ORLANDO, Fla. — The dark-money nonprofit that worked with Republican strategists last year to promote spoiler independent candidates in important state Senate races in Florida also raised more than $700,000 from organizations controlled by Democratic fundraisers.
The nonprofit, Grow United Inc., which is based out of a UPS Store in Denver, provided more than half a million dollars last fall that Republican strategists used to advertise little-known independent candidates who did no campaigning of their own in three key Senate elections — one in Central Florida and two in South Florida. The ads appeared designed to appeal to voters who might otherwise have voted for the Democrats in the three races, all of which were ultimately won by Republicans, helping the GOP retain control of the 40-member Florida Senate.
But even as it financed efforts to undermine Democratic Senate candidates, Grow United also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from groups that were supporting those same candidates.
Representatives for “The People Over Profits Florida Inc.,” a nonprofit founded by a former Democratic lawmaker and candidate for attorney general, said the organization donated approximately $500,000 to Grow United last year. And representatives for “A Better Miami Dade Inc.,” another nonprofit controlled by Democratic consultants, said it gave $222,500 to Grow United.
Neither organization would say where the money they gave to Grow United came from. They do not have to disclose their own donors, but they do have to report transfers to other nonprofits.
Some government watchdogs say the fact that Democratic and Republican strategists were using the same entity to hide the identities of donors shows how omnipresent dark money has become in elections — from campaigns for the presidency all the way down to state Senate districts and county commissions.
“It shows how some nonprofits are essentially tools in the toolbox of political operatives that can be pulled out or borrowed when they have a need to inject cash into elections without revealing the true identity of the donors,” said Matt Corley, the chief investigator at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group that attempts to trace dark money.
The Democrats who worked with Grow United say they are confident that the money they gave to the organization was ultimately spent in support of Democratic candidates and causes during the 2020 elections. They say they had no idea that the organization was also working with Republicans — sometimes in the very same races.
“People Over Profits ... works and partners with organizations that it believes to be aligned with its mission,” Ron Meyer, a Tallahassee election-law attorney who represents that group, said in a written statement. “POP provided grant funding in late 2020 to Grow United with that in mind. Like so many in the state, POP was outraged when news came out that Grow United was simultaneously helping organizations which worked against POP’s strong allies that fight for POP’s values and mission.”
Campaign finance records show that Grow United donated more than $700,000 in the month before last year’s elections to the Florida Democratic Party and various political committees controlled by Democratic operatives. Much of that money was then spent to help Democratic candidates in a handful of competitive Senate races around the state that were seen as key to determining which party would control the chamber — including Senate District 9 in Seminole and Volusia counties, Senate District 37 in Miami-Dade County and Senate District 39 in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Those were the same three Senate races where so-called “ghost” independent candidates appeared on the ballot and were promoted by a $550,000 advertising campaign. Campaign finance records show the money for that advertising blitz came from Grow United. (Federal records show that Grow United also gave $100,000 to an organization that helped Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin of Lakeland win election to Congress.)
Authorities in Miami are now prosecuting former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles, who they say bribed the independent candidate who ran in Senate District 37 as part of a scheme to tilt the race to the GOP. Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami ultimately won that race by just 32 votes; the independent candidate, Alex Rodriguez, received more than 6,000 votes.
Authorities also arrested Rodriguez, who has since pleaded guilty and is now cooperating in the case against Artiles. Artiles has pleaded not guilty.
Most of the Democratic donations to Grow United were coordinated by Dan Newman, a longtime Democratic fundraiser in Tallahassee and former lobbyist at a firm that during his tenure represented companies such as electric utility Florida Power & Light, credit-card processor Visa, and cigarette-maker Reynolds American.
One of Newman’s clients during last year’s elections was former state Rep. Javier Fernandez, the Democratic candidate who lost the race for Senate District 39 to Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez of Miami. Grow United money was used to promote independent candidate Celso Alfonso in that race; records released in the Artiles case show that Artiles also helped arrange Alfonso’s campaign, though Alfonso has not been charged with any crimes.
The third independent candidate promoted with Grow United money was Jestine Iannotti, who appeared on the ballot in Senate District 9 in Central Florida, a race ultimately won by Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur of Sanford. Iannotti, who has since moved to Sweden and had help from a controversial local political consultant, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Newman said he “collaborated with multiple progressive donors” to raise money into Grow United, though he would not identify any of the original sources of the money. He said he was “completely shocked” to learn that Grow United was also involved in the independent candidate strategy.
“Only through news articles that have come out since the 2020 election did I learn other donors were also working with Grow United to support sham candidates,” Newman said.
Newman said Grow United was suggested to him by Jeff Pitts, a consultant until-recently based in Alabama who now leads Canopy Partners, a Tallahassee-based communications and political consulting firm. The firm’s clients have included sugar grower Florida Crystals and a company that matches the description of NextEra Energy Inc., the parent company of Florida Power & Light.
Other records released in the Artiles case also indicate links between Grow United and people at Canopy Partners — and with other nonprofits and limited liability companies that have been active in Florida politics.
Pitts declined to comment through a spokesperson. He and others at Canopy Partners used to work together at an Alabama-based consulting firm, Matrix LLC, which recently sued them in Alabama court accusing them of cheating Matrix out of fees. Canopy Partners this month countersued in Florida court, accusing the founder and owner of Matrix of attempting to extort Pitts, Canopy and one of its clients for $4.5 million.
While some Democrats say they feel burned by Grow United, it’s not clear what, if anything, they are doing about it.
For instance, Sean Shaw, a former Democratic state lawmaker and attorney general candidate who founded People Over Profits, declined to say whether he has made any effort to determine who was in control of Grow United — though he said his organization “will never, ever contribute to Grow United again.”
Patricia Sigman, the Democratic candidate who lost the Senate District 9 race, said she is confident that none of the money that Democrats raised through Grow United was used to sabotage any Democratic campaigns.
“I’m comfortable with all of the evidence I’ve seen that this was not friendly fire,” she said.
Former Democratic Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez of Miami, who lost the Senate District 37 race, declined to comment.
Fernandez, the Democratic candidate who lost the Senate District 39 race, defended Democrats’ use of dark-money groups to hide the identities of certain donors. He said it was necessary because Senate Republican leaders in Tallahassee were putting “extraordinary pressure on donors” to not give money to Democratic candidates in the most competitive Senate campaigns.
“Given this unprecedented level of retribution, I have no doubt that donors felt they needed to support other organizations to ultimately help candidates they believed would make the best senators,” Fernandez said.
Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican from Pasco County who led Senate campaigns for Republicans last cycle, did not respond to a request for comment.
But Corley, the chief investigator for CREW, said the lack of transparency is harmful, regardless of the cause.
“Voters lose out — they are kept in the dark about who is trying to influence their decisions at the ballot box and who may be influencing the decision-making of officials whose actions affect their lives,” Corley added. “The risk of corruption is very real. The public is blocked from learning who is spending large amounts to benefit elected officials, but that doesn’t mean the officials themselves are in the dark.”
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