Republicans attempt to smear Democratic candidate by linking him to Donald Trump

While Trump has a slight lead in polls among Floridians, the county's Republicans seem to want to distance themselves from the nominee

Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh

Florida Republicans are trying to thwart the efforts of a Democratic candidate on the local level with a rather unusual attack plan – they are comparing him to their own presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

In the heated race for Orange County property appraiser, the Leadership for Florida’s Future political committee distributed mailers that liken the Democratic incumbent, Rick Singh, to the New York billionaire.

“Rick Singh has a lot in common with Donald Trump,” the mailer reads. “Scandal. Dirty deals. Disdain for women.”

The attack ad, which urges voters to choose the GOP alternative, Edward DeAguilera, comes at a rather with only a week left until Election Day. It sends an unusual message from area Republicans, as Mr Trump is leading in the Sunshine State by four points, according to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal four-way poll.

Nonetheless, the mailer makes it clear that Orange County Republicans want to distance themselves from the polarising presidential nominee.

“Like Trump, Singh is simply unfit for public office,” it adds, alleging that Mr Singh is “involved in scandals”, “named in a federal racketeering lawsuit”, and “member of a Facebook group that demeans and objectifies women”.

(Rick Singh/Facebook (Rick Singh/Facebook)

But Mr Singh says Republicans oppose him so fiercely because he plans to tax big businesses, Think Progress reported.

“I’m the complete opposite of Donald Trump,” he said. “I was raised by a single mother who worked three jobs as a maid to make ends meet.”

Mr Singh said he found the attack “hilarious” and said the ads were targeted at predominantly Latino voters.

“I find the targeting very racist. They’re targeting Hispanics who just moved to this part of the country, and English is perhaps a second language,” he said. “So they’re really predators on those new members of society who will see a picture of Donald Trump, see a picture of me, and react to it.”

He added that Republican colleagues have told him they were “insulted and ashamed” that this add came from their party.