Tally Muscle, Pedicini Pay-back

The US Supreme Court decision “Citizen United vs. FEC” blew the guardrails off against protecting us from “those who have the gold make the rules” in our elections. In Florida’s local and state elections, development interests put millions into polling and political messaging to swing elections to their preferred candidates.

Big money is being paid to political consultants for shock and awe, brass knuckle political messaging. Perhaps the best paid Florida political consultant is Anthony Pedicini. Pedicini candidates were elected to the Manatee County Commission in 2020 and 2022. Most of the Pedicini Commissioners elected in 2020 (Van Ostenbridge, Satcher and Baugh) were bounced out of office by voters in 2024.

This past week we’ve seen threats from Tallahassee against Manatee County Commissioners doing what they were elected to do - protect wetlands. Peeling back the donation onion a bit illustrates of how political dark money gives rise to bought puppets who work for their political donors, not the people.

Pedicini and the Manatee County Commission

Anthony Pedicini is the political consultant who successfully messaged for a slate of Manatee County Commission candidates in 2020 (KVO, Baugh, Kruse, and Satcher), and again in 2022 (Ballard, Bearden, and Rham). The 2022 Manatee County Commission was fully stacked with Pedicini clients who were supported by big donors (Carlos Beruff, Pat Neal, and others). These donors expect decisions favorable for their businesses. Political donors expecting special treatment is nothing new. It’s the magnitude of their influence that has increased exponentially since the 2010 Citizens United decision.

Pedicini launched his latest political consulting firm, SIMWINs (Strategic Image Management Wins), in 2019. Firms like SIMWINs develop and deliver political messaging by bombarding voters with ads, including targeted social media ads, YouTube ads, robocalls, and mailers (those big political action committee and candidate campaign postcards). Stuffing your mailbox is a proven method for political advertising.

It pays to be wary of those who are stuffing your mailbox. Often, the “team” that sends the most mailers is working to get you to vote for candidates who, at the end of the day, won’t really work for you.

Citizens United has allowed wealthy donors to funnel unlimited sums into elections, and to obscure their identities as they do so by donating to political committees. Candidates and elected officials are now chairing political committee slush funds. Some of those funds contain hundreds of millions of dollars, and there is little oversight into how those funds are administered and spent. This situation is destructive at every level of government. Our founders did not intend for citizens to be living under a government set up to enable those with the most money to make the rules. But that’s what we’ve got. What’s happening in Manatee County right now is a great example.

Protecting Florida’s wetlands - great for flood control, but a drag on developer profits

In October 2023, the all-Pedicini Manatee County Commission ignored their constituents. They listened instead to the developer donors who bankrolled their Pedicini/SIMWIN wins, and voted to remove wetland protections from the Manatee County LDC (Land Development Code).

Commissioner George Kruse cast the only dissenting vote.

Kruse was assisted by Pedicini in his 2020 win, but he was targeted by Pedicini in 2024 when Kruse proved to be less developer lackey, more constituent friendly, and not a reliable puppet for Pedicini donor clients (e.g. PACs with money from Pat Neal, Carlos Beruff).

The backlash against removing wetland protections was strong. Citizens organized. They created their own PAC, logos, and slogans. Voters in Manatee County re-elected Kruse and brought in three other commissioners:  Carol Ann Felts, Tal Siddique, and Dr. Robert McCann. The Pedicini candidates lost. The GOP political machine in Florida took notice.

Now, with a new Commission no longer dominated by Pedicini puppets, the Manatee BCC was planning to restore the wetlands protections removed in 2023. George Kruse said as much in his Substack post last week:

Enter Tallahassee - Working to Crush Home Rule

In a subsequent Facebook post, attorney Jason Gonzalez wrote:

“Manatee County Commission – You’ve been warned,” Jason Gonzalez of the Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC Law Firm said on Facebook. “We have excellent courts in Florida that follow the law. If you violate the laws of the State of Florida, you will hear from the Lawson Law Firm, and it will not end well.”

Gonzalez’s Facebook post threat to the Manatee County Commission now appears to have been removed. But that threat was quoted in a number of news reports.

The political committee “Friends of Ron DeSantis” began in 2018. The very same PAC implemented a name change to “Empower Parents PAC” in May 2023 (see the document below). Over $228 million went into this ONE political committee. ALL contributions were made to Friends of Ron DeSantis (before the May 8th name change) except for two donations which totalled $125.

