I thought I couldn’t be shocked by government corruption anymore, and then I learned about Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. The Ron DeSantis appointee is implicated in egregious abuses of public office involving fraud, human rights violations, and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.
I talked to José Javier Rodriguez, the Democrat challenging Ulthmeier in November, about how he’s running to restore the attorney general’s office to what it’s supposed to be: A watchdog that upholds the law.
Rodriguez and I talked about how Uthmeier established the infamous detention center he named Alligator Alcatraz, how the DeSantis administration funneled millions of state dollars into a campaign committee chaired by Uthmeier, and more.
Democracy News: Why are you running to be Florida’s Attorney General?
Rodriguez: I’m running to be the people’s lawyer. That’s a campaign slogan, but it’s also the job description of our attorney general to represent the people of the state, not the governor, not the government.
My entire professional life, in courtrooms and in the legislature, I’ve been advocating for Floridians, particularly when they’re being taken advantage of by corporations or institutions. I’ve been asking people to raise their expectations for what they expect from the attorney general’s office when it comes to crime, costs, corruption, and public safety.
I’m running for attorney general to deal with the corruption in Tallahassee, which is at the root of so much of what drives up costs for Floridians. So, this run is about standing up for Floridians and working to make their lives better. That’s what I’ve done my whole career, and I don’t plan to stop.
Democracy News: What are you hearing from Floridians about how political corruption affects their daily lives, especially the cost of living?
Rodriguez: Voters see the cheap tricks that they’re being fed from Tallahassee. That’s why when I’ve been traveling everywhere in our amazing state, from Pensacola to Key West, I’ve been asking people to use their imaginations and raise their expectations.
My opponent, James Uthmeier, the current attorney general of Florida, who was appointed by Governor DeSantis, is the legal architect of the mass detention center that he named Alligator Alcatraz. Not only were human rights abuses committed there, the construction of the detention center was also massively corrupt. It’s completely state-run. They slapped the place together without any federal approval. They seized land from the local government, went around the legislature, and grabbed millions of taxpayer dollars.
It’s a $1.2 billion boondoggle. It’s the most expensive project like it anywhere. Everything from the toilets to the warden was privatized with no-bid contracts. All the services are at least twenty times more expensive than at the average detention facility.
Uthmeier used state funds to build that detention center to get a pat on the head from the president when he thought he was having a primary challenger. As soon as he got his pat on the head, he left us Floridians with a gigantic bill and human rights abuses. It was an abuse of power to do that.
My opponent is also at the center of the biggest political crime we have seen in Florida in modern times, where $10 million was stolen out of the state Medicaid program and funneled into Republican political campaigns. My opponent was at the center of that crime. He was driving the whole thing, coordinating everything. Money that was supposed to be for sick children ended up in a Republican political committee.
Uthmeier is also supported by the insurance and utility industries. That’s the massive corruption in Tallahassee. We’ve gotten used to an attorney general that does absolutely nothing to help us, and in fact spends all his time trying to hurt us. He’s endorsed by these exact industries. He does nothing for a reason. He collects their checks, and that’s it.
Democracy News: Florida’s largest monopoly utility, Florida Power & Light, a major political donor, has specifically targeted you. Its former CEO even sent an email instructing an employee to “make [your] life a living hell.” Can you talk about that?
Rodriguez: There was a Republican scandal in 2020 when I was running for re-election to the state senate representing my Miami district. Republican operatives ran a fake candidate. My name is Jose Javier Rodriguez. Their fake candidate was named Alex Rodriguez. He was a spoiler in my race against the Republican candidate named Garcia. Republican operatives bribed Alex Rodriguez to run. They put thousands of dollars behind the ghost candidate, on issues I’d worked on like the minimum wage and acting on the climate crisis. Their ghost candidate got over 6,000 votes and I lost to the Republican candidate by 32 votes.
I tell this story because the whole thing was funded by Florida Power & Light. They funded that campaign against me because when I was in the legislature, nobody in Tallahassee was standing up to our monopoly utilities on behalf of their forced customers more than I was. They’re so wealthy and powerful that nobody is standing up to them. That’s why in this campaign, we’re going to give them hell.
Democracy News: What are some of the things you’ll do as attorney general to address this rampant corruption in the state?
Rodriguez: I have a long list of priorities. You can see the whole list on my website. They’re categorized by my priorities of fighting crime, costs, and corruption.
When it comes to crime, we need an attorney general that will lead on issues like gun violence, synthetic drugs, and especially the impacts of Big Tech, rather than just having cheap press conferences and lining people up for a photo op.
I’m also going to tackle issues that are impacting costs to everyday homeowners and renters. We’re going to tackle issues related to insurance and utilities. We have the worst landlord-tenant laws in the country. There are things attorneys general can do here to make things better. We can go after corporate landlords that are juicing rent. Other states have done so.
When I’m attorney general, workers will have an advocate. It’s routine for attorneys general, particularly in states like ours that don’t have a Department of Labor or state OSHA, to stand up for workers facing issues like wage theft and unsafe conditions. When I’m attorney general, our office will do that.
The third issue is corruption. There’s a very long list of things that need to be done. I’ve talked about the scandal of Alligator Alcatraz and the Hope Florida Medicaid scandal. We also have multiple other scandals in broad daylight in Florida. Millions of dollars from our education system have gone missing. Medicaid fraud is rampant under my opponent’s watch. Instead of rooting out corruption, my opponent is one of the people stealing from the program. As attorney general, I’m going to protect our precious dollars for healthcare and for education.
You can learn more about José Javier Rodriguez here.
Gonna be a high hurdle to clear given Todd Blanche is already setting the examples.
Ken Paxton too.