Ron DeSantis blurs lines, burns cash in tax-funded campaign to block abortion and marijuana ballot measures
The DeSantis administration is marshaling the power of state government — and the pocketbooks of Florida taxpayers — against its own constituents.
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Earlier this month, over the course of about 24 hours, three state agencies in Tallahassee suddenly ordered nearly $13 million worth of advertising.
Details are still sparse about the near-simultaneous purchase orders, all of which were made through the same vendor. None of the agencies — the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida Department of Children & Families — has yet answered questions about the agreements or fulfilled public-records requests seeking copies of them.
But just days later, records obtained by Seeking Rents show, the same three state agencies began booking airtime for television commercials meant to weaken support for one of two citizen-led constitutional amendments that will appear on the Florida ballot this fall: Amendment 4, which would overturn the state’s near-total ban on abortion
That’s not all. Right around the same time, a fourth state agency — the Florida Department of Transportation — began airing television ads taking aim at the second citizen-led amendment that voters are about to decide: Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana.
The publicly funded political advertising is part of an extraordinary effort by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to marshal the power of state government — and the pocketbooks of Florida taxpayers — against his own constituents, all in order to stop them from passing policies that the Republican governor personally opposes.
Florida has never seen anything quite like this — not even in the face of previous citizen-led campaigns for issues despised by top politicians in Tallahassee, including amendments to lower class sizes and raise the minimum wage.
Attorneys for the group sponsoring Amendment 4, who have sued to stop the DeSantis administration’s meddling in their campaign, put it best:
“This state action is shocking and unprecedented,” they wrote in a legal brief filed last week. “The government is supposed to respond to the demands of its citizenry, not manipulate their own opinions to interfere with elections.”
It’s important to remember that more than 1 million Floridians signed petitions in support of Amendment 3, which would allow adults aged 21 and up to buy and possess marijuana for personal use. Almost as many signed petitions in support of Amendment 4, which would undo a statewide abortion ban that DeSantis signed into law last year that prohibits abortion after just six weeks of pregnancy — before many women even realize they are pregnant. And polls consistently show that both proposals are popular with strong majorities of Floridians.
But constitutional amendments must win 60 percent support from voters in order to pass. That means these campaigns will be won or lost on the margins.
A host of political groups are already opposing the two amendments. They include the Republican Party of Florida, which is ultimately run by DeSantis as the state’s highest-ranking GOP leader and which is paying for advertisements attacking both ballot measures.
But DeSantis is forcing Florida taxpayers to participate, too.
To weaken support for Amendment 3, the state’s transportation agency is running commercials that are ostensibly aimed at reminding Floridians of the dangers of driving under the influence of marijuana, which is currently only legal for medicinal use in Florida.
But the ad also warns about the potential impacts of recreational use: “DUI crashes increase in states with legalized marijuana — putting everyone at risk,” a male narrator intones as chilling music plays in the background.
The state campaign against Amendment 4 is even more explicit. It includes TV ads jointly funded by the state agencies in charge of hospital licensing, public health, and child welfare that make misleading claims about Florida’s current abortion ban.
For instance, a comforting female narrator assures viewers that abortions are still available in Florida “to save the life and health of the mother” — while neglecting to mention all the hoops a woman must jump through first.
The ads end by directing viewers to a state website that directly attacks Amendment 4.
The final bills for these publicly subsidized political campaigns haven’t yet come due. But they will be substantial.
A Seeking Rents review of databases containing information about state contracts and vendor payments shows that state agencies have signed nearly $16 million worth of purchase orders in the past month that are potentially part of the DeSantis’ administration’s campaigns against the two amendments.
At least one of the contracts is clearly linked to the campaigns. The others appear likely related, based on details that can be gleaned from the databases. The agreements include:
A $150,000 contract signed Aug. 23 by the Florida Department of Transportation with the Florida Association of Broadcasters, which represents television and radio stations around the state. A brief summary of the contract says that it is for an unspecified “public information media campaign” to be broadcast in all 10 media markets across Florida. The broadcasters association is kicking in an additional $450,000 in free airtime, boosting the total value of the campaign to $600,000.
A $2.4 million contract signed Sept. 16 by the Agency for Health Care Administration with Strategic Digital Services, a marketing firm in Tallahassee represented by one of DeSantis’ biggest political fundraisers. The order is for another unspecified “public information campaign.” It calls for the vendor to provide campaign development, video production, media placement, and messaging research. Vendor payment records show that AHCA has already paid out more than $2 million under the deal.
A $5.1 million contract signed the same day with the same marketing firm by the Florida Department of Children & Families. A brief description of the deal says that it includes two parts: $4 million for “an impactful advertising campaign aimed at educating Florida families and youth about the dangers of marijuana, opioid, and drug use;” and $1.1 million for unspecified services related to “mothers, babies and families.” DCF has already paid out more than $3.5 million.
A $5 million contract signed the next day, Sept. 17, with the same marketing firm by the Florida Department of Health. The particulars of that agreement are even hazier: A summary says only that it is for “media placement fulfillment.” DOH has already paid out more than $2.8 million.
A $3 million contract signed three days later, Sept. 20, with the same marketing firm by the Florida Department of Education. That agreement is for some kind of digital advertising that will run for at least two weeks. DOE has already paid out more than $2.4 million.
