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    • DeSantis seeks to keep abortion rights and marijuana measures below 60%
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    DeSantis seeks to keep abortion rights and marijuana measures below 60%

    Umito Posted on

    The governor’s political future also depends, at least in part, on keeping the proposals below the 60 percent each needs to be approved.

    John Kennedy
    | Capital Office | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

    Governor Ron DeSantis passes the final electoral straight concentrated almost solely on two of the most expensive election campaigns in the country, throwing away millions of dollars of taxpayer money and a a wave of dubious claims against the legalization of marijuana and the restoration of abortion rights in Florida.

    Groups spend Amendment 3, which would allow recreational marijuana, and Amendment 4, expanding access to abortion, have raised more than $225 million over the past two years, putting them at the top of more than 150 ballot propositions presented to American voters on November 5.

    Television, radio and digital platforms are ablaze with advertising during the closing hours of the campaign. The governor and First Lady Casey DeSantis are central players in the campaign’s end, making daily appearances in recent weeks to destroy Amendments 3 and 4.

    The governor’s political future also depends, at least in part, on keeping the proposals below the 60% support level each needs to be approved. If the measures pass, DeSantis’ influence could take a hit as he approaches his final two years as Florida’s president. His term is limited and he will leave office in January 2027.

    DeSantis challenges Trump on marijuana

    Former President Donald Trump supported the marijuana initiative, which DeSantis is now trying to defeat. DeSantis is also drawing criticism for marshaling state resources to kill the two measures, which were passed only after collecting about 1 million signatures from Floridians.

    “No matter where you stand on this issue, we’re still in a democracy, and in a democracy we don’t spend taxpayer dollars ahead of a political issue,” said Republican Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, a former Republican Party chairman. from Florida. supports Trump.

    Gruters said he opposed the abortion rights measure but ridiculed DeSantis’ amendment spending as “propaganda.”

    The Amendment 3 campaign estimates that $50 million of taxpayer money was spent by the governor against the measure, to fund 13,000 television spots, 5,000 radio spots and more. The campaign said public funds dedicated to DeSantis’ anti-abortion rights effort undoubtedly exceed that figure.

    According to analysis by OpenSecrets, the nonprofit political money tracking site, the marijuana amendment brought in $125 million from both sides, including $93 million from Trulieve, the marijuana giant. pot industry, which supports it. It is the most expensive electoral issue in the country.

    Supporters of Florida’s Amendment 4 contributed $110 million, far more than the $10 million raised by opponents. That could make it the nation’s second-most expensive proposal put before voters, according to OpenSecrets data.

    But campaign spending reports are just a snapshot in time, especially as Election Day approaches, as the dollars continue to flow.

    Presidential spending down Presidential TV ad spending down in Florida, but amendments bring in big money

    DeSantis administration unresponsive to criticism

    Yet the DeSantis administration remains impervious to criticism for spending taxpayer dollars on issues that many of those same taxpayers helped put on the ballot.

    “Critics say it’s inappropriate, it’s unusual to do this. I would say it’s a responsibility that the state has to educate individuals so that they know what they’re voting for,” said the Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez during a recent appearance in Clearwater.

    The governor spent virtually no time campaigning for Trump, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott or other Florida Republicans in the election. Instead, DeSantis traveled the state, for example, with doctors opposed to Amendment 4, claiming a host of flaws.

    The measure would erase the state law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which DeSantis pushed through a compliant, Republican-controlled Legislature. If approved by voters, Amendment 4 aims to restore the approximately 24-week standard in place in Florida for nearly five decades before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

    But DeSantis says Amendment 4 lacks definitions — even though a majority of the Florida Supreme Court approved the ballot language. Furthermore, he claims that the bill will allow abortion at any time and for any reason. This is misleading, since Florida law defines fetal viability.

    DeSantis further warns that any medical professional could perform abortions if the measure passes, although Florida law separately requires doctors to perform the procedure.

    #FlaDems still hopes for a push: Could the wave of black voters in favor of Kamala Harris help Florida Democrats vote against it?

    Context: Why no battlefield? How Florida Went Red: Changing Population, Weak Opposition, Aggressive Governor Ron DeSantis

    While obfuscating what Amendment 4 would allow, DeSantis raged about whether the measure should even be on the ballot. His State Department, which oversees national elections, recently released a 348-page “preliminary” report alleging that fraudulent signatures helped put the proposal on the ballot, while petition gatherers were illegally paid for each signature.

    DeSantis’ efforts echo election denialism

    With the release of the report, clearly intended to undermine support for the abortion measure, some critics have heard echoes of Trump’s election denials, which the Republican presidential candidate is once again bolstering with unfounded claims of voter fraud on the battlefield of Pennsylvania.

    From USA TODAY: Trump, RNC Claim Voter Suppression Based on Unverified Social Media Videos

    DeSantis’ fight against Amendment 3 involves claims that smoking will be widespread and public throughout Florida. The governor does not note, however, that state smoking laws already impose some restrictions and that the pro-Amendment 3 campaign supports lawmakers imposing more limits if the measure is approved.

    “We’ve seen more and more campaigns with exaggerated claims, blatantly false claims or outright lies,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida. “It seems to be more and more standard operating procedure.”

    Jewett said DeSantis appears to have adopted the tactics of Trump, who crushed his bid for the Republican presidential nomination but which DeSantis later endorsed.

    DeSantis “is willing to push the boundaries of what is legal and exceed the norms that have sort of existed in Florida politics and in American politics,” Jewett said.

    “He said he was going to use every lever of power a governor has to push his agenda to its limits. And he did it. Using state resources to fight these two election amendments is just the latest example,” he added.

    Allegations that Amendment 4 was fraudulently placed on the ballot fit into this Trump-style pattern, voting rights advocates say. The signatures were verified by election supervisors and the measure was certified for the ballot by Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a DeSantis appointee, in January.

    “Undermining the integrity of elections seems to be part of the GOP playbook,” said Brad Ashwell, Florida director for All Voting is Local, a national nonpartisan voting rights organization. “Common themes we see are complaints that non-citizens are voting, some people on the rolls shouldn’t be on the rolls, and vote counting machines are unreliable or have been hacked in some way. ‘another one.

    “It appears to be a coordinated message from the top down,” he added.

    John Kennedy is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected]or on X at @JKennedyReport.

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