With less than two weeks until a critical Republican primary, a mailer labeling a Sarasota County Commission candidate as a fortune teller hit mailboxes Wednesday. 

Republican Alan Maio's political campaign sent the mailer, which attacks Republican Lourdes Ramirez's prior ownership of a new age store and a history of advertising herself as a "clairvoyant." The mailer notes that county tax documents listed her business, Isle of Avalon, as a "fortune teller." Maio and Ramirez are both running for Sarasota County Commission District 4 and face off in a Republican primary on Aug. 26. 

"I believe voters have a right to know the work history of a candidate and where they made their money," Maio said. He said his campaigned waited for sometime before making an issue of the business, but felt voters deserved to know about the matter.

Ramirez said she hasn't ever concealed her history. She said her store primarily sold candles, aroma therapy goods and other such items, and also had meditation classes. "Tarot card readings are just part of what I did," she said. "If someone is upset I did aroma therapy, I would say, 'Is that all they have got?' " 

Rumblings about Ramirez's ownership of the store have surrounded the campaign for months; conservative activist Richard Swier, Sr. has brought the issues up on a local blog, and media accounts have mentioned her ownership of the business. But this is the first time the Maio campaign itself has raised the issue so publicly. 

The mailer includes an old advertisement of Ramirez's services where she lists herself as a professional medium and tarot card reader, and which states "Lourdes has connected with Spirit to deliver healing messages." Internet searches show Ramirez's name connected to psychic events in St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

The mailer also includes a picture of Ramirez dressed as a gypsy, which interestingly came off the Siesta Key Community Facebook page and was cropped from a picture where she was posing with retiring Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson. The original picture was posted on Halloween 2011.

When asked about the nature of Isle of Avalon business, Ramirez said the fortune-telling side of the business had "always been for fun." When asked if she believed in psychic powers, Ramirez responded, "A lot of people believe in intuition. Ask any mother and they will tell you they know things through a mother's intuition. That's all it is."

Ramirez said the mailer was intended to distract from county issues, but also lobbed back her own attack, suggesting Maio was connected to a high-profile identity theft case victimizing her. Former Republican County of Sarasota chairman Bob Waechter was arrested in December 2012 on accusations he stole Ramirez's identity to make political donations in her name to Democrats using a prepaid credit card. Waechter pled guilty in December.

Ramirez said Waechter dined numerous times with Maio before the crime, and she feels Maio must have known about the crime. "He [Waechter] did what he did because he was trying to help Maio," she said. Maio has denied any involvement in that crime and dismissed the accusation from Ramirez. "I am not going down the Waechter trail," he said.