Taxpayers may not have to support political candidates much longer, raising questions about whether running for office statewide going forward will be a rich person's game exclusively.
Sen. Travis Hutson's measure (SJR 1114), newly signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, will let voters this year decide in a referendum whether they want to end the provision that has been in effect since the Legislature passed it in 1986 — an era in which Florida and its campaign finance looked very different from the way they do today in some ways, but nonetheless saw some dynamics familiar to people of today.
"The Legislature finds that the costs of running an effective campaign for statewide office have reached a level which tends to discourage persons from becoming candidates and to limit the persons who run for such office to those who are independently wealthy, who are supported by political committees representing special interests which are able to generate substantial campaign contributions, or who must appeal to special interest groups for campaign contributions," reads the language currently in statute.
The money at stake is not insignificant. Roughly $13 million was spent in 2022 and $10 million in 2018 on subsidizing candidates. DeSantis drew down more than $7 million in his re-election effort.
At least 60% of voters will have to approve of this change in order for it to take effect.
"Repeal of the requirement for public financing of political campaigns would take effect upon approval by the voters," notes a Senate committee analysis of the resolution.
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