UPDATE: Ana Maria Monte Flores said this morning that the e-mail provided to us was doctored. She admitted sending the fund-raising e-mail after the start of session, but said she never wrote the line asking for donors to pre-date checks. She said she no longer has a copy of the original e-mai, but was trying to track one down.

Two days after the start of the annual spring legislative session, when House lawmakers are banned from collecting or soliciting campaign contributions, the state Senate campaign for House K-12 Budget Council Chairwoman Anitere Flores sent out this e-mail asking donors to pre-date checks to Feb. 27.

Flores chalked it up as a misstep from “an overzealous mom.” “She’s not familiar with all the rules,” Flores said.

But Flores’ Senate primary opponent, House budget Chairman David Rivera, said Flores may be vulnerable to an ethics complaint. “That doesn’t mean it’s not a violation,” he said of Flores’ mother sending the e-mail.

Rivera is also facing questions about fund-raising during a legislative session. The legislature’s special session this week forced him to rename a previously scheduled fundraiser as a “meet and greet.” But the host of the event acknowledged that fund-raising envelopes were available for donors to send in after the special session, which ended Tuesday.

Flores said her mother, Ana Maria Monte Flores, the former Keep Dade Beautiful director and public outreach coordinator for the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department, wanted to show a surge of support for Flores’ campaign by telling donors to date their checks the same day Flores announced her candidacy.

Flores said she realized her mother’s mistake “right away.” “She sent a response e-mail to those people and informed them she can’t accept contributions during the session,” Flores said.

Flores said she could not find a copy of either the original or follow-up e-mails.

Records show Flores accepted $9,025 before the start of the spring session, although the campaign reported collecting just $550 on Feb. 27.

Tags: Anitere Flores, David Rivera

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