Sometimes candidates run for office who have a past. Sometimes these candidates forget their past. Sometimes these candidates are naive enough to think that their past won’t be found. This seems to be the situation in Seminole County, FL where a local mechanic is running for County Commission. And it could have historic consequences.
Candidate Jay Zembower is a local mechanic who has been in favor with local governments and elected officials over the years. This year he decided to run for County Commission as a Republican. But what isn’t known, or has been forgotten, is that Jay’s past has a very dark, ugly, violent spot.
A few years ago Jay Zembower was charged with battery against one of his female customers.
The background is that some speakers were allegedly stolen from her car while it was being worked on at Jay’s shop. She comes into the lobby to discuss it with Jay and an argument breaks out.
The police officer on scene writes in his report “She [the victim] states Jay got violent towards her verbally….She states after a few minutes of being verbally abused she advised him that was no way to treat her. He then grabbed her on her shoulders hit her head on the wall, and tried to throw her out the door.”
The victim also repeated this in her sworn statement: “I said this is not professional and not right. He walked over to me, grabbed me, hitting my head on the wall…. yelling ‘Get the hell out of here b*tch‘”
Her word against his, right? No.
Jay’s own employee corroborated the victim’s story (except for the part about hitting her head) as a witness in his sworn statement. Apparently physically pushing his woman customer out the door wasn’t enough, he had to yell obscenities at her while doing it.
The complete police report along with sworn statements are below.
But this incident presents a massive problem for Jay Zembower and the Republican Party in Seminole County. For all intents and purposes, Seminole County is effectively purple. And Trump only won against Hillary by 1.55% or 3,529 votes in 2016. This year the Democrats are making a hard push to gain ground in Seminole County.
Whether a so-called “blue wave” will happen is anyone’s guess since the margins are so close. But if Jay wins the primary then he will be facing a very feisty Democrat female opponent, Katrina Shadix who interestingly has already staked out some more conservative positions than has Zembower.
With a razor-thin difference in a potential Democrat year, if Jay Zembower ends up being the Republican nominee, this specific vulnerability opens the door to give the Democrats the chance to gain a foothold in once-Republican Seminole County by winning a seat on the County Commission; something that has not happened in many years.
Click on these links to read the police file from the incident
Altamonte Springs Police Report – Pg 1
Altamonte Springs Police Report – Pg 2
Altamonte Springs Police Report – Pg 3
Altamonte Springs Police Report – Pg 4
Police officer’s testimony – Pg 1
Police officer’s testimony – Pg 2
Victim testimony – Pg 1
Victim testimony – Pg 2
Sylvia Zembower testimony
Employee testimony
Jay Zembower testimony