A $260,000 contract signed Sept. 20 by AHCA with Cooper & Kirk, a politically plugged in law firm whose partners include DeSantis’ former roommate. Under the agreement, the state health care agency will pay the firm’s attorneys $715 an hour to defend the agency in the lawsuit accusing it of illegally interfering with Amendment 4.
DeSantis and other high-ranking Republican politicians in Tallahassee have spent taxpayer money on more than advertising, too.
Earlier this year, for instance, Michael J. New, an anti-abortion professor from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., appeared in Tallahassee to testify before a panel of state economists tasked with writing an economic impact statement to appear on the ballot with Amendment 4.
The Governor’s Office paid that professor $200 an hour to testify, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. It also covered more than $2,500 in travel expenses for him, state records show — including $1,759.16 for airfare and $313.25 for lodging.
At the same time, the Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives gave a part-time job paying $75 an hour to Rachel Greszler, an anti-abortion analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
That allowed Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) to put Greszler directly onto the state panel — where she then helped write an economic summary for Amendment 4 that was so speculative and one-sided that Florida’s chief economist refused to sign off on it.
In addition to a salary, state records show Renner has also reimbursed Greszler — who remains on the House payroll while continuing to work as a Heritage Foundation fellow — more than $3,600 for expenses. That includes $1,970.37 for airfare and $1,070.06 for lodging.
The Governor’s Office and individual state agencies have repeatedly refused to answer questions about what specific sources of money they are using to pay for the television ads and other campaign materials they have produced targeting Amendments 3 and 4.
But when pressed by reporters, DeSantis has vaguely alluded to a “a wide variety of pots of money that are used for public service announcements.” And these recent advertising contracts are being funded from an assortment of sources.
For instance, in some cases, the DeSantis administration is pulling money out of budgets used to make child-protection grants, monitor the medical marijuana industry, and pay engineers who design road and transit projects for the state.
It’s possible the administration is also repurposing funds initially earmarked for “health care data transparency” and to develop a website for new and expecting parents.
And at least one of the agreements appears likely financed with proceeds from Florida’s share of the nationwide legal settlement with the opioid industry.
Cannibalizing funding isn’t the only way the DeSantis administration is pushing legal boundaries in these campaigns, either.
Before it began advertising, the governor sent state police to the homes of Floridians who signed Amendment 4 petitions to interrogate them about their signatures — even though local elections offices had already validated the petitions.
It has also took a public website meant to be a neutral tool that helps Floridians comparison shop for medical services and turned it into a partisan hub of anti-Amendment 4 propaganda.
And it has leaned on lobbyists who seek favors from state government — specifically by enlisting the Florida Association of Broadcasters to sponsor an early version of its television ad meant to undercut Amendment 4.
It’s not always clear where state government ends and where partisan political groups begin. Consider:
When the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Health, and the Department of Children & Families booked airtime for their joint television commercial, records show the public agencies used an ad buyer linked to the political campaigns against both Amendment 3 and Amendment 4.
DeSantis has his chief of staff — James Uthmeier, who is paid a $202,000 annual salary by Florida taxpayers — serving as the chairperson of two political committees that have been raising money to oppose the two amendments.
Earlier this month, the governor used a state office to arrange a strategy call with anti-abortion activists about Amendment 4. One of the people DeSantis invited to lead the call is working as a consultant for a political group campaigning against the amendment.
And by putting a Heritage Foundation analyst on the economic panel that analyzed Amendment 4, state leaders allowed someone from a think tank that lobbied to pass Florida’s statewide abortion ban to then help write official ballot language for a citizen-led constitutional amendment meant to overturn that ban.
Opponents say DeSantis isn’t just blurring lines — he is crossing them.
Some TV stations seem to have pushed back against the administration’s claims that it is merely running “public service announcements” and treated them instead as political ads.
DirectTV, for instance, publicly posted records showing that the Agency for Health Care Administration bought time across Florida to air an early version of its anti-Amendment 4 commercial during Florida State University and University of Miami football games.
Meanwhile, the sponsor of Amendment 3 last week threatened litigation against Florida television stations unless they take down the Florida Department of Transportation’s anti-marijuana ad.
And the DeSantis administration has already been sued twice.
One suit, filed in the Florida Supreme Court, accuses DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and the secretary of AHCA of breaking a law that prohibits state officials from using their positions to influence an election. The other, filed in Leon County Circuit Court, claims that the Agency for Health Care Administration is interfering with the rights of Florida citizens to propose amendments to the state Constitution.
The state’s response has been brazen — almost as if DeSantis is daring a court to stop him.
In legal filings, attorneys for the the state say the agency is merely providing “educational materials” to Florida voters. And the Attorney General’s Office claims the governor and other senior state officials are functionally exempt from the law prohibiting state officials from trying to influence elections.
“It is for those officials to determine the executive branch’s position on questions of law and policy,” attorneys for the Attorney General wrote in a legal brief. “And they are will within their rights in using executive branch resources to explain and advocate that position to voters.”
This is good work, thank you.
The DeSantis administration is little more than a hostile takeover, looting taxpayers. This transfer of wealth out of public coffers and into private pockets under the guise of ideology is probably the biggest con ever in a land where fraud is an expectation, not an exception.
He's beyond a disgrace! Always been horrible, but actually keeps getting worse!! All at taxpayer expense!! BOOT HIM OUT!!