Jason Garcia
@jasongarcia.bsky.social
Investigative reporter covering corporate influence in Florida. Publisher of Seeking Rents, a newsletter and podcast about state politics. https://jasongarcia.substack.com
Podcast: Tech bros are coming for #Florida elections. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/the-tech-b... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
The tech bros are coming for Florida’s elections
A few ultra-wealthy donors, from AI investors and data center supporters to the developers behind sprawl-inducing state laws, are pouring last-minute money into Florida elections.
jasongarcia.substack.com
The developers behind the sprawl-inducing “Blue Ribbon Projects” bill (to let developers bypass locals when building on big tracts of rural land) are pouring money into #Florida Senate races -- more than $180,000 last month jasongarcia.substack.com/p/the-invest... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
The investors behind the “Blue Ribbon Projects” bill are pouring money into state Senate races
The booster of a bill to let developers bypass locals when building on big tracts of rural land made more than $180,000 in donations last month — including in key Senate races in Orlando and Tampa.
jasongarcia.substack.com
HEY ORLANDO, SEE YOU THIS THURSDAY! Join me at the SW Branch of the Orlando-Orange Library at 2 pm when I'll be yakking about my newest book WELCOME TO #FLORIDA! Admission is free but there's a charge if you bring your emotional support emu with no leash.
Last year, #Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous & his Cabinet voted 4-0 to pay a sketchy developer $83M for 4A of land the state didn't need. Now that shady developer is donating to top #Florida Republicans. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/top-republ... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Top Republicans are raising money from a developer who was paid $83 million for 4 acres
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
PODCAST: Last year, #Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous & his Cabinet spent more than $80M in taxpayer money to buy four acres from a shady donor. The politicians who approved DeSastrous' dopey deal are now running for re-election. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/the-story-... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
The story behind a shady land deal in Florida (update)
A year ago, Republican leaders in Tallahassee spent more than $80 million in taxpayer money to buy four acres from a GOP donor. The politicians who approved that deal are now running for re-election.
jasongarcia.substack.com
#Florida CFO Blaise "The Blatherer" Ingoglia is spending millions in taxpayer $$$ on ads to promote himself. An appointee of Gov. Ron DeSastrous now running for election, he's ordered up a barrage of pre-election PSAs. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/blaise-ing... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Blaise Ingoglia is spending millions in taxpayer money on advertising as he runs for election
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, an interim appointee of Ron DeSantis who is now running for election to a full term, has ordered up a barrage of pre-election “public service announcements.”
jasongarcia.substack.com
Some interesting big donors to Byron Donalds last week: - Big Sugar producer Florida Crystals ($205,000) - DeVos family ($1 million) - Disney (~$78,000 in free stuff) - NE Florida agricultural enclave developers: Davis family/DDI Inc., PARC Group & Hutson Cos. ($450,000)
New: After the 2024 election, the DeSantis administration awarded a new contract to attorneys who helped secure the multimillion-dollar legal settlement that DeSantis aides used to fund political campaigns — in the scheme known as the Hope Florida scandal. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/desantis-s...
DeSantis staff quietly rehired jilted lawyers who helped secure the Hope Florida settlement
Just after the 2024 elections, the DeSantis administration awarded a new contract to lawyers who helped bring in a legal settlement that the governor’s staff then used to fund political activities.
jasongarcia.substack.com
New: After the 2024 election, the DeSantis administration awarded a new contract to attorneys who helped secure the multimillion-dollar legal settlement that DeSantis aides used to fund political campaigns — in the scheme known as the Hope Florida scandal. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/desantis-s...
DeSantis staff quietly rehired jilted lawyers who helped secure the Hope Florida settlement
Just after the 2024 elections, the DeSantis administration awarded a new contract to lawyers who helped bring in a legal settlement that the governor’s staff then used to fund political activities.
jasongarcia.substack.com
#Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous' staff quietly rehired jilted lawyers who helped secure the Hope Florida settlement that turned into massive scandal. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/desantis-s... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
DeSantis staff quietly rehired jilted lawyers who helped secure the Hope Florida settlement
Just after the 2024 elections, the DeSantis administration awarded a new contract to lawyers who helped bring in a legal settlement that the governor’s staff then used to fund political activities.
jasongarcia.substack.com
Key figures in the Hope #Florida scandal -- including the scheme's mastermind, AG James "Oopsie!" Uthmeier -- are ducking questions and passing the buck. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/key-figure... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Key figures in the Hope Florida scheme are ducking questions and passing the buck
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
Podcast: Inside the bipartisan plot that took out the best senator in #Florida -- who's now back & running for AG. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/the-bipart... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
The bipartisan plot to take out Florida's best senator (update)
Inside the corporate scheme that took down José Javier Rodriguez, a lawmaker who stood up to the state’s biggest power company. JJR is back now — and he could be Florida’s next attorney general.
jasongarcia.substack.com
Real estate agents put $10 million into campaign to pass #Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous' boneheaded Amendment 3 ballot measure which is expected to screw up every local govt in the state. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/real-estat... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Real estate agents just put $10 million into campaign to pass property tax amendment
The money from the Florida Realtors is the first major cash infusion for Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would dramatically cut and cap local property taxes across Florida.
jasongarcia.substack.com
A lobbying group for real estate agents just put $10 million into the campaign to pass Amendment 3 in Florida – a massive property tax cut that is expected to drive up home prices (and agent commissions): jasongarcia.substack.com/p/real-estat...
