For U.S. House of Representatives

Javier Manjarres is the best of three bad options for Republicans in District 22

In the undistinguished field that constitutes the Republican Party’s answer to veteran Democratic congressman Ted Deutch, one manages to slither ahead of the other two.

We take no joy in our endorsement of Javier Manjarres, a flawed but savvy political operative who makes his living producing a blog called Shark Tank.

Our reluctance should give voters a clue about the tone and tenor of the Republican primary for U.S. House District 22.

The blog strays into the tasteless, if not the cruel. His recent attack on the parent of a Stoneman Douglas murder victim — and demeaning commentary about one of the survivors — capture the sometimes hostile character of his work.

But his opponents, Nicolas Kimaz and Eddison Walters, are relative strangers to the district with virtually no experience in civic life.

Walters’ resume is heavy with college degrees, but light with real-world experience.

Kimaz trades in “life-long naturopathic remedies” and appears to have deeper roots in his native Lebanon than in the district he seeks to represent.

All three boast allegiance to conservative Republican tenets: no, to abortion rights; no, to Obamacare; no, to Second Amendment encroachment; no, to a $15 minimum wage; yes, to stronger borders and tougher immigration policies, though all owe their citizenship to a more-welcoming immigration approach in years past. All strongly support President Trump. If votes in a primary were cast solely on issues, a coin toss could easily decide this race of issue-equals, which is why this one is closer to a hair-pulling contest than a mature debate on qualifications.

Take Manjarres, for example. Most of us go though life never getting arrested and charged with attempted murder, domestic violence, burglary or fist fighting. Manjarres has managed to get ensnared in all of them without ever getting convicted. There’s a story that goes with each of them and Manjarres tells them well. But wouldn’t most of us prefer a wanna-be Congressman to be story-free? Manjarres dishes dirt for a living, so it’s no surprise that his opponents have come under his gaze.

Walters, he says, ran twice for office in Alabama as a Democrat and supported Hillary Clinton for president. Though he offers himself as an expert in small business, Manjarres argues, Walters has declared bankruptcy at least once.

Kimaz, asserts Manjarres, has run for parliament in Lebanon and banks his financial assets there. What’s more, he says, Kimaz moved to District 22 from Miami’s District 27 out of political expediency.

And so it goes, acrimonious exchanges of charges that serve only to confuse, rarely to illuminate.

Oddly, all three believe Congress would function better with greater cross-party cooperation, but none takes more than a baby step in that direction. And oddly, Manjarres, scrappiest of the three in life and in the political arena, is best equipped to bridge the divide.

He has spent all of his adult life in the region, has a fingertip feel for its politics and has the kind of personality that lends itself to compromise. That could serve him in good stead, so long as he can keep in check his propensity to get into scrapes. That’s the most optimistic face we can put on this recommendation. District 22 is — and has been — a reliably safe Democratic stronghold, served well by Ted Deutch. If the group of Republicans offered up this time is an indication of the party’s regard for the district, Democrats will hold it forever.

The party owes its members a good-faith effort to identify and support top-flight candidates. That, after all, is what a political party is supposed to do, groom highquality people to offer voters real choices.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O'Hara, Andy Reid and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.

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