José Javier Rodríguez gets $5 million national injection for Florida AG race

José Javier Rodríguez, who is running to become Florida’s attorney general, just scored a $5 million donation from the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

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The money represents the largest donation this cycle from a national Democratic group to a statewide Florida candidate.

The cash injection follows years of national neglect for state party candidates. It also comes as Democrats continue to seize on a leaked grand jury report accusing the DeSantis administration of misappropriating Medicaid money.

Although that report was lambasted by an appellate court earlier this week for “defects,” it may have renewed national interest in Florida races. The association cited Uthmeier’s involvement in the Hope Florida scandal in its news release announcing the donation to Rodríguez.

Rodríguez is running to unseat incumbent Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and previously served as the governor’s chief of staff. Uthmeier controlled an anti-recreational marijuana political committee that got nearly $10 million from a Medicaid settlement that the grand jury said was funneled through the Hope Florida Foundation.

His committee was dedicated to destroying a 2024 marijuana ballot measure that DeSantis opposed.

The Hope Florida Foundation supports Hope Florida, a signature initiative of DeSantis and his wife, Casey, that has aimed to get people off government assistance by connecting them with nonprofits and churches instead.

Uthmeier has denied all wrongdoing, and a grand jury declined to bring charges against him.

The nonprofit’s donation would nearly double how much Rodríguez, a former state senator, has raised since he launched his campaign last year.

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“We have been working very, very hard for almost 500 days from Pensacola to Key West,” Rodríguez told the Times/Herald by phone Friday.

But Rodríguez’s campaign coffers are a fraction of Uthmeier’s war chest.

Uthmeier, with the backing of the Republican Party of Florida, has raised more than $13 million compared to Rodríguez’s $3 million, with more than $10 million in cash to spend versus Rodríguez’s $1 million, according to campaign records posted Oct. 2.

In a statement to the Times/Herald, Brittany McGivern, a spokesperson for Uthmeier’s campaign, downplayed the donation from the Democratic Attorneys General Association as an out-of-state attempt to “buy” the election.

“Party bosses don’t get to pick who enforces Florida law,” McGivern said, touting Uthmeier’s role in charging child predators and suing big corporations.

“Floridians will take results over D.C. money.”

Still, the donation signals a slow but growing national Democratic interest in Florida, which was largely abandoned by top liberal groups after a GOP tsunami consumed the state in 2022. Republicans now hold a supermajority in both legislative chambers and have an advantage of 1.5 million more active registered voters than Democrats.

But the state party has pointed to reasons for optimism, including President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings and two Florida Democratic upset legislative victories in a March special election.

However, no national party money has come to statewide candidates.

That includes David Jolly — the Democratic nominee for governor — despite some polls showing him running a close race against GOP U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.

Donalds has outraised him by nearly 8-to-1.

In the U.S. Senate race, the most high-profile national investment by Democrats came from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a progressive. He pledged $250,000 to state Rep. Angie Nixon’s campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Ashley Moody.

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