"Tan Mom" Patricia Krentcil, a 55-year-old media sensation from New Jersey, is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida, she announced this week.
Krentcil, a former Nutley resident who now lives in Boca Raton, said on Tuesday that she officially filed to run for the Senate. She first garnered fame during a viral arrest in 2012, when she took her then-5-year-old daughter to a tanning salon. She also starred in her own extreme makeover television show, "Tan to 10."
"I know that I am different. And I have suffered for it. But us all being different is what makes this country so amazing and unique," Krentcil said of the decision.
According to a statement of candidacy filed with the Federal Election Commission, Krentcil intends to challenge Florida incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Scott in the 2024 election. She will run as a Republican.
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Krentcil calls herself the tannest woman in the world and identified as a tanning addict before she sought the help of a plastic surgeon and others documented in the seven-episode TV docuseries "Tan to 10."
"I changed my whole attitude on life. I’ve turned my life around," Krentcil said. "I don’t get disrespected anymore. I don’t party or do any crazy things."
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She said her Senate campaign managers would be the producers of the show, Gregg Maliff and Adam Barta.
The "Tan Mom" added that during the show’s run, she formed relationships in the community and wanted to leverage her support to win the competitive statewide race.
She also said her campaign platform would include LGBTQ+ equality and diversity in the classrooms – issues unusual for a Republican campaign, although both have become hot topics in Florida.
Krentcil, a single mother of five, was charged with child endangerment in 2012 after she allegedly exposed her young daughter to artificial UV rays at a salon, leaving the girl with burns.
According to NJ.com, state law prohibits children under 14 from entering a tanning booth.
She pleaded not guilty to the offense, but a grand jury decided not to indict her the following year.
She was banned from several New Jersey salons and then moved to Florida.
The Republican primary currently includes Scott and former U.S. Army National Guardsman Keith Gross.
Florida’s U.S. Senate race was highly competitive in 2018, with Scott narrowly defeating Democratic nominee Bill Nelson, who had represented Florida in the U.S. Senate since 2001, by a mere 10,000 votes. More than 8.1 million votes were cast.
President Biden nominated Nelson to serve as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and he was confirmed in 2021.
The U.S. Senate general election in Florida will take place on Nov. 5, 2024.
