campaign finance
Most people assume political giving is simple: a polluting industry gives money to politicians who can help it get what it wants. But often, industry donors avoid giving directly to a campaign and instead give to a politician’s PAC (political…
Due to the fact they had no competition — either in the August primary nor the November general elections — several south Florida lawmakers have already been “reelected.” From the Miami Herald: “In Miami-Dade County, incumbent Republican Reps. Demi Busatta…
If you wanted a graphic illustration of how “dirty money” works, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything more egregious — obnoxious — than the Destin land deal. In September 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Florida cabinet — including Attorney…
If you’ve been following VoteWater for a while, you know about our Dirty Money Project. Since we launched it in 2024, we’ve been connecting the dots between the campaign contributions pouring in from builders, developers, utilities, phosphate companies, and sugar…
Florida Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds can talk a good game about clean water. When he first ran for Congress he identified it as a top priority; he’s advocated for Everglades funding, and on his campaign website he…
State campaign finance data for the fourth quarter of 2025 has dropped, and initially we were going to write about how much Big Sugar gave last year. And in fact, we WILL write about it, right here: According to the…
Statewide elections are still a year away — but Florida’s sugar industry continues to spend like there’s no tomorrow. The latest state campaign finance data shows that Big Sugar has given at least $2.48 million in “dirty money” — political…
Florida’s newest U.S. Senator, Ashley Moody, was appointed in January and has never run for that seat — so she hasn’t (yet) amassed a treasure chest of federal “dirty money” contributions. But as Florida’s Attorney General from 2017-January 2025, she…
We’re watching the Ron DeSantis-Legislative feud with a truckload of popcorn. The proximate cause of the recent nastiness is immigration legislation, the fact DeSantis called the Legislature up to Tallahassee on what was supposed to be a week off, the…
VoteWater’s “Dirty Money Project” is making news across the Sunshine State. First, Executive Director Gil Smart’s Oct. 4 op-ed in the Miami Herald explained how “dirty money” to dirty politicians is a root cause of dirty water. Then, just this…