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Fundraising tallies raise red flags

Environmentalists decry Smith's ties to agriculture; Davis' report shows short reach in Democrats' bid for governor.

By ADAM C. SMITH
Published April 14, 2005

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith is tapping heavily into one of the most politically powerful interests in the state - agriculture - and raising red flags among environmentalists.

Of the nearly $350,000 the Senate Agriculture Committee chairman has raised for his gubernatorial campaign, nearly 15 percent came from agricultural interests with stakes in legislation before his committee. Lawyers were members of the only occupation to give more to the former prosecutor from Alachua.

The first fundraising reports in the governor's race show little evidence of statewide appeal for Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, but highlight his hometown strength. The Tampa Bay area accounted for more than 70 percent of the $419,000 he raised, a St. Petersburg Times analysis found.

Davis and Smith are the only candidates formally running to succeed Jeb Bush in 2006, though Democratic state party Chairman Scott Maddox might jump in next month. Likely Republican contenders include Attorney General Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings.

The reports point to one of Smith's biggest strengths - his ability to pull rural support and raise money from Tallahassee interests - while highlighting a potential obstacle: misgivings about Smith's environmental credentials.

"Environmentalists worry that he's too beholden to sugar," said Eric Draper, a lobbyist for Audubon of Florida who called Smith a "straight shooter" who can help craft compromises.

The Florida League of Conservation Voters last year ranked Smith's environmental voting record the 39th worst of 40 state senators. The national League of Conservation voters in 2004 said Davis voted their way 100 percent of the time on key environmental issues.

Agriculture is Florida's second biggest industry, and its aggressive involvement in politics has been known to make or break statewide candidates. Agri-businesses often collide with environmentalists on issues ranging from Everglades restoration to development restrictions; in a tough Democratic primary, candidates can ill afford to be perceived as weak on the environment.

"That does not bode well for him," Mary Barley, president of the Everglades Trust, said of the heavy influx of agriculture money in Smith's campaign. "They don't give money unless they get something in return. I've dealt with sugar for a long time, and they're not giving money for better government."

Screven Watson, a lobbyist whose clients include U.S. Sugar, is working on Smith's campaign, and Smith finance director Joe Perry said U.S. Sugar lobbyist Robert Coker helped raise money for Smith.

The Florida Mainstream Democratic Alliance, a political group closely tied to the Smith campaign, also raised tens of thousands of dollars from agri-businesses, including $10,000 from the Florida Crystals Association and $7,500 from U.S. Sugar.

Smith said sugar and other agricultural interests are crucial parts of Florida's economy, but that he always will insist they be good stewards of the environment.

"I have a good agricultural record. I have a good environmental record," said Smith, noting that much of the financial support stems from his late father's background growing vegetables and raising cattle. His position as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee has nothing to do with his strong fundraising, he said.

"All candidates right now at this early stage of the campaign are talking to their core base of supporters," said Liz Poston, spokeswoman for the Davis campaign, which reported raising only a few thousand dollars from people connected to agriculture. "(Smith) is chairman of the agriculture committee. His filings reflect that, and people will make up their own minds about that."

In a primary where Davis and Smith agree on many issues, the environment may prove to be a dividing line.

Last year, Smith supported a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful bill to protect gun ranges from environmental lawsuits. He also supported a bill widely decried by environmentalists and ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jeb Bush that would have limited local governments' ability to restrict development of agricultural lands.

In 2003 he backed postponing the deadline for Everglades cleanup. The year before, environmentalists picketed his district office after he supported a measure restricting citizens' ability to challenge development permits.

Smith noted that in 2002, the Coastal Conservation Association gave him a conservation award for pushing a bill concerning illegal netting; environmentalists pointed out that this week Smith helped stall a bill that critics said would have required state regulators to issue permits to companies already violating environmental regulations.

At Smith's urging, the executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Corp. called the Times to tout Smith's effort to protect sea turtles. "He's been a champion for us," said Dave Godfrey.

The fundraising reports show diverse support among Florida business interests for Smith and Davis alike. While Davis started out mainly tapping the region that knows him best, Smith has had much more success raising money from people with immediate interests in the Legislature.

More than $30,000 of Smith's donations came from Tallahassee, while Davis raised about $5,200 from Tallahassee. Smith has raised far more than Davis from political action committees, $9,000, and has tapped some prominent, old-line Democrats, including former state Attorney General Bob Butterworth, veteran Lawton Chiles adviser Sonny Holtzman of Miami, and Jim Krog, a Tallahassee lobbyist whose clients include Flo-Sun sugar.

Davis, a member of the powerful U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, could be well-positioned to raise money in Washington, but that's not yet apparent on his fundraising reports. Nearly 90 percent of his donations came from Florida.

--Computer-assisted reporting specialist Connie Humburg contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 15, 2005, 19:30:17]