Florida Lobbyists Who Work with the Sunshine State Government The governor is taken aback by the demand for donations Ron DeSantisAccording to a report in NBC News, the newly launched presidential campaign.
The reason for the alarm about the donation requests is that they have come directly from individuals employed by the executive office of the governor in Tallahassee, as well as from other executive agencies. The involvement of state employees in soliciting funds for the governor’s campaign may violate Sunshine State ethics laws and appears to violate traditional norms intended to separate the work of governing from the promotion of elected office.
A group of 10 lobbyists contacted by the news network said they could not remember ever openly soliciting Donation by state officials.
A lobbyist told NBC that the DeSantis administration “keeps track of who is giving, and is using state employees” and said they felt caught in a “prisoner’s dilemma” because Mr. DeSantis will remain in office until 2026 unless he successfully wins the presidency next year.
Mr. DeSantis’ office did not comment when asked by the network, but in a text message, an administration official confirmed that he and other Florida state employees “donated personally” to his campaign.
Independent The governor’s campaign has been contacted for comment.
A Florida election law attorney told NBC that the solicitation raises ethical questions, even if they occur outside of work hours.
“At least, even if they are sitting in their house at 9 p.m. using their personal phones and contacting lobbyists that they somehow magically met in their personal capacity and have been assigned to their office in the governor’s office.” Not through the role, it still smells weird,” the lawyer said. “There is an abuse of public position issue here that is obvious to anyone paying attention.”
Another lobbyist who spoke to NBC said he felt pressured to deliver the money because DeSantis is still working through state budgets with a line-item veto – a power few state governors have over individual funding requests. can use to mitigate – and anger the governor by not letting them feel they can’t afford to
“What should I do?” said a lobbyist. “I have a lot of work ahead of the DeSantis administration”.
News of the solicitation by state officials comes days after Mr. DeSantis launched his 2024 campaign in a jibe at Twitter’s “Spaces” feature with site owner Elon Musk.
Mr DeSantis’ campaign said it raised a whopping $8.2 million in the first 24 hours after his announcement.