Thread: California republican running for US Senate in Delaware--and 7 other states

California businessman running for US Senate in Delaware--and 7 other states

• Amy Cherry Jun 28, 2018 - 5:00 am
• 

Roque De La Fuente is running for U.S. Senate in at least five states.
Rocky for U.S. Senate


It's a long-shot, but a California businessman wants to represent Delawareans in the United States Senate.

Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente of San Diego, filed about a week ago to run as a Republican in Delaware.

However, he's also running for U.S. Senate in seven other states, including Hawaii and Wyoming, simply because he can.

He likened his approach to campaigning to national searches for chief executive officer positions for large companies like Apple.

"You would pick the best person for the job, and you don't have to be from Delaware or from Mississippi, you can be from anywhere in the United States," said De La Fuente.

The 63-year-old told WDEL he's spent $30,000 running for U.S. Senate, thus far. To file in Delaware alone for U.S. Senate, it cost him $10,440.

"It's a lot of money to just throw around," said Delaware Elections Commissioner Elaine Manlove.

But she added there's nothing in the law--state or federal--which would stop him from doing it.

"There's nothing that restricts him; it says he has to be a resident of Delaware when he takes office," said Manlove.

To run for U.S. Senate, candidates must be above 30 years of age, a United States citizen for a minimum of nine years, and a resident at the time of election.

"No one ever paid attention to the third [rule]," he said.

His candidacy, though, is catching the eyes of officials now.

"It's not something we anticipated, so we didn't change any law because we didn't see it coming," said Manlove. "It's something that the legislature should look at it--some type of residency requirement--like say he had to live here a year or something like that, like a state representative."

But the former 2016 Reform Party presidential candidate argued residency shouldn't matter.

Speaking to WDEL from Russia, where he answered the phone from a World Cup game, he said it's time for change in Delaware.

"Representing Delaware is not a matter of just saying, 'Hi, I grew up here, I went to school here, and I know 50 people in the state.' The question is: are you able to bring in a military contract? How many of those does Delaware have, or has Delaware received in the last 20 years?" he asked. "Your senator has the power to negotiate on behalf of Delaware or he can basically do absolutely nothing. I did not see the World Cup coming to Delaware; I did not see The Three Tenors come to Delaware; I did not see anything coming to Delaware. You have a golden opportunity...you've been elected, elected, elected, maybe you don't have to work anymore, maybe you just take it for granted."

"Mr. De La Fuente—a Californian running for the U.S. Senate in seven different states—clearly has a lot to focus on. But Tom is focused on addressing the real issues that families in the First State are facing," said Jill Farquharson campaign spokeswoman for incumbent Democratic Senator Tom Carper.

Dover community activist Kerri Harris has declared her intention to run against Carper in the Democratic primary, but has yet to file.
Green Party candidate Demetri Theodoropoulos and Libertarian Nadine Frost have also filed to seek Delaware's U.S. Senate seat.

https://www.wdel.com/news/california...21439db25.html

This guy plans to take on Rick Scott in Florida's GOP primary for Senate

Posted By Xander Peters on Thu, Jul 5, 2018 at 2:48 pm

• Photo cred: Rocky De La Fuente campaign

Car dealer and real estate developer Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente announced on Independence Day that he will challenge Gov. Rick Scott in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Florida.

According to a news release, De La Fuente’s campaign will focus heavily on immigration.

“Florida has a rich history of welcoming immigrants," De La Fuente says. "The demographics of our state reflect a strong Latin influence that has grown over the years. I myself am a proud first-generation American who loves this country for the opportunities it has provided for me.”

In the release, De La Fuente points out that Scott secured a tax credit of $600,000 for the federal contractor currently operating a detention center holding as many as 1,000 migrant children in Homestead.

“We cannot continue to be a country that locks families and children in detention centers indefinitely,” De La Fuente says. “Frankly, if anyone deserves to be confined to a cage, it’s the man who oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in this nation’s history. Rick Scott is a despicable, heartless criminal and this campaign is going to be a fight for the soul of the Republican Party.”

According to a report from the Tampa Bay Times, De La Fuente's former campaign website, which is no longer active, said his platform also includes support of abortion rights, "reasonable" gun restrictions and the Affordable Care Act. He opposes putting nonviolent offenders in prison.

This isn’t De La Fuente’s first round in the political arena. Last month, he was one of 32 candidates in California’s Senate primary, where he collected just more than 2 percent of the overall vote, and he’s also running for the Senate in Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

“I’m the first person in history to go for more than two states for Senate,” De La Fuente told NBC News earlier this year. “Nobody has ever thought about it. Nobody has ever read the rules.”

Other than the president/vice president ticket, according to Florida's laws, candidates can simultaneously run for office in more than one state.

In 2016, De La Fuente also ran for president as a Democrat, only to later become the Reform Party's nominee.

Politics is a family matter for the De La Fuentes: De La Fuente’s son, Ricardo, is a Democratic candidate for Congress in South Florida, challenging U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami.

