When you take a deep dive into where the campaign contributions are coming from that go to our local elected officials and particular candidates, it tells a story of deception. Masses of people may not really understand who they are and who they are not voting for. You see, there is a “Club.” If you are not a member of the club and you decide to run for public office, the club master and its members will sabotage your campaign.
The truth revolves around one particular campaign manager who has placed about thirty elected officials into office in the county, including state senators and representatives, county commissioners, Board of Education members, the tax collector, the supervisor of elections, the property appraiser, and mayors. What you cannot see is that there are Grassroots candidates who seek to run for public office because they believe that the county lacks transparency and accountability. These are the candidates whose campaigns are being sabotaged by this campaign manager, local elected officials, political action committee money, and developers.
It’s time consuming, but easy to track the campaign contributions and expenditures of elected officials through the Supervisor of Elections website (https://www.lee.vote/Campaign-Reports/Campaign-Finance-Reports) or through the Florida State Department of Elections website (https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/committees/).
You will see that these thirty elected officials only donate to this one particular campaign manager’s candidates. About half of these elected officials have PACs of their own, so they donate personally, but they also donate large amounts of money through their PACS because there are no limits on what can be contributed to a PAC or what a PAC can spend on mailers, robo-texts, radio ads, and social media ads.
PACs sends out a hit piece mailers, and the information is likely false. This nefarious campaign manager has five PACS, and for years he has been sending out hit pieces on the Grassroots candidates.
Grassroots candidates have a difficult time refuting the hit pieces because they simply do not have the money. That’s because Grassroots candidates are getting their money from everyday people.
Unfortunately, nothing that is occurring with this campaign manager and the Club is illegal. Nefarious? I say yes. The fact is that our votes are being stolen.
Two particular hit pieces put out by his Just the Facts PAC lied and stated that county commissioner candidate Matt Thornton is under investigation for voter fraud. Actually, Matt Thornton is a victim of voter fraud, and that has been proven by several handwriting experts. Thornton is the Grassroots candidate running against this campaign manager’s candidate.
As a matter of fact, Matt Thornton has spent $175K to fund his own campaign. Like many people, he has not seen the accountability and transparency that we expect from our elected officials. As a Coast Guard veteran and a knowledgeable businessman who understands land, water, and infrastructure, he has the skillset to represent us well as a county commissioner.
The establishment then publicly endorses this campaign manager’s candidates. Mailers will proudly promote that fact leading you to think that a candidate that has been endorsed by elected officials must be a stellar candidate.
Lee County is a Republican stronghold, so it is reasonable for you to know that many of the Republican Clubs work in conjunction with this particular campaign manager to help his candidates get elected. If you attend any of these clubs, it is likely that you have heard elected officials tell everybody who they are endorsing.
By looking at campaign expenditures, it is clear to see who uses this campaign manager, Terry Miller of TM Strategic Consulting, LLC.
If I had not been a grassroots candidate in 2022, I would not know what is going on, and I would be thinking that I was casting my vote for the best candidate.
We all know how important it is that honest, ethical, and skilled people get elected to office. I think we can all agree that we want people in office who are there to work for us. I think we can also agree that we can have an impact at the local level if we have all the facts.
I will only support candidates that do not take PAC money, do not take from local elected official or their PACs, and who do not take money from developers. I will only support the grassroots candidates.
When you go to the Supervisor of Elections website and you click on the candidates, you will find the candidates contact information. Contact them, so you understand what they think the issues are and how they are going to work for us everyday people.
