‘I represent government,’ DeSantis appointee says during event against abortion amendment

Erik Dellenback addresses the crowd during the Tallahassee stop on Oct. 15, 2024, of the Florida Family Voice and Vote No on 4 statewide tour. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)Nearly 100 people gathered at a church in Tallahassee Monday night heard time and again that state government and the church must stand together to triumph over the proposed amendment that would protect abortion rights in Florida’s Constitution.

One of the speakers shepherding that message from the pulpit was Erik Dellenback, who leads the Gov. Ron DeSantis’ faith initiative.

“On behalf of the governor and first lady, thank you,” Dellenback said to the crowd at Four Oaks Community Church in Killearn, a capital city suburb. “Thank you for caring about this issue. Thank you for being here tonight.”

Florida Family Voice hosted the event with the Vote No on 4 campaign as part of a statewide tour seeking to defeat the amendment, which would undo the six-week abortion ban that went into effect in May. Dellenback’s appearance had been advertised via email from the Governor’s Faith and Community Initiative. But Dellenback also took ownership of the event, referring to it as “our tour.”

“Tonight, I represent government, but I have spent way more time as a faith person than I have as a government person. And this was a biblical issue before it was a political issue,” Dellenback said, advising people that their first course of action against Amendment 4 should be to pray.

Democratic state Rep. Kelly Skidmore of Palm Beach County believes it’s a problem that Dellenback claimed the government’s imprimatur during the event.

“I don’t know how he can boldly declare that he represents the government. He doesn’t. He represents DeSantis’ opinion on this particular issue,” Skidmore said.

‘Six years in the making’

Leaders from Florida Family Voice, the Vote No on 4 campaign, and Dellenback framed the abortion-rights amendment as a battle between good and evil. Their aim is to mobilize millions of religious Floridians against Amendment 4, which they figure would outmatch any billboard or television ad campaign.

At least 60% of voters must approve the abortion-rights amendment for it to become a part of Florida’s Constitution.

Religious institutions are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Vote No on 4 campaign through the Florida Voters Against Extremism PAC. The Archdiocese of Miami alone has donated $384,593, according to campaign finance records.

Florida Family Voice and Vote No on 4’s tour bus parked outside the Four Oaks Community Church Killearn in Tallahassee on Oct. 15, 2024. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)

But Dellenback also touted the governor’s involvement with religious communities. He noted that Florida is one of two states with a faith liaison within the governor’s office. His appearance to speak about Amendment 4 was not reactionary, Dellenback insisted, but a natural step in DeSantis’ commitment to faith-based institutions.

“This is six years in the making of relationally building relationships between faith and government,” he said. “Now, immediately, all kinds of little alarms go off in your head, and I just want to set you free today to say that it is a tremendously mystifying use of the separation of church and state that has caused government and faith not to speak to one another.”

Shortly after the governor’s office announced the creation of the faith and communities initiative with Dellenback as its leader in 2019, Dellenback started working as a consultant for the Florida Department of Children and Families on a $152,603 per year contract, according to the state employee salary database.

The governor’s bid against Amendment 4

A stack of flyers featuring an anti-abortion amendment prayer on display during a Florida Family Voice and Vote No on 4 event in Tallahassee on Oct. 15, 2024. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)

As Election Day nears, DeSantis has deployed state resources against the amendment sponsored by Floridians Protecting Freedom. On Friday, the Office of Election Crimes and Security released a 348-page interim report accusing the sponsor of “widespread election fraud” and hitting it with a fine of $328,000. Floridians Protecting Freedom plans to appeal the fine and its campaign director, Lauren Brenzel, denied wrongdoing, according to the Miami Herald.

The report came after Floridians had already started voting on the amendment through mail-in ballots.

Other tactics from the state include threats of criminal charges against TV stations displaying an ad from Floridians Protecting Freedom and a webpage launched by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration declaring that Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety.” Organizers of the anti-Amendment 4 event used the AHCA website as a resource during the presentation about existing abortion laws, displaying a QR code leading to the website on projectors.

Who could step in?

Although Floridians Protecting Freedom and critics of the DeSantis administration’s actions have tried to go to the courts to curb behavior they argue goes against Florida statutes, those attempts have been unsuccessful.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denied a petition from a South Florida attorney alleging that an email from the governor’s faith and communities initiative inviting people to an event titled, “Your Legal Rights & Amendment 4’s Ramifications,” amounted to interference with the election.

In the court’s opinion, only the attorney general, the statewide prosecutor, or a state attorney could bring criminal charges against DeSantis, which is unlikely to happen because Attorney General Ashley Moody (who supervises the statewide prosecutor) also opposes the amendment, and DeSantis has previously suspended Democratic state attorneys over political differences.

Orange County Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani said the DeSantis administration’s moves regarding the abortion amendment should not be normalized.

“It’s just shocking disregard for our systems of government for checks and balances and it’s an unsettling precedent because if he continues to get away with this type of behavior, nothing stops future governors from doing the same,” she said. “And regardless of what your position is on Amendment 4, that alone should be concerning.”

Although Florida has grown increasingly red, Amendment 4 has put a national spotlight on the state. So far, voters have protected abortion access in all four states where the issue has been on the ballot. But none of those states had a 60% approval threshold.

“There’s 10 more states up for this cycle in 21 days, so I need you to understand the fight is real. We see polls. Everybody feels how they feel about polls, but our polls are still showing 58 to 62% on the yes side,” Dellenback told the church crowd.

Floridians Protecting Freedom did not respond to Florida Phoenix’s request for comment.