Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

REVEALED: How DeSantis & Reynolds Skirted Pay-To-Play Laws & Made a Top GOP Group Fund His Primary Campaign
The National Pulse ^ | 11/13/2023 | WILLIAM UPTON

Posted on 11/13/2023 2:28:46 PM PST by SoConPubbie

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s early 2024 presidential campaign appears to have been underwritten by the Republican Governors Association (RGA), with almost $21 million contributed to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC being transferred to his Never Back Down PAC. In fact, by mid-2022, one-in-every-four dollars the RGA took in was redirected to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC under the guise of supporting the Florida Governor’s re-election bid.

These sums could make sense in a scenario where the Republican incumbent was in a serious fight with a strong Democrat challenger, or if the RGA was looking to knock out a sitting Democrat governor. But the 2022 Florida gubernatorial race was not one of these instances. DeSantis consistently led his Democrat opponent, Charlie Crist, who would go on to lose the election by nearly 20 points. The Democrat Governors Association, in comparison, spent just $52,000 in Florida in 2022.

Thusly, the Friends of DeSantis PAC received one quarter of what it transferred to DeSantis’s presidential PAC, $21 million, from the RGA, which made no effort to recoup the funds once it had passed through.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who recently endorsed DeSantis for the GOP nomination, served as the RGA Vice-Chairman from 2020, until she was elected as Chairman proper in November 2022. As Vice Chairman, Reynolds oversaw the group’s budget, which runs into the tens of millions a year, in addition to political strategy and election spending. It was Reynolds – who promised the voters of Iowa she would remain “neutral” in the primary, before breaking the pledge this month – who directed the bizarrely large sums to DeSantis.

Furthermore, Under DeSantis’s governorship, Florida’s state pension system redirected investments to firms whose executives made large contributions to the RGA. DeSantis himself serves as chairman of Florida’s State Board of Administration, which in turn appoints the officials who approve investments for the state’s $180 billion pension fund.

Firms such as Aeolus Capital Management got a $50 million commitment from Florida just four months after DeSantis took office. Aeolus is mostly owned by billionaire Paul Singer, who sent $750,000 to the RGA the year after Florida invested $50 million. Three weeks after this, the RGA sent $2 million to the Friends of Ron DeSantis group. Singer also underwrites the Manhattan Institute, which counts on its payroll DeSantis endorsers such as Chris Rufo. There are further examples of such “coincidences,” and the state’s pension system itself has struggled under DeSantis.

Using the RGA as a third step in an investment and donation scheme also provides a work-around to Federal anti-pay-for-play laws enacted in 2011.

Adding salt to the wound for those who believed in the honesty and upstandingness of political figures like Reynolds and DeSantis, Republicans lost a handful of governors races in 2022 by razor-thin margins. In Arizona, the Democrat margin of victory was only 0.66 percent, in Kansas it was 2.21 percent, and in Wisconsin it was 3.4 percent, with Oregon suffering by just 3.42 percent. The $21 million the RGA gifted Ron DeSantis could have gone a long way in helping elect Republicans in these states.

Instead, it has ended up in the pockets of D.C. consultants, media networks, and anti-Trump Republican staffers.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bloggers; desanctimonious; desanctus; desantis; paytoplay; trump
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 11/13/2023 2:28:46 PM PST by SoConPubbie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

John Ellis Bush, Mike Bloomberg, and John Connolly (in adjusted dollars) spent a lot more than that to lose big.


2 posted on 11/13/2023 2:38:07 PM PST by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

Wow, what a absolute bunch of shysters.


3 posted on 11/13/2023 2:38:10 PM PST by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51; Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jacknhoo

“DeSantis” and “skirt” in the same sentence is hilarious.


4 posted on 11/13/2023 2:45:49 PM PST by TonyinLA (I don't have sufficient information to formulate a reasoned opinion said no lefty ever.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

On the other hand, how has Trump been spending
some of the money donated to his campaign?
So much to report on Biden, yet there are people
on this site who are too busy trying to bring down
all republicans except for Trump


5 posted on 11/13/2023 2:46:35 PM PST by psjones (u)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

The more we learn about Ron DeSantis, the more disappointing he becomes. Nothing but memory loss will help him in politics going forward.


6 posted on 11/13/2023 2:49:20 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Robert DeLong

Watch out now...You’re going to hurt these DeSantis worshippers feelings here in FR......


7 posted on 11/13/2023 2:57:20 PM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

” Under DeSantis’s governorship, Florida’s state pension system redirected investments to firms whose executives made large contributions to the RGA. DeSantis himself serves as chairman of Florida’s State Board of Administration, which in turn appoints the officials who approve investments for the state’s $180 billion pension fund. “


Yup. He really is “impatient” to clean up the Swamp.


8 posted on 11/13/2023 2:59:14 PM PST by Reverend Wright ( Everything touched by progressives, dies !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JBW1949
You’re going to hurt these DeSantis worshippers feelings here in FR.

Been doing that for months now. Amazingly, most have deserted Ron as time went by. The ones remaining are hopeless cases who suffer from extremely sever cases of TDS. So, one just learns to ignore them now, for they ae not even worth the effort to enlighten them. 🤣.

9 posted on 11/13/2023 3:04:07 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

How soon before the usual nevertrumper desantis supporter suspects show up to say it’s all lies set up by deranged Trump supporters...

As if Trump supporters or Trump could put false information in as public records, or cause people like reynolds or desantis to move 10’s of millions around against their will....


10 posted on 11/13/2023 3:07:54 PM PST by backpacker_c
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Robert DeLong

LOL...How right you are...LOL...


11 posted on 11/13/2023 3:20:40 PM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: backpacker_c

Can’t we just focus on the true state of our country and how we( all of us) can defeat the clear and present danger America is currently slipping into. The Democrats are sitting back watching us eat our own. Enough is enough. For God’s sake focus on what is truly important!


12 posted on 11/13/2023 3:32:34 PM PST by shadeaud (God gave us the free will and intelligence to choose right from wrong. Use it or lose it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

Sounds illegal to me.


13 posted on 11/13/2023 3:35:59 PM PST by tennmountainman (FUJB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JBW1949
👍🙂

And now I would like to tell you about Eddie and his adventures in the great wide open 🤣

14 posted on 11/13/2023 3:41:21 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

with “friends” like these, who needs enemies?


15 posted on 11/13/2023 3:42:29 PM PST by catnipman (A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shadeaud

Tell that to DeSantis, Nikki, Chris Christie, and the other remaining Keebler elves. None of them are following your advice, and they never would either.


16 posted on 11/13/2023 3:43:47 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Robert DeLong

—> Amazingly, most have deserted Ron as time went by. The ones remaining are hopeless cases who suffer from extremely sever cases of TDS.

Fact Check: TRUE

… one tried to hit me with his man-purse last week!


17 posted on 11/13/2023 3:45:10 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (🦅MAGADONIAN⚔️)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: aMorePerfectUnion

LOL, he suffers from a crush, not TDS. 🤣


18 posted on 11/13/2023 3:48:10 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Robert DeLong
LOL, he suffers from a crush, not TDS. 🤣

😱

19 posted on 11/13/2023 4:12:06 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (🦅MAGADONIAN⚔️)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: aMorePerfectUnion

He provably likes those high-heeled boots too. 😋


20 posted on 11/13/2023 4:42:58 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson