Florida Attorney General candidate Daniel Uhlfelder questioned Florida Attorney Ashley Moody after she accepted a $25,000 campaign contribution just days ago from Florida’s embattled Florida Power & Light.
“Floridians deserve an attorney general who will investigate FPL instead of the current one they bankroll,” Uhlfelder said in an interview with Our Tallahassee.
“FPL profits on the backs of working families and politicians like Ashley Moody are part of the business model,” Uhlfelder said. His comments come as many have privately questioned Florida Power & Light’s vast political and lobbying influence across the state.
Following the 2020 elections, the Florida press corps has reported extensively on the political operatives and money men behind a coordinated effort to run a slate of “ghost candidates” in tight Democratically held Florida Senate seats. After media reports surfaced that FPL may have been directing funds through a series of dark fundings to orchestrate the “ghost candidate” operation, there was a short-lived effort to seek oversight through the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) for answers. In a letter to the PSC, Reps. Anna Eskamani, Carlos Guillermo Smith, Travaris McCurdy, and Angie Nixon asked for “an in-depth and thorough audit of FPL’s expenditures.”
Few politicians, even Democrats, have been willing to challenge FPL publicly. Uhlfelder says he wasn’t concerned about the risk of upsetting the notoriously generous corporation known for its vast political expenditures.
“It’s wrong,” Uhlfelder told Our Tallahassee, who says that FPL’s giving — and Moody’s acceptance of the contributions – can’t reassure Floridian’s hopes for an attorney general to protect the public’s interest.
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During a recent Tallahassee campaign stop, Congressman Charlie Crist criticized Florida Power & Light in an interview with Our Tallahassee. Crist spoke about FPL’s potential involvement in the ghost candidate scheme and shared many similar concerns.
“First, we need accountability, and I would demand a full and exhaustive investigation,” Crist said.
“Second, any wrongdoing should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is about protecting the sanctity of the vote,” Crist said of the ghost candidate scandal.
“Propping up fake candidates with corporate money makes a mockery of our election system and threatens to undermine confidence in our democracy.”
3 Responses
I don’t care if you’re Dem it GOP taking money from companies like this is just wrong. That’s like they are making the candidates feel obligated to look out for their best interests by giving them money. It’s just a conflict of interest!
Don’t need ag who took mo n ey from fpl
I have a bill from them for 319.00. Now who is getting ripped off.
I have lived in this house 30 years. New roof, new windows, spray foam in attic. My power bill is higher than it’s ever been $467. Keeping thermostat higher than last year.