Real estate agents just put $10 million into campaign to pass property tax amendment
The money from the Florida Realtors is the first major cash infusion for Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would dramatically cut and cap local property taxes across Florida.
jasongarcia.substack.com
#Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous' boneheaded Amendment 3 could increase home prices across the state & real estate agents LOVE that. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/amendment-... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Amendment 3 could increase home prices across Florida — and real-estate agents love it
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
PODCAST: The release of a bombshell grand jury report into the $10 million “Hope #Florida” affair has rocked the state’s political landscape two months before the election. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/hope-flori... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Hope Florida fallout
There is suddenly blood in the water in Florida politics following a searing grand jury report exposing the roles of the state attorney general and a U.S. senator in a $10 million spending scandal.
jasongarcia.substack.com
New: A deep dive into a grand jury investigation of the Hope Florida affair — the scheme in which the administration of Ron DeSantis took $10 million owed to Florida taxpayers and spent it instead on political campaigns during the 2024 elections: jasongarcia.substack.com/p/conflictin...
Conflicting testimony and foggy memories: How the Hope Florida grand jury found wrongdoing but no wrongdoers
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
Conflicting testimony & foggy memories: How the grand jury investigating the Hope #Florida scandal found wrongdoing but no one to indict. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/conflictin... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Conflicting testimony and foggy memories: How the Hope Florida grand jury found wrongdoing but no wrongdoers
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
The Florida Realtors, a lobbying group for real estate agents, has formed a political committee to promote the proposed constitutional amendment that would dramatically cut and cap local government property tax collections.
New podcast on the Hope Florida scandal – and the secret grand jury report that some of the most powerful politicians in Florida tried to hide from voters: jasongarcia.substack.com/p/a-sophisti...
‘A sophisticated scheme,’ exposed
The DeSantis administration “misappropriated” $10 million of taxpayer money to pay for political campaigns, according to a secret grand jury that investigated the Hope Florida scandal.
jasongarcia.substack.com
More than a year after it passed, a deceptive state law pushed by lobbyists for developers continues to wreak havoc in communities across #Florida. The latest example came last week in Orlando. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/senate-bil... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Senate Bill 180 strikes again
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
New story and 🧵: Lobbyists representing a pair of prominent homebuilders in Sarasota — both major donors to Republican leaders in Tallahassee — secretly worked to stop state lawmakers from repealing a widely reviled law that has made it much harder for Florida communities to manage growth...
Lobbyists representing a pair of prominent #Florida homebuilders -- both big GOP donors — secretly worked to stop state lawmakers from repealing a widely reviled law that has made it much harder for communities to manage growth. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/developer-... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Developer lobbyists secretly sought to maintain a law handcuffing local communities on growth
Records show lobbyists representing Sarasota homebuilders Pat Neal and Carlos Beruff objected to legislation to fix Senate Bill 180, which has undermined growth-management laws around Florida.
jasongarcia.substack.com
New: Big Tech giant Meta Platforms is funding last-minute mailers in hopes of pushing its preferred candidate through the Democratic primary for a Tampa-area seat in the state Senate. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/at-the-las...
At the last minute, Facebook tries to tilt a tight Democratic primary for a Senate seat in Tampa
Meta Platforms, which is trying to elect AI-friendly politicians to state Legislatures around the country, is paying for eleventh-hour mailers in a Tampa Bay-area state Senate race.
jasongarcia.substack.com
We proved the Hope Florida grand jury report exists, but we're still fighting for its release. Join Michael Barfield, Lawrence Mower and Jason Garcia as they discuss what the fight over one document reveals about Florida's transparency laws. Register at www.flcga.org/special-events #DefendDemocracy
Meta is playing in Democratic legislative primaries in Florida, too. A new company-backed PAC called "Making Our Tomorrow" is paying for mailers that promote Rep. Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) in a Tampa-area Senate race. Driskell faces Rep. Michele Rayner (D-St. Petersburg).
Jason Garcia@jasongarcia.bsky.social · 2mo agoNew: Meta Platforms — the Big Tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram and a leading developer of hyperscale data centers — just launched a campaign to fill the Florida Legislature with politicians friendly to the artificial intelligence industry. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/facebook-i...
New: Meta Platforms — the Big Tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram and a leading developer of hyperscale data centers — just launched a campaign to fill the Florida Legislature with politicians friendly to the artificial intelligence industry. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/facebook-i...
Facebook is meddling in Florida elections
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com
Meta Platforms — the Big Tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram and a leading developer of hyperscale data centers — just launched a campaign to fill the #Florida Legislature with politicians friendly to the AI industry. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/facebook-i... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social
Facebook is meddling in Florida elections
Florida in Five: Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.
jasongarcia.substack.com