dirty money
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 want an Attorney General dedicated to serving polluting industries and other special interests, James Uthmeier is your man. The state’s top law enforcement officer — the official charged with protecting Floridians from corporate wrongdoing — has never been…
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…
It’s been quite a year. It began with the battle over the future of Florida’s state parks and Big Sugar’s proposed rock mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area. It concludes, now, with a new EPA proposal to eliminate crucial wetlands…
If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out the Tampa Bay Times blockbuster two-part series on how Florida’s water quality is getting worse almost across the board — in large part because Florida lets special interests (developers, Big…
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…
During the 2025 budget negotiations, state legislative leaders pleaded poverty and stiffed Florida’s marquee land acquisition program, Florida Forever, allocating just $18 million. But turns out the state actually has plenty of money to spend on land conservation — so long…
What we are witnessing, with “Alligator Alcatraz,” is a master class in how “dirty money” works. As multiple media outlets have reported, several companies involved in the construction and operation of the Everglades detention center have donated to Gov. Ron…
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…