DeSantis escalates tax-funded campaign against marijuana and abortion ballot measures
State agencies and a publicly subsidized nonprofit are airing more TV ads in an estimated $16 million campaign to defeat amendments that would overturn an abortion ban and legalize marijuana.
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As voting begins across Florida, Ron DeSantis is ramping up a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign against ballot measures that would overturn a statewide abortion ban and legalize marijuana.
The DeSantis administration has in recent days launched more television commercials targeting both Amendment 3, which would allow recreational use of marijuana, and Amendment 4, which would end one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation.
That’s not all. An anti-abortion nonprofit subsidized with state tax dollars has also begun paying for additional TV ads that complement the state’s anti-Amendment 4 spots.
DeSantis has repeatedly refused to say how much public money he is pumping into all this advertising against the only two citizen-led constitutional amendments on the November ballot — both of which need support from 60 percent of voters to pass. But a Seeking Rents review of recent purchase orders and vendor payments shows the total tab may now exceed $16 million.
That’s enough money to hire nearly 400 teachers or pay for a month of childcare for nearly 2,000 kids.
Among the new ads is a commercial sponsored by two state agencies that urges viewers to “say no to marijuana”— a thinly veiled reference to Amendment 3.
The 30-second spots come from the Florida Department of Health, the state’s public health agency, and the Florida Department of Children & Families, Florida’s child-welfare agency. They focus specifically on risks associated with using marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding.
“Your child or grandchild’s future starts now. Don’t put it a risk,” a female narrator says. “Say no to marijuana while pregnant.”
It’s at least the second state-sponsored TV ad implicitly attacking Amendment 3 under the pretense of a public service announcement.
The other ad, which is funded by the Florida Department of Transportation, is ostensibly designed to deter driving under the influence of marijuana. But it also warns against legalizing marijuana.
“DUI crashes increase in states with legalized marijuana — putting everyone at risk,” a male narrator claims in the spot, which began airing last month and which Amendment 3 supporters have blasted as “propaganda designed to influence the public’s vote.”
The two spots are now airing simultaneously. They sometimes even appear during the same commercial break.
Meanwhile, the DeSantis administration has also launched another TV commercial meant to weaken support for Amendment 4 — the constitutional amendment that would end Florida’s near-total ban on abortion, which went into effect earlier this year.
Reproductive healthcare providers across Florida have reported multiple cases in which a woman has been delayed or denied access to abortion — even when her life or health are in danger due to the pregnancy — in the months since DeSantis signed the state abortion ban into law. Amendment 4 supporters have been airing commercials in which some of those women or their doctors share their personal horror stories.
The DeSantis administration is now trying to smear those stories as lies.
“No doctor has to wait until a patient is near death before they perform an abortion,” Dr. Ana Verdeja, an anti-abortion obstetrician and gynecologist in Florida, says in the new state-funded ad. “Anyone who claims otherwise is lying.”
Verdeja — who refuses to prescribe birth control pills to patients at her practice — spoke last month at an anti-Amendment 4 rally in Orlando organized by the American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. AAPLOG, as it is commonly called, is on the advisory board for Project 2025, the national conservative playbook for Donald Trump to use if he is re-elected president that seeks to curtail nationwide access to abortion.
The speakers at the Orlando rally also included Jason Weida, the DeSantis appointee who runs the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. AHCA, which licenses hospitals and healthcare facilities, is one of three state agencies paying for the ad featuring Verdeja, along with the Department of Health and the Department of Children & Families.
This is at least the second ad that those three state agencies have paid for targeting Amendment 4. An earlier commercial, which began airing last month, also defends Florida’s abortion ban and directs viewers to a state-run website that explicitly attacks Amendment 4 and its supporters.
The DeSantis administration seems to have found another source of publicly subsidized support, too. The Florida Pregnancy Care Network — nonprofit that receives more than $25 million a year from state taxpayers to fund anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” — is now broadcasting its own ads that try to soften the image of Florida’s current abortion laws.
“Florida provides life-saving protections, judgment-free care, and free resources,” the ad’s female narrator says.
The nonprofit ads appear intended to work in tandem with other anti-Amendment 4 advertising. The Florida Pregnancy Care Network is using the same ad buyer as the state agencies, according to disclosure records. And its commercials often airs in close proximity to the state agency spots.
It’s still not clear exactly how much taxpayer money the DeSantis administration is spending on all this advertising against Amendments 3 and 4. The governor’s office and the various state agencies have all refused to answer financial questions or produce copies of contracts they have signed with vendors.
But a Seeking Rents review of databases containing information about state contracts and vendor payments shows that state agencies have in recent weeks signed at least half a dozen purchase orders that appear likely related to the state campaigns against the marijuana and abortion amendments. Those orders now total more than $16.4 million — which includes an additional half a million dollars recently added to one of the contracts.
And the publicly funded political advertising is just one part of DeSantis’ efforts to derail the two constitutional amendments — particularly Amendment 4, which would overturn an abortion ban that DeSantis personally signed into law just before launching his failed campaign for president.
The governor has also allowed anti-abortion activists to write ballot language for Amendment 4. He has sent election police to interrogate voters who signed petitions in support of Amendment 4. He has even threatened to criminally prosecute television stations airing advertisements in support of Amendment 4.
He doesn’t care how much taxpayers money he spends. Look how much he stole for his failed presidential campaign.
““DUI crashes increase in states with legalized marijuana — putting everyone at risk,” a male narrator claims in the spot, which began airing last month and which Amendment 3 supporters have blasted as “propaganda designed to …” is this even a true statement?