Governor, Attorney General Promoted Campaign Website Soliciting Donations While Discharging Official Duties
American Bridge 21st Century has filed formal complaints with the Florida Elections Commission against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody following their promotion of a campaign website soliciting donations for DeSantis’ re-election.
The complaint alleges that DeSantis and Moody violated Florida Chapter 104 Section 31 during an April 1 bill signing ceremony in Winter Haven. The statute states that, “No officer or employee of the state, or of any county or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from provisions hereof, shall: (a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof.”
But during the event, the Governor and the Attorney General promoted a campaign video from the musical act Van Zandt, and directed Floridians to SweetFloridaSong.com – a website paid for by Ron DeSantis for Governor, and containing links to donate to his re-election campaign.
You can find the complaints against Attorney General Moody here and Governor DeSantis here.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them – and Ron DeSantis and Ashley Moody have shown us that they are more interested in financial and political gain than serving the people of Florida,” said American Bridge President Jessica Floyd. “We expect our elected officials to be held to the highest ethical standards, but Ron DeSantis and Ashley Moody have broken the law by using taxpayer dollars to get re-elected. We are holding them accountable.”
Per the Florida Elections Commission, “The respondent shall have 14 days after receipt of the complaint to file an initial response, and a determination of legal sufficiency of the complaint may not be made during that time period… If the complaint is determined to be legally sufficient, the respondent shall be notified of such finding by letter. Once a complaint is determined to be legally sufficient, an investigation of the complaint will be conducted by the Commission staff.”
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Published: Apr 7, 2022