Florida Lobbyists Say DeSantis Admin Taps Them to Donate

Florida lobbyists say officials working for Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration in Florida, but not his campaign, are sending them text messages to solicit political contributions for his presidential campaign, leaving them feeling pressured to donate money while they have business before his office, particularly when it comes to the not-yet-approved state budget.

NBC News reports it has reviewed text messages sent from four DeSantis administration officials, including people in the governor's office who have state agency leadership positions, that were sent to lobbyists.

The messages requested the recipients donate money to DeSantis's presidential campaign through a specific link appearing to track donors through a "bundle" program.

"The bottom line is that the administration appears to be keeping tabs on who is giving, and are doing it using state staff," a longtime Florida lobbyist told NBC News. “You are in a prisoner’s dilemma. They are going to remain in power. We all understand that.”

The network did not name the staffers or the lobbyists who received the messages. DeSantis's office has not returned a request from NBC or Newsmax for comment on the article.

However, one administration official acknowledged to NBC that the office is fundraising for the campaign.

"I'm not sure what every EOG staffer does on their free time and after hours, with their First Amendment rights, but I wouldn’t be shocked if team EOG somehow raised more money than lobbyists," that person said in a text, using EOG as an acronym for the governor's office. "I can confirm I (and many other staff) personally donated."

The fundraising activities are raising both ethical and legal questions, as campaigns, not a political office's administration, generally, solicit funds.

But the legal issues depend on several factors, including whether the texts were sent out on state-owned phones or if the solicitations came while the official was on state property.

A Florida elections law attorney, whose name was not reported, told NBC that even if the aides were raising money for the presidential campaign on their own time and with their own phones, that still raises ethical questions.

"At a minimum, even if they are sitting in their home at 9 p.m. using their personal phone and contacting lobbyists that they somehow magically met in their personal capacity and not through their role in the governor’s office, it still smells yucky," the attorney commented. "There’s a misuse of public position issue here that is obvious to anyone paying attention."

Meanwhile, 10 Republican lobbyists said they can't remember a time when administration officials solicited them so openly, particularly at a time when a state budget was in play.

DeSantis uses a line-item veto procedure to slash funding, which the lobbyists are involved in seeking, and many of the lobbyists said they are feeling the pressure to donate to his campaign.

"What the f**k am I supposed to do?" one said. “I have a lot of business in front of the DeSantis administration.”

Another complained that the "ethics behind this is questionable at best," and one more said the practice is "walking a very close line to what is ethical and possibly legal."

"Using a bundle code makes it look like certain employees get credit with the campaign," that person added. “It’s very questionable.”

Another GOP lobbyist told NBC that "whoever is telling these kids to do this has lost their damn mind."

The DeSantis campaign announced Thursday that it had raised $8.2 million in its first 24 hours after his Twitter Spaces launch.

GOP consultants and fundraisers outside Florida told NBC News that they have never heard of a similar situation elsewhere, and said that would raise serious questions.

"If any of my clients had legislative staff sending out donation links, we would be having a hard conversation,” one fundraiser, who works on federal elections, commented, adding that even beyond the legal implications, the optics look bad.