Melissa Howard, a Florida Republican running for a state House seat in the 73rd District, withdrew her candidacy on Tuesday, Aug. 14 after admitting she lied about graduating from Miami University.
FLA News Online first discovered and published a story asserting Howard had not earned the Bachelor of Science in Marketing that she claimed to have. After searching the National Student Clearinghouse website, upon which Miami lists its academic credentials, the outlet determined Howard had not received her diploma.
In response, Howard presented a photo of herself with her alleged diploma in a now-deleted post to Facebook, saying, "The truth will set you free!"
But, according to The Washington Post, Miami University's general counsel, Robin Parker, sent an email to various Florida news organizations saying Miami does not offer the degree which Howard claimed to have earned in 1996.
"Miami University's degree for Marketing majors then, as it is now, was a Bachelor of Science in Business," Parker wrote.
Parker confirmed Howard did attend Miami between 1990 and 1994, and she majored in retail during that time period.
"The degree for that program of study was a Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences," Parker wrote.
Parker further explained in her email that one of the signatures displayed on the fake diploma did not correspond to the university administrator who would have been responsible for signing Howard's diploma, had she in fact graduated.
Howard later admitted to lying about her degree, but maintained that she would remain in the race for the 73rd District seat.
A day later, she reversed her decision.
"I have come to the realization that the right thing to do for my community is to withdraw from the race," Howard said in a text message to The Herald-Tribune. "I made a terrible error in judgement."
Howard's candor also came into question in other instances throughout her campaign, such as falsely claiming to have received an A rating from the NRA, when in fact she had received a B, and whether she was indeed a lifelong Republican.
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Howard was endorsed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, but the Chamber's statement of support can no longer be found on their website.
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