PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Two South Florida lawmakers from opposite parties have admitted to having a regrettable relationship after an anonymous website exposed their alleged infidelity.
"As this 2018 session of the Florida Legislature gets underway, we do not want gossip and rumors to distract from the important business of the people," state Sen. Oscar Braynon II, D-Miami Gardens, and Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, said in a joint statement Tuesday, the first day of the legislative session in Tallahassee. "That's why we are issuing this brief statement to acknowledge that our longtime friendship evolved to a level that we deeply regret."
Their admission comes after a website, FloresBraynonAffair.com, claimed to show secret video of Flores entering and leaving Braynon's apartment in Tallahassee.
According to the website, Flores slept at Braynon's apartment for four consecutive nights in April 2017.
Flores, who represents parts of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, is president pro tempore of the Florida Senate, while Braynon, who represents portions of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, is the minority leader.
Both lawmakers are married with children.
"We have sought the forgiveness of our families, and also seek the forgiveness of our constituents and God," the joint statement said. "We ask everyone else to respect and provide our families the privacy that they deserve as we move past this to focus on the important work ahead."