BRADENTON – In our reporting last Sunday,TBTtook a deep dive into the PACs sponsoring electioneering materials in the county's District 4 race. Since that reporting,TBThas continued to follow the actions of PACs at play in Manatee County Commission races.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated with corrections and a response quote from Mr. Robinson. While FS 106.1439 requires that any electioneering communication, other than a text message or a telephone call, must prominently state: "Paid electioneering communication paid for by ...", the state limits the definition of electioneering to only those sent 30 days before a primary or special primary election or 60 days before any other election, therefore none of the communications referenced would violate the statute. That remains true even though the races in question are closed primaries with no ballot opposition in the general election.
In the district 4 primary race, theMake America Great Again PACis identified as having sponsored mailers and a website attackingRepublican incumbent Misty Servia. The Make America Great Again PAC is also sponsoring electioneering materials in the county's at-large district 6 race that attack Republican Carol Whitmore.
The Make America Great Again PAC has also sponsored mailers promoting the District 4 Republican challenger, Mike Rahn, as well as the District 6 Republicanchallenger, Jason Bearden.
But the attacks on Whitmore are not the only negative messaging to have recently been released in the county’s at-large race. Less than two weeks ago, a mailer was also sent out attacking Bearden. The PAC that claimed to have sponsored the mailer against Bearden is named the United Conservatives For Florida.
Perhaps what is most interesting about the electioneering materials that have been seen in the county’s at-large race is the fact that the competing messages–attacks against Whitmore, attacks against Bearden, and pro-Bearden messaging–are coming from two separate PACs which share the same registered agent and treasurer.
AsTBTreported on Sunday inUnraveling the PACS of District 4, the available filings for the Make America Great Again PAC show that Eric Robinson–a controversial figure who has been referred to as "The Prince of Dark Money"–is listed as the registered agent and treasurer of the MAGA PAC.
Besides producing mailers promoting Bearden, the MAGA PAC has also launched a website attacking Whitmore. Additionally, a recent text was disseminated to registered Republican voters that stated Whitmore is a "criminal" who could potentially be "jailed for theft"–an allegation stemming froma dust-up over campaign signs on Anna Maria Island. The text included a link to a website called "Retire Whitmore," a website claiming to be sponsored by the Make America Great Again PAC as well.
The opposing negative attacks in the at-large race against Bearden claimed to be sponsored by a PAC namedUnited Conservatives For Florida. That mailertold voters that Bearden would "fit better in an insane asylum" than on the Manatee County Commission. The mailer also repeated allegations thatBearden has ties to Qanon conspiracy theorists,as well as alleged intentions to use taxpayer dollars to invest in bitcoinif elected. Interestingly, public filings for the United Conservatives For Florida PAC reveal that the very same man listed as registered agent and treasurer for the MAGA PAC, Eric Robinson, is also listed as the registered agent and treasurer of the United Conservatives For Florida PAC.
It is somewhat unusual that two PACs sharing the same registered agent and treasurer would be pushing out electioneering materials that directly contradict the messaging of the other. It appears that Robinson is working behind the scenes on both of the PACs which are potentially working to the benefit of two opposing candidates running for the same commission seat–Whitmore and Bearden.
Another candidate in the at-large race, Republican Carol Felts, has so far avoided any negative attacks sponsored by PACs against her.
TBTreached out to long-time political commentator and WSLR’s radio show host forThe DetailCathy Antunes by phone to get her thoughts. Antunes has extensively researched PACs including those involved in local elections of past and current Sarasota County candidates. Antunes’2015 piece for SRQ Magazinecoined PAC manager Eric Robinson as "The Prince of Dark Money." She later produced a "dark money" e-flipbook titled "Local Dark Money: Citizens United Meets Main Street in Sarasota and Manatee Florida."
We asked Antunes if she thought it unusual that two separate PACs both associated with Robinson would run competing messages.
"In my experience, it is unprecedented," said Antunes. "I am unaware of any other instances where any PACs have participated in dual messaging, or playing both sides. I am also unaware of any PACs associated with Robinson having done so in the past."
Antunes toldTBTshe has been closely following and researching PACs since 2015.
AsTBTreported last Sunday,Citizens for Clean Governmenthas circulated mailers attacking District 4 Republican Challenger Mike Rahn. The PAC has also produced a website and video that questions Rahn's past financial and personal dealings. On mailers sponsored by the PAC, a disclaimer appears disclosing the PAC as having funded the mailer.
Likewise, its website,www.rahniswrong.com, and its video attacking Rahn’s candidacy both included the same disclaimer.
The MAGA PAC has disseminated Servia attack materials and Pro-Rahn mailers that included similar messaging to the Pro-Bearden mailers sponsored by the PAC in the county’s at-large race.
"PAC managers understand that PAC activity– and themselves as PAC managers– are increasingly being included as part of the story," Antunes toldTBTby phone. "With a higher level of scrutiny on PAC activity and the PAC managers themselves, it appears from my research as though some PACs are now engaging in deliberate anomalies to further erode transparency, including accounting anomalies and disclaimer anomalies."
In response, Mr. Robinson had this to add.
"Antunes has made numerous false accusations against me and upon review by an independent third party that have been proven to be false."
InTBT’s Sunday’s reporting–Unraveling the PACS of District 4–wereported that this election cycle is not the first that Manatee County voters have been the target of electioneering materials sponsored by the Make America Great Again PAC. In the 2020 commission races, the Make America Great Again PAC produced negative campaign mailers attacking opponents of current Manatee County Commissioners George Kruse, Kevin Van Ostenbridge, and James Satcher. In 2020,TBTreported several times tracing funding to the PAC as well as the dishonesty of its mailers.
Critics of political action committees often cite PACs' lack of transparency and oversight as a reason special interests favor using "dark money" in local elections. The committees tend to move money back and forth by donating to other PACs, serving to make dealings more opaque and impossible to identify both donors and specific sponsors of electioneering materials.
An important note included in last Sunday’s reporting that bears repeating is that in instances where a PAC produces electioneering materials, candidates who may benefit from these materials are notdirectlyaffiliated with the PACs. A candidate may not have knowledge of or a role in the electioneering materials or of the PAC's internal operations or its finances.
ClickHEREto view some of the PAC materials utilizedfor this reporting.
Dawn Kitterman is a staff reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers local government and entertainment news. She can be reached at dawn.kitterman@thebradentontimes.com.
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