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 action committee). Most politicians have one. The appeal is simple: direct contributions to a candidate are capped — in Florida, at $1,000 per election cycle for legislative candidates — but contributions to a PAC are unlimited.

So while you can only give Florida legislative candidate Joe Blow $1,000, you can give the “Friends of Joe Blow” PAC $10,000, $100,000, or more.

But suppose a donor wants more distance than that — some plausible deniability. Maybe they don’t want their name directly tied to the money, or the candidate doesn’t want it publicly known how much they’re receiving from special interests. That’s where the PAC-to-PAC shell game comes in.

A case study: Florida Crystals and “The Committee”

Take a $500,000 donation from sugar giant Florida Crystals made on June 15 to a PAC called “The Committee.” The Committee is new — active only since January 2025 — but has already raised nearly $3.3 million. Florida Crystals’ donation is a large piece of that, but most of The Committee’s money actually comes from a different PAC, “Florida PC,” which is also heavily funded by Florida Crystals.

The bottom line: Florida Crystals is a major funder of The Committee. So where does The Committee’s money go?

The recipient list is short but influential:

• $360,000 (across three contributions) to the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC. Florida Crystals hasn’t given to this PAC directly — U.S. Sugar has — but through The Committee, Florida Crystals has indirectly funneled substantial support to the likely GOP nominee for Florida governor.
• $200,000 to the Friends of Ben Albritton (former Florida Senate President)
• $50,000 each to: Friends of Wilton Simpson (Agriculture Commissioner), Friends of Josie Tomkow (state Rep.), and Friends of Jennifer Canady (state Rep.)

The Committee has also given to other PACs, which in turn fund still more PACs and a few candidates directly. At every step, Florida Crystals can truthfully say it never gave money directly to, say, Rep. Tomkow. But indirectly — through The Committee — Florida Crystals and other donors funneled $50,000 to her PAC.

Why it matters

This money trail is hard to follow by design. Without knowing where and how to look, it’s easy to underestimate how much politicians actually receive from entrenched special interests.

The PAC shell game works: it rewards “friendly” candidates and allows special interests to maintain their grip on policy and the political process — all while staying largely invisible to the public.

With no real campaign finance reform on the horizon, VoteWater believes knowledge is power. We’re committed to exposing “dirty money” in all its forms, so you can see who’s really buying and selling our democracy.