Today, Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant released the following statement calling on Congressman Steve Southerland to apologize to North Florida women for refusing to answer questions about his deceptive ads falsely claiming that he supported the Violence Against Women Act.

Watch Congressman Southerland run away from questions about his vote against VAWA:

The video also follows news that Congressman Southerland held a men-only fundraiser where attendees were told to “tell the misses not to wait up,”  so that Congressman Southerland could discuss policy issues without them. 

“Congressman Southerland could not be more out of touch with the women of North Florida,” said FDP Chair Allison Tant. “First he lies about his vote against the Violence Against Women Act, and now we’ve learned that he held a men-only fundraiser where attendees were instructed to ‘tell the misses not to wait up.’ 

“Congressman Southerland owes North Floridians an apology for his demeaning attitude towards women and his refusal to be honest about his vote against the Violence Against Women Act. He should treat his constituents with the respect they deserve and stop telling voters in North Florida one thing while doing another in Washington. Running false ads and ignoring the views of women is not the North Florida way, and voters will remember in November.”