Staff Reports
NBC News dropped a bombshell report revealing Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has been collecting donations from lobbyists for his presidential campaign. The catch? He is doing so with the help of his public employees, raising ethical and legal questions regarding the misuse of public resources.
BREAKING: DeSantis Admin Using State Employees To Solicit Florida Donorshttps://t.co/UwSNH2VOib
— Sheri™ (@FFT1776) May 26, 2023
According to NBC News, the governor’s staff has been sending text messages to lobbyists, soliciting campaign donations in support of DeSantis. These messages have been sent with unique donation links that track contributions, suggesting a pattern of DeSantis organizing his campaign using state resources.
Furthermore, legal experts reportedly claim that public officials must rely solely on staffers for campaign contributions and should keep a firewall between political and public work. Nevertheless, it appears whoever is behind these solicitation texts has failed to recognize this ethical dilemma.
It’s clear that the DeSantis administration is keeping a tight leash on contributors, but the question remains if they used state staff to solicit assistance from potential donors. Many have raised concerns that DeSantis’ staffers may have taken advantage of connections made during public hours to pressure constituents into financial—and therefore political—support.
Even if DeSantis staff sent these messages from their personal phones past office hours, it still smells a bit rotten. There’s a misuse of public position issue here — and it’s glaringly obvious, according to legal experts.
Not only is this act ethically questionable, but it’s also politically perilous. DeSantis still has to make a deal with the Florida Legislature to fund the government for the following year. If DeSantis sticks with this strategy, he may face difficulty lobbying with powerful players in the future.
Lobbyists confirmed that they understand they are “In a prisoner’s dilemma,” with the governor’s staff keeping close track of who gives and who does not. The growing sentiment in Florida is that DeSantis’ team views his public staff as extensions of his campaign team, possibly blurring the already thin line between partisanship and public service.
