The governor of Florida gets to spend a lot of our our money. So at the very least, any candidate for this job owes the public full transparency about his own money.
How about it, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds?
Donalds stands atop the list of Republican candidates because he has Donald Trump’s coveted seal of approval.
No justification exists for a serious candidate to evade federal financial disclosure requirements, as he did for his and his wife Erika’s income and assets.
A lack of transparency
Erika Donalds’ charter school income was not fully disclosed on Byron Donalds’ 2023 financial disclosures until last month, the investigative news site Florida Bulldog found.
This isn’t petty paperwork. The amended disclosure lists Erika Donalds’ OptimaEd and Optima Management Services as worth $1 million to $5 million in 2023. That’s real money.
Making matters worse, he gave no explanation for the delay or the omission. It’s a standard dodge in Florida, where politicians prefer to ignore damaging media revelations, betting that the next news cycle will wipe negative headlines from public memory.
Florida news outlets report that Donalds ignored their calls and emails seeking an explanation. That won’t cut it, Congressman.
The Donalds case demands greater scrutiny, given his high profile and her close ties to charter schools, which receive public money for private profit. Erika Donalds is an FAU graduate and former Collier County School Board member who’s been a strong advocate for school choice.
Big mess in Jacksonville
Her influence would be enormously magnified if her husband becomes governor. It is why his lapse in disclosure is troubling — and why her finances demand scrutiny.
The Florida Bulldog described millions of dollars generated by Donalds’ intertwined charter school interests, from brick and mortar schools to management services to teaching classes virtually.
They haven’t always worked out, either. Her Optima Foundation’s management of Jacksonville Classic School East led to the school’s blistering acknowledgement of Optima’s poor financial record keeping, including a failure to promptly secure more than $361,000 in reimbursements. The school fired Optima.
These are not private business matters. Florida charter schools get local and state money. The Optima Academy Online virtual school, supported by Donalds’ foundation, directs parents to a company handling Florida’s private school voucher program.
There are political concerns. Educator Solutions, a company owned by state Rep. John Snyder, R-Stuart, a charter school advocate, paid Erika Donalds a $174,159 salary in 2021, according to Byron Donalds’ financial disclosures.
A year later, Snyder’s own financial disclosure showed Educator Solutions had just three clients: charter schools all tied to Donalds. This year, he successfully pushed HB 443, which allows charter schools to exceed enrollment caps.
A problem with the FEC
Rep. Donalds has another money problem.
He has drawn scrutiny from the Federal Elections Commission for raising money for governor while simultaneously raising money as a candidate for reelection to Congress.
A recent notice from the FEC told Donalds he can’t do that.
On Aug. 5, the FEC ordered “corrective action” by Donalds to refund congressional campaign contributions received after Feb. 25, when he announced for governor.
Four days later, Donalds’ campaign treasurer, Bradley T. Crate, replied and said no, saying Donalds is still actively running for Congress. This looks like a scheme by Donalds to divert federal contributions to his bid for governor, where every dollar matters.
A similar uncomfortable mix of money and political ambition dogs First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Floated as a successor to her husband, Casey DeSantis launched Hope Florida to help people find needed support outside public assistance.
It was an ideal political tentpole to run statewide, until its political utility fell apart with revelations that $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement was diverted to Hope Florida.
From there, the money flowed to groups working to stop a proposed constitutional amendments on recreational marijuana — an amendment that her husband, Gov. Ron DeSantis, was furiously breaking the rules to defeat.
Earn our trust
Florida Republicans should demand better from Byron Donalds and, if she runs, Casey DeSantis. Conservatives can support the goals of Hope Florida and still demand transparency about what all that state money bought.
Supporters of charter schools still deserve to know if those schools are generating personal income for a candidate’s household. You should demand prompt and full disclosures of incomes and personal assets.
This is no time to play financial shell games. Florida’s budget is about to drop off a billion-dollar cliff. State economists estimate a $1.3 billion budget shortfall in 2027-2028, and a flood of more than $6.5 billion in red ink the year after. A Gov. Byron Donalds would have to fix all that.
But if candidates for governor won’t be straight about their money, why should we trust them with ours?
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
