Read this incredible news report in Politico. On an evening when the top GOP candidates sparred for the first time in public, Big Sugar's influence peddling was on full display yet none in the audience, or the candidates for the matter, dared touch the issue of subsidies and corporate welfare benefiting the billionaires who were not in attendance but watching from behind the velvet curtains of the Republican Party of Florida.
For at least eight years, Big Sugar carefully cultivated its successor to Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who proved amenable to giving the industry whatever concessions it wants. (For his work on their behalf, Big Sugar is pushing hard for Gov. Scott to defeat Democratic Senator Bill Nelson this November.) That successor: Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam. Putnam's own incredible deal with the state (his family farm was purchased at a multiple of appraised value by Florida) assured his place in the pantheon of sugar-bought politicians.
Congressman Ron DeSantis emerged unexpectedly to challenge the carefully scripted GOP program for Scott's successor. And he did so with the early endorsement of the president he is fiercely defending in Congress, Donald Trump.
At Eye On Miami, we've speculated about Trump's relationship with Big Sugar; ie. that Palm Beach royalty, led by the Florida Crystal's Fanjul family, viewed Trump for many years as a crass arriviste. He would have known. When it came time to choose its candidate to succeed Obama, Big Sugar naturally threw its weight behind Liddle Marco Rubio. So perhaps Trump's quick endorsement of DeSantis has something to do with the double edged sword.
First Florida GOP gubernatorial forum ends in scuffle with anti-DeSantis activists
By MATT DIXON 05/06/2018 08:00 AM EDT
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
ORLANDO � Florida�s two Republican gubernatorial candidates, appearing at the same forum for the first time on Saturday night, largely agreed on a host of conservative issues like expanding school choice, protecting gun rights or imposing stricter abortion laws.
But the event hosted by the conservative Florida Family Policy Council and moderated by GOP pollster Frank Luntz could not mask what is turning into a nasty Republican primary between between Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Rep. Ron DeSantis.
The coarseness of the campaign was on display outside the doors of the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, where a young man in a red �Make America Great� hat handed out packets packed with opposition research on DeSantis. The packet, titled �Who is the Real Ron DeSantis?� carried the disclaimer �paid for by the National Liberty Federation.� It�s a group with ties to US Sugar that has spent roughly $1.5 million in ads so far hammering DeSantis.
