Gov. Ron DeSantis is endorsing Wilton Simpson as he runs for a second term as head of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
DeSantis credits Simpson, who was first elected to the post in 2022, with having turned around an agency “plagued by poor leadership” during the single term of Democrat Nikki Fried.
“Since taking office in 2023, Simpson has rejuvenated the agency and responded admirably to natural disasters such as this year’s fires. He has earned a second term and I endorse his reelection,” DeSantis said Tuesday.
DeSantis joins a large group of endorsers for Simpson, an egg farmer from Trilby who previously was state Senate President. President Donald Trump also supports his bid for a second term.
In addition to handling wildfires, Simpson has put his legislative experience to work, backing reform measures such as the Florida Farm Bill passed this Session, a package he promoted as “protecting the public from dangerous and disruptive technologies, organized fraud, and government overreach.”
Among other things, the agency bill preempted local bans on gasoline-powered equipment, put guardrails on development, facilitated agritourism, launched the Florida Native Seed Research and Marketing Program, and permanently codified the Farmers Feeding Florida Program.
Simpson, whose latest finance reports will be filed in the coming days, has a tremendous resource advantage over his lightly-funded opposition.
The Friends of Wilton Simpson political committee has more than $10 million banked, with $1.375 million raised in the first three months of this year.
The Florida Green PAC, one of four other committees Simpson chairs, has nearly $11 million on hand, with more than $250,000 brought in Q1.
The Future Florida political committee has nearly $12 million on hand with more than $400,000 of that brought in to start the year.
The Home Grown PAC ended March with more than $300,000 on hand, with more than $175,000 raised in the preceding three months.
Matt the Welder of Plant City and Richard Olle of Valrico are the other two Republicans who have filed. The former has less than $40,000 on hand and the latter has yet to report any fundraising, having entered the race just days before the March 31 cutoff for quarterly fundraising reports.
Democrats Donald Prichard and Chase “Andy” Anderson Romagnano have also opened campaign accounts, as has no-party candidate Kyle Gibson. The Democrats haven’t raised any money; the latter closed Q1 with roughly $1,000 on hand.
As of Wednesday morning, none of the candidates have officially qualified for the race.
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