Campaign donation limits don’t limit donors

A candidate for a state House special election who faces no opposition has nonetheless raked in more than $75,000 in the first month of his candidacy, $10,000 of it from a single donor, despite the fact that Florida law limits donors to $1,000 per candidate.

It’s all perfectly legal under the state’s campaign finance laws, which include two loopholes that render the maximum contribution amounts almost pointless.

Democratic Coral Springs Commissioner Dan Daley, 28, started off his campaign for an open state House seat with a bang, raising more than $75,000 in the month of December. Of that sum,

$10,000 came from corporations tied to Merick Lewin, a

33-year-old entrepreneur and registered Republican who owns several properties in Broward County, each controlled by a separate limited-liability corporation.

“I donate across the political spectrum,” Lewin said. “We need people who are going to compromise instead of just yelling at each other.”

Large corporations regularly give money to state lawmakers’ campaigns by donating through a variety of corporate entities, which is what Lewin did in donating to Daley — on Dec. 13, 2018, 10 separate $1,000 donations came from 10 Florida-registered corporations all tied to Lewin.

Alternatively, politicians can set up political committees separate from campaign accounts that can accept unlimited funds.

These two loopholes combined render the $1,000 campaign contribution limit essentially meaningless.

“[Lewin] is a young, bright guy. And, I mean, I like to think of myself as a young, bright guy. I’m honored to have his support,” Daley said. “I’m a first-time candidate for this level of office. I’m happy to take support from any-

body who’s willing to give it.”

Back in 2012, Lewin ran as a Republican for a state House seat. He raised more than $95,000, mostly from the health care and insurance industries — his uncle founded the 1-800-411-PAIN accident referral service — before withdrawing after redistricting made the district a certain Democratic win. Democrat Jared Moskowitz easily won the seat, vacating it this year after Gov. Ron DeSantis nominated him to run the Department of Emergency Management.

That vacancy opened up the special election for House District 97, which includes parts of Coral Springs, Tamarac and Sunrise as well as the large, open expanse of Broward County north of Alligator Alley and west of the Sawgrass Expressway. The primary election is set for April 9, with the general election to follow on June 18. So far, Daley is the only candidate running. He’s been endorsed by many local Democratic leaders.

“I’ve been very fortunate from folks like Congressman Ted

Deutch all the down to the mayors of each one of the cities in the district to everybody in between,” Daley said at his official campaign kick-off event at the Country Club of Coral Springs Wednesday night. “We’re taking nothing for granted.”

It’s not uncommon for one wealthy corporation or individual to skirt the maximum allowed donation by donating through multiple corporate entities. There’s even another example just within Daley’s $75,000 of donations. Prominent lobbyist Ron Book gave the campaign $1,000. So did Ronald Book P.A., his law firm. A separate business, Ron Book Governmental Consultants, gave Daley $500.

Disney is perhaps the most flagrant example of an entity using the loopholes around campaign finance laws. For example, state Rep. Kristin Jacobs, D-Coconut Creek, whose district borders the one in which Daley is running, received six $1,000 donations on the same day, Aug. 22, for her 2018 re-election campaign. Those donations came from Disney Vacation Development, Disney Gift Card Services, The Celebration Company, Magic Kingdom, Inc., Disney Destinations and Disney Photo Imaging.

That’s not to pick on Jacobs — Disney spreads these donations to legislators of both parties all around the state. But it illustrates that even a company as massive as the Mouse isn’t donating through as many corporate entities as in Lewin’s investment in Daley’s campaign.

The 10 donations came from What’s Next Esports, Poros Solutions, TriSpark Media Group, 400 Plantation LLC, 601 Pompano LLC, 6600 Plantation Tech LLC, Coin College, 1380 Plantation LLC, YKI Property Holdings and 203 Kings Point LLC.

All of these corporations except What’s Next Esports list Steven Kabat as their manager in corporate fillings with the state of Florida. Kabat works as office administrator at TriSpark and manages the various properties for which many of the corporations were founded, Lewin said.

What’s Next Esports’ manager is Michael Shane, Lewin’s brotherin-law. Esports is the term for competitive video game competitions. According to Lewin, Shane has been ranked nationally in the top 20 players of World of Warcraft, a fantasy video game taking place in the magical world of Azeroth.

It is unclear how much money earned fighting goblin hordes in Azeroth has contributed to Daley’s campaign, if any.

Most of the companies have donated to no one but Daley, or else to Daley and Andrew Dolberg, who lost a Democratic primary for a Broward state House seat in last year’s election. But TriSpark has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Florida Democratic Party and to committees controlled by Republican lawmakers, campaign finance records show.

Daley was a Republican until he switched parties in 2015, saying he “was uncomfortable in the Republican Party and wanted out.”

That lines up with some of the targets of Lewin’s past donations, which include Republican-turnedDemocrat Charlie Crist and Republican-turned-Democrat Ana Rivas Logan, a former state representative.

“If you want my opinion, they should just do unlimited donations and require disclosure,” Lewin said. “Because transparency’s the key thing, right?”