A prominent bi-community developer donated to DeSantis’ campaign – in amounts of $ 25,000 and $ 50,000 between 2018 and 2019 for a total of $ 125,000, according to campaign finance records.
The exclusive vaccination clinics allowed approximately 6,000 people to get tens of thousands of seniors ahead of waiting lists in Manatee and Charlotte counties, where the rides took place.
“I’m an active Republican, so I’m a fan of the Governor, but I think this could have been better,” said Harvey Goldstein, a staunch Republican in Charlotte County.
DeSantis declined CNN’s request for an on-camera interview for this story. Meredith Beatrice, the governor’s director of strategic initiatives, emailed CNN saying in part, “The innuendo that politics plays in the distribution of vaccines in Florida is baseless and ridiculous.”
Florida, where vaccine demand has outpaced supply since the state began administering it in late December, faces challenges in the distribution of vaccines nationwide.
3 million people have received vaccines
Baugh said at a public meeting of county commissioners that DeSantis called Rex Jensen, the CEO of the Lakewood Ranch community parent company, about setting up a vaccination program – and that Jensen called for help setting up the drive. A press release on the Manatee County website says it was intended to vaccinate 3,000 people for three days.
Jensen’s spokesperson, Lisa Barnott, told CNN that their involvement in the vaccination campaign was only “to help identify a location that could house 1,000 people a day.”
Some Manatee County residents said they were outraged by Baugh’s actions.
“The whole thing smelled like politics, cronyism, elitism and racism,” Ken Schultz, a Manatee County resident, told CNN.
Baugh apologized after harsh criticism of the vaccination site, but said at another public meeting of provincial commissioners on Feb. 18 that if I were given the opportunity again, “I will do exactly what I did this time.”
CNN asked Baugh for comment on the investigation, but did not hear anything.
As it turns out, a similar clinic had been set up in a gated community 55 and older called Kings Gate, in Charlotte County, which also invited residents of another resort-like community, Grand Palm, to get vaccinated.
“When we deliver vaccines, the mechanism has to be as fair as possible, and we can’t play favorites,” Goldstein said. “I think it was a mistake.”
Vaccines and Political Ties
Kings Gate and Grand Palm have something else in common.
Leisa Weintraub, spokesperson for Neal Communities, told CNN via email that the company was not involved with the Lakewood Ranch vaccination site and said the company would have no further comment.
“Neal Communities, Southwest Florida’s premier private home builder, was asked by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to assist with a vaccination event in Charlotte County,” the press release said.
Between 2018 and 2019, Neal donated $ 125,000 to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC, according to campaign finance data. Records also show that conservative donor Richard Uihlein, who has family ties to Lakewood Ranch, donated $ 900,000 to the PAC during the same period.
CNN contacted Uihlein and has not heard anything.
The Uihlein family has owned the Schroeder-Manatee Ranch (SMR) since the early 1900s and developed Lakewood Ranch on the grounds of the SMR, according to the Lakewood Ranch website. Once a working farm, SMR transitioned to community development in 1994. According to the website, Lakewood Ranch is the fastest-selling multi-generation, master-planned community in the United States.
Call for a federal probe
Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Crist sent a letter to Acting U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson on February 21, asking the Department of Justice to investigate DeSantis and whether the vaccine’s motivations are benefiting DeSantis’ political allies and donors. .
“Lakewood Ranch’s parent company is owned by one of the largest Republican donors in the country, and is donating more than $ 900,000 to the governor,” Crist wrote in the letter.
The congressman told CNN, “If you are Hispanic or black or (a) brown person, you are not going to get these pop-up vaccines that the governor is giving to people living in more affluent, more white, and more Republican parts of Florida.”
Asked for comment, a Justice Department spokesman declined to say whether the investigation was conducting and declined further comment.
Mayor challenges governor in vaccination clinics
In a statement to CNN, Meredith Beatrice, the governor’s director of strategic initiatives, said that nearly half of Florida senior vaccination points are in Broward and Palm Beach counties, “which are not known as Republican strongholds.” “
Beatrice also said the state partnered with places of worship and historically black colleges and universities, Navarro and CVS y Mas pharmacy stores earlier this year to help reach disadvantaged communities.
But Carlos Hernandez, the mayor of Hialeah, a predominantly Spanish and working-class town, said he doesn’t appreciate the governor’s explanation of the pop-up sites.
Hernandez crashed at a press conference DeSantis hosted in his town last week, the day the governor announced the partnership with Navarro and CVS y Mas, saying he had been trying to talk to DeSantis since the pandemic started.
Governor, the mayor of Hialeah. How are you doing sir?’ Hernandez shouted after DeSantis ended his press conference.
As soon as DeSantis walked out, Hernandez walked up to the governor’s desk and said he doesn’t believe politics is not involved in the spread of the vaccine in Florida.
‘I need help for my people in the city of Hialeah. I’ve been saying that since the beginning, ”Hernandez said. “It’s sad that he (DeSantis) talks about politics being uninvolved. Come on. You know what? Give me the vaccines.”
CNN’s Christina Carrega contributed to this report.