Politicians courting lobbyists with business in front of their governments is nothing new in American politics.
The Washington Post released a report this week that showed how one politician tried to till lobbyists for campaign donations. In this case, that would be Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.
According to The Post, DeSantis took so many trips to a “lush Georgia golf course he favored” that the club asked him to either pay their membership fee, which is in the thousands of dollars, or stop coming. DeSantis never returned to that luxurious Georgia golf course.
In his first years as governor, DeSantis’ team would routinely auction off the governor’s time, including “hours-long golf sessions” to secure donor commitments.
“It’s about getting your phone calls returned and having the ability to make asks,” a lobbyist told The Post. “You want to engender access and goodwill with the governor.”
A campaign spokesperson told The Post that the governor never dictated policy per the donor’s request. However, the report also details how home builder Mori Hosseini, one of DeSantis’ top backers, brought the governor to play the famous Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters golf tournament, and then furnished the governor’s mansion with a golf simulator.
Hosseini “later received fast-track treatment from the DeSantis administration for a highway interchange benefiting one of his projects,” according to The Post.
