Florida voters became immune to Big Sugar's influence on local and state politics -- it needs to organize the political ladder because rules and regulations can harm its profits. But the outbreak of dangerous, harmful algae for the third time in five years really rankled Floridians.
Big Sugar's candidate for governor is Adam Putnam, a Republican who has been cultivated by the industry as carefully as it tends its cane crop. (For our archive on Adam Putnam, click here.)
Remarkably, political money from Big Sugar has become toxic in this campaign cycle for the first time ever. All of the leading Democratic candidates for Governor and many Congressional candidates, including some Republicans, have signed the Bullsugar.org questionnaire pledging that they will not take Big Sugar money. That's a first, and for that, credit Bullsugar.org (if you would like to contribute to the organization, now is a very good time to do it!)
For reasons why, read this excellent report in the Tampa Bay Times.
This candidate for Florida governor is the only one taking money from Big Sugar
BY CRAIG PITTMAN
Tampa Bay Times
August 06, 2018 08:31 AM
Updated 6 hours 55 minutes ago
Florida politicians from both parties used to have a sweet tooth for campaign contributions from the state�s powerful sugar industry.
But now that Big Sugar is getting blamed for toxic algae blooms, a connection to the industry has turned into a political liability. This campaign season, only one person running for governor is still taking sugar�s money: Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
So far sugar companies and their affiliates have given Putnam�s campaign and his Florida Grown PAC $804,000 in direct contributions, a reward for a reliable ally. He�s also received $7.6 million from five political action committees that receive a significant portion of their contributions from the industry, or one out of every five dollars he has raised.
Putnam also is the only gubernatorial candidate defending the sugar companies from accusations that they deserve some or all of the blame for the pollution-fueled algae blooms mucking up Lake Okeechobee and threatening to ruin beach communities on both coasts.
�I support our Glades communities,� he said during an April television interview with WPTV in West Palm Beach, speaking of the areas around the Everglades where sugarcane is grown. �I support giving them the opportunities to have good jobs ... And I think they�re a viable, vibrant part of our economy, and the water that leaves sugar farms is cleaner than the water that comes on to them.�
He said the challenges facing Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades and the coastline go beyond sugar and include everyone who has moved to a state once covered by wetlands. It�s not as simple as taking out �the bad guys,� he said.
Putnam�s GOP rival, Ron DeSantis, and all five leading Democratic candidates have been painting the sugar companies as corporate greed heads who don�t care what damage they do to the rest of Florida. DeSantis, a congressman unpopular with sugar companies since he voted against giving them federal price supports, told the GOP Sunshine Summit in June that Putnam and Big Sugar are �tied at the hip.�
For once, environmental groups are on the same side as DeSantis, even though he was endorsed by President Trump, whom they dislike. Kim Mitchell, executive director of the Everglades Trust, has dubbed the agriculture commissioner �Pay-to-Play Putnam.�
Putnam�s campaign spokeswoman couldn�t explain why he�s still taking sugar money at a time when the industry is so unpopular. Instead, Meredith Beatrice pointed out that some other candidates took sugar contributions in prior campaigns, then stopped.
Now, she said, the other candidates �are fueled by out-of-state special interests.� Beatrice said Putnam is �the only candidate who isn�t controlled by the Washington swamp.�
Republican lobbyist and campaign consultant Towson Fraser said he didn�t think Putnam�s ties to sugar would hurt him in the long run because so many people who work in agriculture will still vote for him. Meanwhile, Ben Wilcox of the government watchdog group Integrity Florida said he�s glad to see so much attention being paid to who�s financing the candidates.
�So much cash flows into these campaigns that we need to hold people accountable for who their funders are,� said Wilcox. He said politicians ought to be like NASCAR drivers who emblazon the names of their sponsors on their cars.
The big question, Wilcox said, is what Big Sugar expects from Putnam in return. No one from either U.S. Sugar or Florida Crystals, the state�s biggest sugar companies, responded to numerous calls and e-mails seeking comment.
Putnam grew up in the Central Florida town of Bartow, known for cultivating citrus and producing cattle � not sugar. State records show he began taking money from the sugar industry as far back as 1996. That�s the year he was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives at age 22, becoming the youngest legislator in state history.
He continued accepting contributions from sugar during his 10 years in Congress, and through his election as state agriculture commissioner in 2010 and subsequent re-election four years ago. Throughout his long career in office, he has consistently supported the same positions as the sugar companies:
