House leader defends lavish benefits from special interests
TALLAHASSEE — Even before Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran came to dominate Tallahassee, he declared himself an archenemy of special interests.
“I will proudly declare war on all the special interests … all the Gucci-loafing, shoe-wearing special interests, powersSome that-be,” Corcoran told House members. “Come to war with us. I’ll fight. And if it costs me my political career or yours, so be it.”
That was early in 2015, shortly after the career Tallahassee operative effectively took control of the Republican Party of Florida’s finances. Since then, a big part of the cigar-loving House speaker’s war against special interests has involved taking and then spending their money to fly on private planes, dine at expensive restaurants and buy thousands of dollars worth of cigars.
He makes no apologies, saying it’s all part of the fundraising process that ensures conservative Republicans control the Florida House.
“If you waste money in politics, chances are you don’t win campaigns, especially the tough ones,” the Land O’Lakes Republican said.
of that spending includes:
Napa Valley trips that included wine tours and an $8,000 dinner tab at California’s sumptuous French Laundry restaurant
More than $400,000 to charter private planes
More than $1,000 for cufflinks and $19,000 for unidentified gift cards
More than $11,000 at Morton’s steakhouses, $15,000 at Ruth’s Chris, and $29,000 at Tampa’s Capital Grille restaurant, a favorite haunt for Corcoran.
These state GOP expenditures, revealed on campaign finance reports, are all part of electing Republicans to the Florida House, Corcoran said.
“We successfully defended every single House GOP incumbent and even flipped a Democrat seat to the GOP,” Corcoran, 52, said of the 2016 Florida House campaign operations he oversaw before formally taking the reins of the House. “By continuing our party’s winning streak, we have been able to continue moving Florida forward in creating jobs, lowering taxes, improving education, reducing regulations and cracking down on illegal immigration.’’
Campaign donations to the Florida GOP — not taxpayer money — pay for Corcoran and other Republican House leaders’ dinners at expensive steakhouses and stays at $400-a-night hotels.
The money comes from a myriad of businesses, from utilities and insurance and health care companies to agricultural interests and state contractors.
“As long as these companies and these contributors get the government they want, they don’t mind contributing that lavish money for that lavish spending,” said Plant City Republican Dan Raulerson, who resigned from the Florida House in August for health reasons.
A few years ago, it was virtually impossible for the public to know who was responsible for the money raised and spent by the state GOP, because the party served as depository for so many Republican players: State senators, House members, the governor and statewide elected officials and assorted others raised campaign funds for and drew money out of the state party.
That changed at the start of 2015, when state party officers elected state Rep. Blaise Ingoglia of Spring Hill as party chairman, rather than the candidate backed by Gov. Rick Scott.
Since then, Scott and state Senate Republicans stopped raising money for the party, opting instead to rely on their own increasingly important political committees to ensure they have full control over how the money is spent.
A party that used to be a three-legged stool in terms of money coming in — raised by the governor, Republicans in the Senate and Republicans in the House — is now largely an offshoot of the House.
State Republican Chairman Ingoglia declined to comment for this article.
“I am proud of today’s Republican Party of Florida, which is more transparent and accountable than it has ever been,” Corcoran said.
Still, as Corcoran touts his commitment to ethics and transparency, and his antagonism to special interests in Tallahassee, he opens himself up to charges that he hypocritically relies on those influence peddlers for an opulent lifestyle.
“It’s somebody saying one thing and doing another,” said Ray Pilon of Sarasota, another Republican former state representative critical of Corcoran’s leadership style. “Hypocrisy would be a kind word for the situation. To me, he talks out of both sides of his mouth.”