Ron and Casey DeSantis were plotting a political dynasty in Florida. Then came a scandal

Florida Governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis speak to supporters during a campaign stop at The Grove on Augusta in Gilbert, South Carolina, on June 2, 2023. Logan Cyrus/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

A year after his presidential ambitions collapsed, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey can no longer lay claim to the future of the Republican Party. And in Florida, even their present is in jeopardy.

Once firmly in his corner, many Sunshine State Republicans have lately turned on DeSantis, stymying his agenda and frustrating him to no end. At the same time, Casey DeSantis, long regarded as a political force in her own right, is encountering quiet but firm resistance as she lays the groundwork for a potential run to succeed her husband — a campaign that would pit her against President Donald Trump’s handpicked choice to lead the state, Rep. Byron Donalds.

Now, a funding scandal involving one of Casey’s signature initiatives — a state assistance program known as Hope Florida — is casting a shadow over the governor’s legacy and complicating her political ambitions. Lawmakers spent the spring investigating why $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement was routed to a charity connected to Hope Florida, which then transferred the same amount to two groups that financially backed a DeSantis-led campaign against legalizing recreational marijuana. Key lawmakers have publicly suggested the flow of money appears illegal.

The couple have fiercely stood by their work and denied wrongdoing. DeSantis this week called the criticism of Hope Florida “all political.” Standing alongside her husband Thursday, Casey DeSantis characterized the program as “a philosophy” that “shows we can help people in need.”

Remarkably, the investigation into Hope Florida was not by Democrats, but by Republicans — a striking sign of DeSantis’ eroding clout in a state capital he once controlled with unchallenged authority. Outside Tallahassee, some of Trump’s staunchest allies in Florida have helped to amplify the controversy to their MAGA followers.

Amid the fallout, the DeSantises have grown increasingly isolated. Donors, fundraisers and operatives are fleeing their orbit, and at the moment, few in Florida politics seem willing to sign up for another campaign with the couple. Multiple people have turned down positions in a potential gubernatorial campaign, according to two sources who remain in contact with the governor’s remaining team.

“These days, I can’t tell the difference between being their friend and their enemy,” a longtime Republican operative once close to the governor told CNN.

Even among their remaining allies, there is a growing sense that Casey shouldn’t announce a bid until the cloud hanging over the couple is lifted, though few people are willing to share those sentiments directly with them. Earlier this year, Ryan Tyson, the pollster for DeSantis’ presidential campaign, gave the couple a blunt assessment of the hurdles Casey would face in trying to extend their political dynasty, according to one of the sources.

“It wasn’t well received,” the person said, “and no one has tried to give them advice since.”

As they mount a public defense, the couple is also privately engaged in an intensifying lobbying campaign to keep Trump’s involvement in the Florida Republican primary to a minimum. Casey joined Trump for a round of golf and DeSantis was recently spotted playing with the president’s son, Eric, at Trump National Doral Miami. They also recently dined with Trump.

But soon after these engagements, Donalds accompanied Trump to a UFC event in Florida – a joint appearance that signaled to many that the overtures from Ron and Casey had fallen short.

A visibly exasperated DeSantis, watching Tallahassee allies drift away from him and his legislative priorities, recently asked aloud during a press conference: “Why the hell are they doing this?”

A funding controversy

Casey DeSantis launched Hope Florida in 2021 with a mission to wean people off government assistance by connecting them with faith-based and other charitable help in their communities. It quickly became her hallmark project as she built up her profile, regularly distributing novelty checks carrying the state seal and her signature. Eventually, Casey and Ron DeSantis would tout the program in other states as they campaigned for president as a one-two punch in 2023.

Around that time, the Florida Department of Children and Families created the Hope Florida Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity assigned to bolster the state program. In its first year, the foundation raised about $800,000 in donations and awarded only $40,000 in financial assistance, according to a recently released tax return.

Last year, the foundation saw its coffers boom by $10 million. At the time, few people noticed. But a Florida House committee probing the organization discovered the source of the windfall: A state settlement with Centene, a Medicaid contractor that had overbilled Florida and other states. The agreement with Centene included an unusual provision that required the company to donate $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation.

Within days of the donation, the foundation awarded two $5 million grants to a pair of political groups, according to documents first reported by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald and provided to CNN by the foundation’s lawyer, Jeff Aaron. The two organizations then sent $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, a committee that spearheaded the successful fight last November against a ballot measure that would have amended the state constitution to legalize recreational marijuana.

Keep Florida Clean was operated by James Uthmeier, the governor’s chief of staff at the time who DeSantis later named Florida’s attorney general. Uthmeier has denied any wrongdoing.