The Florida primary takes place on Aug. 28. The winner of the GOP Senate primary will face off against three-term Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/...ary-for-senate

Businessman Runs For Senate In Hawaii — And Several Other States

The California millionaire says he loves Hawaii, but he’s also running in Florida, Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

By Bianca Smallwood / June 26, 2018

A California millionaire businessman who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in seven states, including Hawaii.

Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, 63, is one of eight Republican senatorial candidates in Hawaii’s Aug. 11 primary election. Incumbent Sen. Mazie Hirono is the lone Democrat on the ballot.

De La Fuente also filed to run for Senate as a Republican in Florida, Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. He also sought the Republican nomination for the Senate in California, but lost in that state’s June 5 primary.

De La Fuente told Civil Beat he’s running in so many states because the country “is not going in the right direction.”

A screen shot of Roque De La Fuente’s Facebook page.
Facebook

Voters “should hire somebody that can represent them the best,” De La Fuente said. “A good negotiator, a good business person, somebody that’s able to seize the opportunity and bring home the beef.”

The real estate developer said “anybody can run for any state.”

“It’s no different than hiring someone to run General Motors or somebody to run Microsoft or Apple,” he said. “You don’t say Apple has to be run by somebody in California or Apple has to be run by somebody in Hawaii, you hire the best CEO you can find.”


Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente.
Courtesy of Roque De La Fuente

The U.S. Constitution states that a senator must be at least 30, have been a U.S. citizen for nine years and be a resident of the state they represent when they are elected.

But a candidate does not have to move into that state until the day before the general election, according to Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii Public Policy Center.

It’s not especially difficult to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate or House in Hawaii. A potential candidate must submit a petition signed by at least 25 registered voters. In addition, there’s a $75 filing fee, according to the state Office of Elections.

De La Fuente has run in many political races across the country in the past two years, sometimes as a Republican or Democrat, or as a member of his self-created American Delta Party.

In 2017, he sought the Republican nomination for mayor of New York City.

De La Fuente In 2020?

De La Fuente was born in San Diego but said his humble beginnings coming from a working-class family in Mexico City prepared him for his future business ventures in car dealerships, real estate and banking.

“I spent all my summers working,” he said. “When most kids would basically go to the beach or go surfing, I was working at the car wash.”

De La Fuente’s campaign website says he wants to “represent you in the Senate” and fight “the causes that affect us the most.”

De La Fuente said he supports stricter gun control policies that would provide more safety for the general public without violating the right to bear arms. He also supports same-sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act.

Despite unsuccessfully running for numerous political races in the past few years, De La Fuente sees himself as a superior candidate to Hirono.

“The first thing I need to do is convince (voters) that I’m better than the other seven Republican candidates, and assuming that I fill that task then I have to take on your Japanese senator, which the question is you love her, but can she really negotiate on Hawaii’s behalf or is she just going to rubber stamp the party she represents?” he said.

De La Fuente spent more than $8 million on his 2016 presidential campaign, according to campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Moore said that although De La Fuente has the right to run in any state he wants, he does not think the millionaire stands a chance against local candidates.

“It seems to me that he’s trying to buy himself a seat in Congress,” Moore said. “I’m not exactly sure what game he’s playing.”

But De La Fuente said he loves Hawaii.

“I think I can do a better job negotiating, I can do a better of job representing the state and I can bring more jobs and opportunities than the current senator. Period,” De La Fuente said.

He also said he plans to run for president again in 2020 — as a Democrat.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/06/bu...-other-states/

Mexican/American/California/Republican running for US Senate in Florida, California, Hawaii, Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and Vermont at the same time

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

De La Fuente was born in San Diego, California, in 1954. He studied physics and mathematics at Instituto Patria and business administration and accounting at Anáhuac University and the University of San Diego.

After his studies, De La Fuente entered the car dealers industry, beginning as a salesman and eventually acquiring 28 car franchises in California.[7]

He then transitioned to the financial industry and real estate development, opening 11 currency exchanges, three banks, and assisted living facilities in Los Angeles and Lemon Grove.

De La Fuente also owns properties throughout California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.[7]

He served as an at-large delegate for California at the Democratic National Convention in 1992. De La Fuente has five children.[7]

https://ballotpedia.org/Roque_De_La_Fuente

Boston weighs giving legal, non-US citizens voting rights

Republican Primary

Map	Percent	Candidate	Votes	Winner
	89.5%	Rick Scott	617,442
	10.5%	Rocky De La Fuente	72,671
7.7% of precincts reporting (457/5,968)
690,113 total votes

FLA. Republican Primary

Map	Percent	Candidate	Votes	Winner
	88.7%	Rick Scott	1,346,869	*
	11.3%	Rocky De La Fuente	170,916
79.3% of precincts reporting (4,730/5,968)
1,517,785 total votes https://www.politico.com/election-results/2018/florida/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Republican Primary

Map	Percent	Candidate	Votes	Winner
	88.7%	Rick Scott	1,346,869	*
	11.3%	Rocky De La Fuente	170,916
79.3% of precincts reporting (4,730/5,96
1,517,785 total votes https://www.politico.com/election-results/2018/florida/

Certainly no surprise here.

No one was surprised. Not even De La Fuente.