ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – During Florida House District 44 candidate Rita Harris’s interview at the Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida’s candidate forum last week, moderated by WESH 2’s Greg Fox, the topic of small business came up, but just barely–as it relates to her husband, but not her own experience, and she didn’t mention her own employment history.

Jennifer Rita Harris speaks during the Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida’s candidate forum. Image: WESH 2 News (screen capture).

District 44’s heavy business presence–the I-Drive corridor, Universal Orlando Resort (including Epic Universe, which is currently under construction), Sea World, the Orange County Convention Center, hotels, the Orlando International Airport, much of Orlando’s manufacturing and warehousing industry corridor, as well as many small businesses–will demand the lion’s share of attention from whoever takes the seat in Tallahassee. Harris’s indirect business ownership reference during the candidate forum raised some red flags.

So Florida National News took a closer look.

Small Business Experience

During her introduction at the Tiger Bay Club’s candidate forum, Harris mentioned she was the wife of a small business owner and the daughter of two working class parents (her mother was a registered nurse and her father was a phone company employee in New York), but she failed to disclose that she’s a CEO. According to her LinkedIn profile, she’s held Sales Executive and CEO roles at her husband’s company, Harris Cloud Consulting, LLC for nearly seven years.

Her LinkedIn profile also lists her role as Events Committee Chair with the Orange County Democratic Party from October 2018 to now and content writing experience with Verblio from June 2018 to now.

That is, on one of her LinkedIn profiles–with the Harris Cloud Consulting logo as the profile photo.

As it turns out, Harris also has a second LinkedIn profile (with a profile photo of herself) in which she is listed as a self-employed freelance writer with no time frame or companies referenced.

None of her employment history is listed on her campaign website or campaign social media pages.

So what is she hiding?

The Harrises’ Failed (and Struggling) Businesses

According to the Florida Division of Corporations, Harris is listed as a managing member for Kronos Unlimited, LLC, which was formed on March 13, 2012 and dissolved on September 25, 2015.

According to the Florida Division of Corporations, the Harrises also formed Salesforce.com Overflow Services, LLC back on March 22, 2013 and dissolved on September 28, 2018.

Harris Cloud Consulting, LLC, the company for which she’s currently listed as CEO on LinkedIn, was formed on November 21, 2016. While there was an annual report submitted April of the following year, there is an unexplained gap between April 2017 and a reinstatement report filed on November 10, 2021.

But it’s the financial disclosure Harris filed to qualify with the Florida Division of Elections that raises the most red flags.

Harris’s Financial Challenges

In her filings with the Florida Division of Elections, Harris lists two small business entities, but in the section that asks what her role is in the companies, she answers “spouse is a partner” for the first one (Valeo Cloud Consulting, LLC) and “spouse owns” for the second one (Harris Cloud Consulting, LLC), but never mentions her own position in either company, despite listing herself as CEO for Harris Cloud Consulting on LinkedIn.

The disclosure also sheds light on Harris’s massive federal IRS tax debt which, depending on how the corrected number on the report is read, is either a whopping $78,000 or worse, $178,000.

In addition to Harris’s federal tax debt, there’s a massive discrepancy with the address of one the companies listed in the financial disclosure. Valeo Cloud Consulting, LLC, the company in which Harris indicated her spouse is a partner, is listed in the documents with the address 6213 Lafferre Lane Hilliard, FL 43206. Florida National News searched the Florida Division of Corporations and found Valeo Cloud Consulting, LLC is in fact registered here in Florida with that very address on file.

Two major red flags there: 1) 43206 is not a Florida zip code, and 2) The street address, 6213 Lafferre Lane, is not in Florida either. Both are in Ohio, which is where Valeo Cloud Consulting, LLC is truly located, based on the company’s website and LinkedIn profile. Yes, there is a Hilliard, Florida–it’s located near the Florida-Georgia line–but neither the company’s street address nor zip code can be found there.

Keep in mind, this questionable address is used on a notarized form filed with the Florida Division of Elections.

Harris’s Endorsers

Were the individuals and organizations that have endorsed Rita Harris aware of Harris’s failed businesses and IRS tax debt? Image from RitaforFlorida.com.

Harris is the Democratic Party establishment candidate, having been the founding president of the Democratic Women’s Club of South Orange County and, most recently, the former Orange County Democratic Party Vice Chair. According to her campaign website, her campaign has received endorsements from former State Rep. and Attorney General candidate Sean Shaw, State Attorney Monique Worrell, State Senators Jason Pizzo and Victor Torres, Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado, Orange County School Board member and HD 43 candidate Johanna Lopez, Orange County School Board member Karen Castor Dentel, Congressional candidate Maxwell Frost, and State Rep. Travaris McCurdy. While not listed on her campaign website, Florida Politics reports that she received an endorsement from fellow activist and establishment Democrat Samuel Vilchez Santiago (who ran against Harris’s opponent State Rep. Daisy Morales in 2020), back in early June.

Organizational endorsements include the Florida College Democrats, Ruth’s List Florida, Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, the Florida Education Association, Families for Safe Schools, Democratic Public Education Caucus, the Florida Freedom to Read Project, and the Central Florida AFL-CIO, one of the state’s biggest unions.

Were these individuals and organizations aware of Harris’s failed businesses and IRS tax debt? Is this the new Democratic standard for its candidates? Will the voters support this new standard?

Between the questionable business address for Valeo Cloud Consulting, LLC, Harris’s federal tax debt, the occupational inconsistencies between Harris’s LinkedIn profiles, the Florida Division of Corporations listings and the dissolution or reinstatement of companies she’s been connected to, this begs the question: Would Harris be able to handle balancing a state budget and bringing funding back to District 44? Can she be trusted to be forthcoming with voters? So far the latter remains to be seen.

Voters will choose their House District 44 representative in the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022.

This is an ongoing story. Stay connected with Florida National News for more updates.