Bean's election funded by smear campaigner's PACs
A controversial dark money strategist whose committee paid for a smear campaign flyer against a city commission candidate has made numerous campaign donations to Mayor Bradley Bean's city commission election efforts since 2020.
Campaign contributions linked to Stafford Jones of Gainesville, who has formed and operated more than 60 Political Action Committees, appear on Bean's campaign contribution reports filed with the Nassau County Supervisor of Elections.
A Jones PAC called Holding Developers Accountable spent an estimated $5,000 to print and distribute a smear campaign flyer against city commission candidate Genece Minshew. Fernandina Beach voters began receiving the flyer in the mail last week.
Bean's 2024 re-election campaign contributions reports show two $1,000 contributions from Jones PACs. On July 25, there was a $1,000 contribution from Strong Leadership of Tallahassee and $1,000 from Women Building the Future of Tallahassee.
According to state records, Jones is listed as chairperson and treasurer of both Women Building the Future and Strong Leadership.
The flyer sent to city voters last week attacked Minshew as a pro-development candidate in her race for commission Seat 2 against incumbent Vice Mayor David Sturges. The flyer's allegations are false.
At Monday's Observer candidate forum, Minshew reiterated her position on controlling density and development in the city.
"We need to ensure that we have a planning department that is adequately staffed and adequately trained and can manage the Land Development Code and the Comprehensive Plan appropriately. We do not have that today, and I think that's the biggest problem we have with land issues," she said.
Commissioner Chip Ross took on the flyer's misinformation claims during Tuesday's city commission meeting.
"Why a PAC in Gainesville is interested in our local election has not been explained," Ross said. "What the mailer failed to mention is that her opponent, Commissioner Sturges, as well as Commissioners Bean and Antun voted to approve all nine of the measures (listed on the flyer). Sending out that mailer was legal, but it didn't tell the whole truth."
The 2024 Bean campaign is not the first instance of Jones' PACs contributing to Bean's election efforts.
Those same two Jones' PACs were also listed as contributors to Bean's 2022 election campaign for Fernandina mayor. Women Building the Future and Strong Leadership each contributed $1,000 to Bean on Oct. 19, 2022, according to election records.
Jones was active in Bean's second effort to win a city commission seat in 2020, with four PACs contributing a total of $4,000 to the Bean Campaign. Jones' PACs Sunshine State Conservatives and First Coast Business Foundation gave $1,000 each on May 18, 2020. Jones' PAC Working for Florida Families gave $1,000 on May 29, 2020, and his Florida Conservatives United contributed $1,000 on Sept. 15, 2020. Bean's first ran for city commission in 2018 and lost in a runoff.
Jones is listed as chairperson and treasurer for Sunshine State Conservatives, Florida Conservatives United and Working for Florida Families. He is listed as treasurer for First Coast Business Foundation.
Dark money in political campaigns refers to a political consultant or activist, like Jones, involved in the funding and strategy of political action committees that operate with minimal transparency. When "dark money" is used in election campaigns, the money is routed through nontraditional channels, often illegally, in order to deceive or make it harder for people to determine who is backing groups or candidates.
Wikipedia reports that "Jones is known for creating dozens of political action committees that have spent millions of dollars in Florida state elections. In 2021, the nonpartisan watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics reported that two of Jones' organizations falsely reported on their tax returns that they engaged in no political activities and failed to disclose more than $1 million in political contributions. Florida Democrats have complained that Jones' organizations have funded spoiler candidates and used deceptive tactics."
The Observer asked Bean to comment on Jones' involvement in donating to his campaign and the appropriateness of the most recent contributions following the smear campaign against Minshew. He has not responded.
In addition to receiving political contributions from Jones' PACs, Bean's election campaigns have spent money with a Jones-related campaign marketer called Data Targeting Group in Gainesville. Data Targeting is described as one of the most influential operatives in GOP politics.
In 2019, the Gainesville Sun reported that Jones' PACs have ties to Data Targeting. Data Targeting's owner is Patrick Jay Bainter. The newspaper reported the men are 'best friends.'"
The Tampa Times reported that Jones is "a Gainesville-based political operative for Data Targeting, the firm that ran Florida Senate campaigns throughout the state for the GOP in 2020."
It was Bean's 2020 run for city commission where he reported using Data Targeting for palm cards ($750) and campaign mailers ($5,329).
The Observer also asked Jones for comment regarding contributions to Bean's commission campaigns the past four years.
Jones was specifically asked:
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Why are your PACs involved in a small-town city commission election?
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Why did you select Mayor Bean's efforts to win elections since 2020?
He has not responded.
Sturges, who runs a residential construction company, has a pro-development record as city commissioner. Sturges would not comment on whether his re-election campaign was involved with the Jones attack mailer or had knowledge that the mailer was being generated against Minshew.
Following a story about the disinformation mailer last week, Sturges abruptly dropped out of the Observer's candidate forum held last Monday.
Jones' only comments regarding the smear Minshew mailer appeared Saturday on City Commissioner Darron Ayscue's Facebook page.
Jones posted, "Just about everything they (the Observer) wrote about me, they plagiarized from bad sources, none of which had correct information to begin with. They aren't news, they are Googlers with an attitude. Apparently, you guys need a competing and legitimate news source up there."
Jones, who has resided in Gainesville and Tallahassee, has no known affiliation to Fernandina Beach.
