Hollywood, FL. – Tim Canova, the Nova Southeastern University law professor and Democratic primary challenger to Debbie Wasserman Schultz  for  Florida's 23rd U.S. Congressional District , was asked by Politifact to defend his claims tying Wasserman Schultz to Big Sugar and the unfolding environmental disaster they helped create.  Politifact rated Canova’s claims as Mostly True.

Following up on Politifact’s ruling, Tim Canova released the following statement:

“When we first alerted the media to Wasserman Schultz’s relationship with Big Sugar and her role in the horrific environmental disasters caused by its gross negligence, Wasserman Schultz called our claims “laughable.”  Now that Politifact has ruled our claims as “Mostly True” she has, once again, been revealed for trying to hide the truth by denigrating her opponents – a pattern previously seen in the emails disclosed by Wikileaks.”

Wasserman Schultz’s close ties to Big Sugar – the powerful sugarcane growing lobby that is responsible for much of the pollution in Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades – recently came to light with the explosion of toxic Blue-Green algae that has polluted a large swath of the Treasure Coast’s waterways and other coastal communities further south.  The problem now threatens the aquifer and quality of drinking water for millions of people in South Florida.

The six-term incumbent’s political career has been fueled largely by very substantial contributions from controversial industries and special interest groups such as Big Sugar, Wall Street banks, predatory pay day lenders, private prison companies, and energy giants such as Florida Power & Light (FP&L), among others.  These companies have funded Wasserman Schultz’s ascension in the ranks of the Democratic Party through millions of dollars in campaign contributions, no doubt with the expectation that she support their agendas. Dutifully, Wasserman Schultz has delivered by consistently voting in the best interest of her corporate donors over those of her constituents. 

The last few days have been the most trying of Wasserman Schultz’s decades-long political career:

• Early last week, Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign in disgrace as the head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after the whistleblower organizations Wikileaks released a trove of emails which showed that Wasserman Schultz and other senior members of the DNC were actively conspiring to undermine the presidential campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as the Tim Canova for Congress campaign.
• Canova announced that Wasserman Schultz’s repeated uses of Democratic Party resources at the DNC are likely violations of federal election law.  His legal team is now investigating and preparing a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.
• Meanwhile, Canova’s campaign – powered by online small donations -- also announced that it had outraised Wasserman Schultz in the 2^nd quarter.  His campaign has now raised over $2.5 million in more than 150,000 individual contributions from more than 65,000 donors, with an average donation size of less than $17.
• Perhaps most importantly, this past weekend the Tim Canova campaign publically released the results of an internal poll suggesting the insurgent challenger is within striking distance of winning Wasserman Schultz’s congressional seat.

Canova will face off against the embattled congresswoman in the Democratic congressional primary on August 30.