Negative ads blasting state Rep. Tom Leek have gone on air in Northeast Florida as the Senate campaign begins in earnest.
But who's behind the attacks?
The Truth Matters political committee, launched in April, has blasted Senate District 7 with covered flyers, launched an anti-Leek website called LiberalLeek.com, and now spent money on broadcast advertising.
"Liberal politician Tom Leek claims to be a Republican but his record is not conservative," a female narrator states over images of the lawmaker.
The advertisements are part of what appears to be a well-financed attack on the Ormond Beach Republican, and a surprising one at that.
Leek remains the financial frontrunner in a GOP Primary whose winner almost certainly will take the seat in November.
Adding to the mystery, the political committee behind the ads is chaired by Erika Alba, who until recently served as General Counsel to Associated Industries of Florida, a pro-business PAC that has endorsed Leek. Alba at one point served as board chair for the highly influential advocacy group.
But her role with the anti-Leek ads appears to have caused a fissure with that group.
"Erika Alba is no longer outside counsel for AIF," said Brewster Bevis, AIF president and CEO. "AIF has endorsed and fully supports Tom Leek's candidacy for SD 7. Our organization has no affiliation with this group."
Alba now works for Woolsey Morcom, a Ponte Vedra-based personal injury law firm. She did not returns calls for comment from Florida Politics.
She's just one prominent Republican connected to the committee. The Truth Matters lists Eric Robinson, a Venice-based political accountant working primarily with Republican candidates and political committees, as its treasurer.
Robinson declined to comment for this story. He owns an accounting firm with Joe Gruters, a sitting state Senator and Florida Republican National Committeeman. Gruters said he has no connection to the group.
And according to postage attribution, flyers printed by the group were printed and distributed by Drummond Press, a go-to print shop for Republicans in Northeast Florida.
"We believe Republicans owe it to their constituents to govern as conservatives, not just talk about it," reads the LiberalLeek website.
As for the ads, they hit Leek for a number of votes taken over his eight years in the Florida House, and even a few actions before that. Fliers say Leek "supported state budgets giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants," an apparent reference to allowing undocumented immigrants with Florida residency to pay in-state tuition.
That's a policy once championed by GOP Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and approved by the Legislature three years before Leek won election to the House, but included in subsequent state budgets.
They also hit Leek for voting for "massive gun control," based on his support of the Marjorie Stoneman High School Public Safety Act. It also slams Leek for taking money from "anti-Trump" unions and for donating money to Democrats, a reference to donations to individuals before Leek entered politics.
It's unclear who financed the round of attacks, in part by design. The political committee formed on April 1, just a day after the last fundraising reporting period. That means there won't be any reports on fundraising until June 10.
Leek's campaign pushed back on accusations in the ad and hinted at who he believes may be behind the ads.
"Conservative Republicans are routinely attacked by billboard personal injury lawyers and their recent attacks on Rep. Tom Leek are not surprising," said campaign spokesperson Christina Johnson. "What is surprising is that by attacking Tom Leek they are also questioning the reputation of those who have strongly backed his candidacy, including every county sheriff in the district, the state attorney, the public defender, and America First Congressmen Michael Waltz and Cory Mills, who only endorse conservatives."
Leek also has the endorsement of House Speaker Paul Renner, and served this year as House Appropriations Committee Chair as part of the Republican supermajority's leadership team. And he has the backing of all four Republican Sheriffs in the district.
"Tom Leek fought special interests throughout his eight-year tenure in the House and he knew one day they'd take their shot at him, and Republican primary voters of Senate District 7 won't stand for these billboard personal injury lawyers hiding behind a dark money group hurling these false claims," Johnson said.
Leek supported sweeping legislation in 2023 that was aimed at curbing lawsuit abuse in Florida. The tort bill had been a priority of Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, but was hated by personal injury and family law attorneys across the political spectrum. Multiple sources told Florida Politics the work of the committee seems most clearly connected to the trial attorney lobby.
Still, the biggest question around the ads may not be the motive behind the attack but the ultimate aim.
The most obvious explanation for flyers hitting the streets attacking one candidate is that backers support another. Leek faces Republican Gerry James in a GOP Primary on Aug. 20, and James acknowledged he has spoken with individuals in the group, though he declined to say with whom.
"I'm not at liberty to say but they are supportive of me," he said. As for the ads? "They are 100% true, unlike what the establishment will put out about me," he said.
But many political observers in Northeast Florida question if the type of money behind The Truth Matters truly aims to boost James, a retired professional wrestler who last election cycle lost a GOP Primary to retiring state Sen. Travis Hutson in the same district. Hutson in that race won a Republican Primary with 56% of the vote.
James in that election spent a little over $61,000, about $11,000 of it out of pocket, while Hutson spent almost $250,000 from his campaign account alone. He's always run on an anti-establishment platform, and this year is no different.
Fundraising has been similarly lop-sided so far in 2024. Leek through March already raised nearly $380,000 for his campaign, compared to James' under-$37,000. That doesn't even factor in the outside available help for Leek from groups like AIF.
The funding disparity suggests to many supportive of Leek that another candidate may yet come into the picture.
Democrat George Anthony "T" Hill has already filed for the seat and has largely self-funded his campaign, spending upward of $20,000 through March with money coming almost entirely from a $55,000 candidate loan. Michael Gist, a non-party-affiliated candidate, has reported only $50 in fundraising.
But this is also a red seat. Some 62% of voters in the district in 2020 supported Donald Trump for President. More than 69% of voters there backed Gov. Ron DeSantis' re-election in 2022.
This has many around Leek looking toward June 14, the last day a potential Primary challenger to Leek could qualify to run against him.
In the meantime, Leek has stepped up his campaign efforts early, already putting ads on the radio. Most likely, the Ormond Beach Republican will take his own message to TV airwaves in the near future.
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