STATE

Group dumps $250K in anti-Perry, Brandes ads

Andrew Caplan
andrew.caplan@gvillesun.com
An environmental political committee announced Wednesday it was putting out $250,000 in negative ads to attack state Sens. Keith Perry and Jeff Brandes.

A political action committee announced Wednesday that it's going to pour $250,000 in digital advertisements attacking state Sens. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, and Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, for their voting history on environmental issues.

The Florida Conservation Voters Action Fund is a Tallahassee group dedicated to preserving the environment and supports candidates with similar beliefs. The ads paint the two legislators as anything but environmentally friendly.

The advertisements will play on Facebook, Hulu and YouTube.

Perry is running for re-election against Democrat and first-time candidate Kayser Enneking for District 8. Brandes is facing Lindsay Cross in District 24.

“The reason we did it now is it’s election season and voters need to know about Perry’s record,” said Jonathan Webber, the political action committee's deputy director. “We’ve been opposing Perry and trying to make it known that Perry is not good for Florida's environment for years. For me it just comes down to common sense.”

Webber points to several bills that Perry has supported or sponsored over the years, including 2018’s SB 1308, which has also been coined the “toilet to tap bill” by environmentalists. There was also a companion House bill.

Webber said the bill, sponsored by Perry and supported by Brandes, incentivized the pumping of “inadequately treated human wastewater” into Florida’s aquifers without proper testing and filtration.

On April 6, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed the bill.

But Perry argues otherwise, stating that sewage wouldn’t be used for aquifer recharge.

Perry’s Legislative Assistant David Winalski, in an email to The Sun, said that Florida’s Department of Environmental Protections has existing rules for aquifer recharge and SB 1308 wouldn’t change that.

“... Any water used for aquifer recharge must meet federal drinking water standards,” he wrote. “It would be a violation of the Clean Water Act if Florida tried to impose standards that were less stringent than federal standards.”

Perry argues that the bill prevented or stopped further saltwater intrusion, would have raised aquifer levels and improved water quality.

According to state filings, the PAC has raised about $25,400 and spent almost all of that. Webber said the group is working with the League of Conservation Voters, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., and sought additional donations to fund the commercials.

The ads, which weren't approved by any candidates, will be targeted in each candidate’s district.