHCC, and will update this report upon receipt of one.