A political committee opposing Florida’s cannabis legalization measure has received a $500,000 donation from an organization reportedly linked to Tesla Inc.
CEO Elon Musk's prior support of Gov. Ron DeSantis's primary presidential bid. The financial boost comes as the campaign pushing for cannabis legalization crosses $100 million in contributions.
Florida's cannabis legalization initiative, known as Amendment 3, is set to go before Florida voters in the upcoming November elections.
The Florida branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) posted a familiar video while commenting on Musk’s anti-cannabis move, which is followed by a breakdown of the campaign finance database provided by Florida investigative reporter Jason Garcia, who covers corporate influence in Florida.
The so-called Faithful & Strong Policies, Inc., which is headed by Florida attorney Scott Wagner, made the contribution to Keep Florida Clean, a group dedicated to defeating Amendment 3, according to campaign filings (seen above). Keep Florida Clean and the Florida Freedom Fund are both chaired by James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff and former campaign manager when the governor ran for president.
The half-million dollar injection into the anti-legalization campaign comes with just three weeks to go before the election and shortly after a new poll showing majority support for the cannabis measure, though not quite enough to meet the 60% requirement to pass the constitutional amendment. The latest NBC 6 poll, conducted from October 1-4 showed 58% of voters support the measure, falling just two points short of the threshold.
That said, the $500,000 pales in comparison to the over $100 million raised by Smart & Safe Florida, the committee that helped put the cannabis legalization amendment on the ballot. As of late August, the legalization amendment had pulled in at least $91 million according to Ballotpedia, the vast majority of which was provided by the state's largest medical marijuana operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp.
While Musk's connection to Faithful & Strong Policies at the moment is uncertain, The Wall Street Journal reported that he previously contributed $10 million to the organization, with about half of that supporting DeSantis's presidential campaign. Marijuana Moment first reported this story.
Meanwhile, DeSantis has been actively rallying opposition to the initiative as his administration has faced criticism over a taxpayer-funded public service announcement warning of impaired driving in states with legalized cannabis. At the same time, Trulieve filed a defamation lawsuit against Florida's Republican Party, accusing it of misleading voters about the implications of Amendment 3.
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