After the election, campaign finance records show Keep Florida Clean shifted $1.2 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, a political committee controlled by the governor. The committee could ultimately be used to support Casey DeSantis’ political ambitions. A spokesperson for the governor’s political operations did not respond to a request for comment.

State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican who led the House investigation, told CNN the money trail “looks very much like wire fraud and money laundering to me.” On Thursday, he announced his committee has concluded its work, but he has publicly encouraged law enforcement agencies to review the committee’s findings.

“I hope @PamBondi is paying attention,” Andrade wrote on X, tagging Trump’s attorney general and former top prosecutor in Florida. Bondi’s office declined to comment.

DeSantis contended at an appearance earlier this month that the $10 million was separate from the state settlement and “kind of like a cherry on top, where they agreed to make an additional contribution.” Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the governor, argued that neither Ron or Casey DeSantis has a role in the Hope Florida Foundation and said the state program “has been extremely successful and has helped 30,000 Floridians reduce or eliminate reliance on public assistance.”

Close ties to lobbyists

Other elements of Hope Florida illustrate the coziness between the governor’s political orbit and his wife’s top priority.

The chairman of the Hope Florida Foundation is Joshua Hay, the CEO of Indelible Solutions, a company that the state has paid tens of millions of dollars since he joined the charity, the Times and Herald reported. His company donated $125,000 to DeSantis’ 2022 reelection. A board member for the foundation, Tina Vidal-Duart, is executive vice president for CDR Enterprises, a consulting company that donated $1 million to a Super PAC that supported DeSantis’ presidential campaign. Her husband Carlos Vidal is the company president and CEO.

Several of the foundation’s top donors contributed to DeSantis’ political committee as well, including Centene, according to tax documents and campaign finance records.

And then there’s Unite Us, a health technology company hired to build the web-based portal that connects people in need to local services. Unite Us rostered a noteworthy team of lobbyists that included Dane Eagle, DeSantis’ former Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity; his former chief of staff Adrian Lukis and former deputy chief of staff Courtney Coppola. Nine days after the state executed the contract with Unite US, DeSantis’ presidential campaign announced Coppola and Eagle would serve on his national finance committee.

The state awarded the $3.9 million deal to Unite Us despite a track record of supporting initiatives that clashed with DeSantis’ crackdown on progressive priorities, like promoting transgender rights and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The technology company’s positions on those issues could provide Republican foes another attack line against Casey DeSantis tied to Hope Florida.

In the past, Unite Us had publicly boasted on its website its commitment to diversity in hiring, gender neutral restrooms at its New York and Los Angeles offices and use of gender pronouns on internal communications. Days after Casey DeSantis barnstormed through Iowa in June 2023 sporting a custom-made leather jacket embroidered with the slogan “Where Woke Goes to Die,” Unite Us announced a workplace culture award, noting its DEI efforts and that most of its staff were women, non-binary and minorities.

“In so many organizations, ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ and ‘inclusion’ are just big-ticket buzz words,” said a quote on archived web page for Unite Us. “But at Unite Us, diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to our mission.” The webpage no longer appears to be operational.

The governor’s office said he had no involvement in the awarding of the Unite Us contract. Miguel Nevarez, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families, said a team of negotiators for the contract unanimously selected Unite Us.

Nevarez also noted that DCF has provisions in its contracts “that restricts the use of any state funds for the purpose of promoting, advocating for, or providing training or education on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” The contract with Unite Us specified that the portal could not “list categories or subcategories related to diversity, equity, or inclusion.”

Political foes pounce

Close allies of Trump are gleefully watching the funding scandal unfold. Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime political adviser, recently dissected the scandal on his podcast with the help of the Florida Democratic Party leader. Laura Loomer, a deeply devoted Trump ally and a regular DeSantis tormenter, has amplified the developments out of Tallahassee to her 1.6 million followers on X.

Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who remains close to Trump and is weighing his own gubernatorial run, has also seized on the controversy through his One America News program.

DeSantis has responded with characteristically aggressive counter attacks and has accused Republican lawmakers of attempting to smear his wife for political gain. He has also sought to fundraise off the controversy, asking donors to send money to his political committee to fight “squishy” House Republicans, according to an email obtained by CNN.

“Some people feel threatened by the first lady. Let’s just be clear about that,” DeSantis said at a press conference earlier this month. “If you’re looking at 2026 and you’ve got some horse, you don’t want her anywhere near that. You’re very worried because she runs circles around their people. Everybody knows that.”

By Steve Contorno, CNN