Jason Gonzalez is with the Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC Law Firm in Tallahassee. According to his firm bio:

Jason has served on the Florida Supreme Court Nominating Commission, as Chairman of the First District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission and Chairman of the Second Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, as well as two terms as General Counsel and former Executive Board Member of the Republican Party of Florida. Prior to co-founding Lawson Huck Gonzalez, Jason served as General Counsel to the Florida Governor. [this would have been Governor Ron DeSantis, addition mine]

In Gonzalez’s threat to the Manatee BCC the Florida law he is referring to is SB180. A piece of legislation passed this year, SB180 appears to tie the hands of local governments against restricting any development in post hurricane zones. However, sources have shared that some Florida legislators are alarmed at how SB180 is being misused. They say the original intention of SB180 was to allow restoration of existing structures post hurricane (redevelopment), not a moratorium on new development standards.

The Manatee County Commission cancelled it’s vote to restore those wetlands protections removed in 2023 by the former Pedicini Commission. In addition to concerns about Gonzalez’s threatened litigation, sources indicate the Commission is wise to be concerned that Manatee County Commissioners could be removed and replaced by Governor DeSantis. It wouldn’t be the first time that DeSantis removed an elected official that he claimed was improperly challenging the law.

Governor DeSantis and local developers

Ron DeSantis may have his own reasons for keeping local developer donors happy. The political committee, “Friends of Ron DeSantis” received over $180,000 from Carlos Beruff affiliates/entities. The same PAC received of $250,000 from Pat Neal affiliates/entities.

Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia and the $84.5 million PAC balance before disbandment - where $84.5 million go?

The political committee “Friends of Ron DeSantis” went through some dizzying changes before it disbanded on May 30, 2023. On May 8, 2023 Robert Watkins resigned as chair of “Friends of Ron DeSantis and appointed then State Senator Blaise Ingoglia as chair. On May 15, 2023 Ingoglia changed the name to Empower Parents PAC.

This PAC name change makes “Friends of Ron DeSantis” no longer searchable on the state campaing finance website. Why change the name for a committee that was disbanded two weeks later? Did Ingoglia and his cohorts want the PAC “Friends of Ron DeSantis” to “disappear” from public view? Why does Florida allow PAC name changes to eliminate the prior PAC name from being seachable?

When the old “Friends of Ron DeSantis” committee was disbanded, it had recorded $141,319,558 in expenditures and $77,215 in other distributions - a total of $141,396,773 in disbursements. The total cash contributions were $225,862,708. That leaves a cash balance left of $84,465,935. What happened to that $84.5 million? I’ve seen unaccounted for, leftover political committee balances before in smaller PACS I’ve researched. This one is a whopper. Where is this money? Why does our state campaign finance system permit residual PAC dollars to go missing? This lack of financial accountability is potent example of corruption and lack of accountability in our campaign finance system.

To recap, then State Senator, Blaise Ingoglia, became chair of a Ron DeSantis PAC (5/8/23). He changed the name a week later (5/15/23). That made the PAC “Friends of Ron DeSantis” unsearchable on the state website. Then, on 5/30/23, Ingoglia disbanded the PAC, and when he did, there was $84.5 million dollars that had not been spent and has not been accounted for. Now Ingoglia is Florida’s Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Ingoglia, please explain. I’d like to understand what happened here.

But I digress. I’m sharing the “Friends of Ron DeSantis” PAC information to demonstrate how the DeSantis administration has been funded by donors (Beruff’s 180K, Neal’s 250K) who are also funding Pedicini candidates in Manatee County. Is it any wonder that Tallahasse is muscling in on Manatee County?

Voters in places like Manatee County are pushing back against PAC puppet (often Pedicini) candidates. Manatee County voters understand how the 2023 gutting of wetlands protections put their own homes and lives at risk. Wetland buffers may decrease developer profits. They may increase development expenses. But protecting wetlands protects homes, wildlife and human life.

Now Tallahasse is threatening Manatee Commissiioners looking to do right by their constituents. Manatee voters didn’t sign up for this. With Citizens United, slick political consultants like Pedicini are fueled by unlimited PAC donations. They work to get lackeys elected who deliver the goods for donors. This corrupt systen is ruining home rule in Florida. We deserve better.

Cathy Antunes is a longtime independent journalist and community activist focusing on Sarasota and Manatee Counties. This article originally appeared in her Substack column, The Detail by Cathy Antunes. Click here to subscribe and get The Detail sent to your inbox.