During her campaign for re-election, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has trumpeted her tough-on-crime credentials. In particular, she has emphasized her success in curbing Florida’s rampant “pill mill” and human trafficking industries.
However, in recent months, Bondi has extended her focus far outside of Florida, signing her name to legal briefs in a number of other states. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Bondi has signed on to briefs challenging bans on certain semi-automatic weapons in Connecticut and New York.
One of the most bizarre legal challenges that Bondi supported was a federal ban on “straw purchasers” of guns. A straw purchase occurs when an individual purchases a gun on behalf of someone else who would otherwise be prevented from owning a firearm – often because of a criminal history or mental health condition.
Leaving aside the threat that straw purchases pose to public safety, a gun control law passed in Connecticut has little bearing on gun rights issues in Florida. Jonathan Lowy, director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Legal Action Project, succinctly questioned Bondi’s motives: “How can (Bondi) contend that the people of Florida are made more safe if there are more assault weapons in Connecticut?”
One explanation for Bondi’s support for these far-flung legal challenges is the support she has received from the Republican Attorneys General Association.
RAGA’s mission is to support the election of Republican attorneys general around the country. The Times reported that the group has donated $750,000 to Bondi’s re-election campaign.
RAGA has received millions of dollars in donations from dark money political groups. More than 25 percent of RAGA’s funding comes from just four of these groups – the largest donation came from the American Future Fund, an organization heavily supported by conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch.
The result of this fundraising pipeline is that Bondi’s re-election campaign is being funded, either directly or indirectly, by anonymous ultra-conservative donors around the country.
These dark money groups are not funding Bondi’s campaign out of a sense of altruism — they expect a return on their investment. By lending her support and her reputation as attorney general to these legal challenges, Bondi is helping to advance conservative policies and jurisprudence throughout the entire country, regardless of its relevance to or impact on Florida.
Bondi seems primed to cruise to an easy re-election against underfunded Democratic challenger George Sheldon. A recent Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/UF Bob Graham Center poll found Bondi with a commanding 10-point lead over Sheldon.
Unfortunately, if Bondi is re-elected, Floridians will have to endure four more years of an attorney general who is more interested in placating wealthy conservative donors than in serving the people of the Sunshine State.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 10/28/2014]
