LOCAL

GOP cash backs Goston Senate run

Andrew Caplan
andrew.caplan@gvillesun.com
Former Gainesville City Commissioner Charles Goston talks to a reporter on March 20 after finding he will have a run-off with Gigi Simmons. Simmons went on to win the race and Goston is now a candidate for state Senate District 8. [Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun]

When former City Commissioner Charles Goston, a lifelong Democrat, decided to run for state Senate District 8 as an independent candidate, some wondered if he was in the race simply to split the Democratic vote to help Republicans.

After all, he had just lost a battle to keep his seat on the Gainesville City Commission, had been criticized for missing city meetings, and was on the outs with local Democratic Party leaders.

Records show that those suspicions may not be so far-fetched.

The District 8 seat, held by incumbent Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, will be one of the key races in the state that could decide which party controls the Senate. First-time Democratic candidate Kayser Enneking is taking on Perry for the district that represents Alachua, Putnam and northern Marion counties.

Currently, Republicans hold the Senate majority 22-16, with two seats vacant.

State filings show that much of Goston’s individual campaign donations have come from Republican lobbyists in Tallahassee and that Goston paid some of that to himself and his publication, Black College Monthly.

What’s more, a newly created political action committee called “Friends of Charles Goston” last week reported that it received $20,000 on Aug. 29 — the day after the primary — from a newly formed Washington, D.C., corporation whose funding sources are cloaked. It is the PAC’s only donation.

“It seems apparent that he’s in the race to divert votes form the Democratic candidate, especially when you look at contributions to his campaign,” said Florida Democratic Party attorney Mark Herron.

The nonprofit corporation, Broken Promises Inc., that paid the Goston PAC was created by a “Sean Anderson” the same day the donation was made, according to its D.C. business license. The address listed on the license leads to a UPS store mailbox. Store employees said the box is not rented by a "Sean Anderson" or the corporation's title, but wouldn’t release the box-renter's name.

Goston did not return calls. The PAC’s chairman, Ernesto Martinez, a frequent City Hall visitor and volunteer on Goston campaigns, didn’t return calls, either.

While on the Gainesville City Commission, Goston was critical of the local Democratic Party and those leading it. After he lost his re-election bid to Gigi Simmons in May he filed an ethics complaint, saying that the party “colluded” against him and that he won the election.

Soon after, he filed for state Senate as an independent candidate, bypassing the primary. He will face Perry and Enneking on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Daniel Smith, a professor at the University of Florida and political science department chair, said he has kept an eye on the Senate race since Goston filed to run. 

“This is all a completely coordinated effort from day one,” Smith said. “It's clearly not to have him win. It’s to divert those other supporters from the Democratic nominee.”

Goston being on the ballot, Smith said, will pull Democratic votes in Gainesville away from Enneking, leaving Perry the advantage of an undiluted Republican vote.

“This calculus has been figured out by operatives at the highest level in Tallahassee and D.C.,” he said.

During the primary election, the GOP was tied to campaign commercials and a slew of mailers supporting Democrat Olysha Magruder and attacking Enneking. Enneking's campaign suggested the effort was intended to pit the less-funded Democrat candidate against Perry.

Those Republican efforts didn't stop at the primary.

Goston’s individual campaign has raised $10,800, most of which came from Tallahassee lobbyists and the Friends of Charles Goston PAC. He has reimbursed himself for a campaign loan and bought advertising in Black College Monthly — a publication he owns — totaling about $3,200. Expense records show he also reimbursed himself for a trip to Tallahassee in June.

Goston’s expenses total roughly $4,600. He has not been actively campaigning since announcing his candidacy.

At least $5,000 of the $10,800 has come from Jonathan Johnson and Travis Blanton, both registered Republicans in Leon County, and their side businesses. Johnson and Blanton is a well-respected lobbying law firm based in Tallahassee. Another $2,000 came from Robert Vincent Russo, an attorney in Tallahassee, who is also registered Republican.

According to Perry’s campaign donations, a “Jonathan Johnson” from Tallahassee also donated to his campaign. Johnson did not return calls for comment.

In 2012, the state saw a similar Republican-backed campaign finance scheme where, according to a lawsuit, former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, funneled donations to help boost Democratic candidate Lamar Sternad over the party’s more favorable candidate, Joe Garcia, in the primary election.

Garcia went on to defeat Rivera. Sternad was sentenced to seven months in prison after a pair of FBI and Federal Election Commission investigations found he conspired to defraud the U.S. and concealed the source of unreported campaign funds. Another Rivera associate went to jail after pleading guilty to the offense.

Smith, the UF professor, said as “dark money” becomes more prevalent in elections through shell entities, each candidate's backers become harder to find.

“It’s difficult to uncover and voters are susceptible to ulterior motives,” Smith said.