Cotterell: ‘Dark money’ is infecting Florida campaigns

Bill Cotterell | Democrat correspondent

When we see political advertisements on TV this summer, or check out a social-media post about a candidate or issue, or find six or eight leaflets from campaign committees in our mailboxes, we can be sure of one thing.

Somebody, somewhere, for some reason, paid a lot of money to bring you these messages. Whether it’s a political party, a candidate’s campaign consultants or some special interest group, they want you to think their way when you fill out your ballot.

That’s not so bad when they clearly identify themselves. When you hear, “I’m Rick Scott and I approved this message,” or you see “Pd. Pol. Adv.” in small print on a mailed piece, you know who’s trying to get your support. Unfortunately, the First Amendment being what it is, the interests shaping our elections don’t always have to tell us who they are. Recent news reports indicate that “dark money” is beclouding this campaign season like green algae blooms in South Florida waterways.

The Treasure Coast Newspapers reported last week that a Virginia nonprofit organization known as the Tenth Amendment Project sought to link Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam to U.S. Sugar Corp. An attack ad running in the populous Tampa Bay area says Putnam took $600,000 from “big sugar” and let the industry cause the great globs of goo in waterways.

The paper said the Tenth Amendment Project is linked to TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, a supporter of U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, Putnam’s opponent in the Republican race for governor.

Nonprofits are not required to disclose their donors, as political committees are.

Putnam certainly has a lot to answer for regarding algae blooms, but the people hurling the accusations ought to fully identify themselves – and disclose where they get the money for their attack ads.

As if to get even, the National Liberty Foundation ran some radio ads accusing DeSantis – falsely – of voting in Congress “to give food stamps to people who are in the United States illegally.” After the non-partisan research group PolitiFact gave the spot its “pants on fire” rating, and the DeSantis campaign complained, radio stations quit running the ad.

But you can’t blame Putnam for it. He may have benefited from the hit on DeSantis, but he’s not in charge of the National Liberty Foundation – which, naturally, doesn’t have to disclose its donors.

We’re seeing it in the Democratic race, too. Mayor Andrew Gillum rarely misses an opportunity to remind voters he’s the only non-millionaire in the five-candidate primary for governor. But he’s got some friends with plenty of dark money.

The Collective, a political action committee supporting liberal black candidates, committed $782,000 to a series of advertisements attacking former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham. Politico reported that The Collective received one contribution of $742,720 in May from its affiliate, the Collective Future, a social-welfare nonprofit which doesn’t have to disclose its donors.

Gillum piously maintains that he wishes The Collective would voluntarily disclose its donors. But it doesn’t bother him enough to turn down the money.

The Tampa Bay Times last week cited a 2016 report by the research organization MapLight, which said the number of dark-money committees in Florida has more than doubled since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on political speech in its 2010 Citizens United ruling.

“The impact of dark money in this race for governor could be even more dramatic, and voters should not be silent about it,” the Times editorialized. “They should demand candidates renounce dark money and the attack ads that money finances.”

Don’t hold your breath waiting for candidates, in either party, to bite the hands that feed their campaigns. Nor should we expect any real reform from a Congress addicted to millions in corporate largesse. And the author of that Citizens United ruling is about to be replaced by a justice even more conservative, so there’ll be no reform there.

The only defense we have as voters is to nullify these attack ads for ourselves. When you see, hear or read advertising that condemns or commends a candidate or a constitutional amendment, just don’t believe it.

Remember that someone, somewhere, for some reason is paying a lot of money to get you to think one way or another about a topic. If those folks want you to believe what they say, why not tell you who they are?

Bill Cotterell is a retired Tallahassee Democrat reporter who writes a twice-weekly column. He can be reached at bcotterell@tallahassee.com