Volusia GOP, split over Jeff Brower's slate, take fight to Florida Elections Commission

A top party official filed a complaint with the Florida Elections Commission, putting on full display a chasm among Volusia County Republicans.

Volusia GOP State Committeeman Vic Baker said he mailed the complaint to Tallahassee on Saturday, alleging that a political action committee associated with County Council Chair Jeff Brower's "Volusia Values" slate of candidates "has violated numerous sections" of state election law.

The complaint is made against Russ Moulton, an Ormond Beach businessman who's been outspoken against Volusia County property-tax increases. Moulton established Floridians for Affordability in Real Estate and Sales Tax, or the "Fairest PAC," in July 2021.

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The complaint doesn't name Brower as a defendant, but documents included with the complaint suggest Brower may have solicited funds for the PAC without being a registered agent.

Endorsing Republicans over other Republicans

The FAIREST PAC produced a YouTube ad promoting three "Volusia Values" County Council candidates, Doug Pettit, Ken Smith and Ted Noftall.

Pettit is in a runoff with Jake Johansson for the at-large seat. Smith is battling Troy Kent for the District 4 seat. Noftall is challenging incumbent Councilman Danny Robins in District 3.

While County Council races are nonpartisan, all six of those candidates are registered Republicans.

Brower, who was elected in 2020, has been largely without allies on the council, finding opposition to his plans to loosen restrictions on short-term rental properties, restrict development and halt property-tax increases.

The Brower-backed candidates have signed a pledge not to raise taxes and have campaigned on protecting the environment from overdevelopment, taking issue with candidates who have accepted contributions from developers.

Complaint: Ad violates election law

One of the FAIREST PAC ads, which has aired on television for more than $18,000, exceeds the contribution limits to county-level candidates, according to the complaint.

The committee runs ads using the "unregistered moniker Fairest PAC," the complaint alleges.

Also, the complaint states: "It is obvious from a review of the television advertisement and other advertisements on YouTube that the advertisements were not produced independently of the candidates."

Florida law limits contributions to county-level candidates to no more than $1,000.

The complaint includes an email chain showing that Richard Coates, a top Tallahassee elections and government attorney, was engaged by political consultants David Johnson and Mike Scudiero on the matter.

Moulton, reached Sunday by telephone, said he was in the hospital after being struck by a vehicle on Thursday night. He had not seen Baker's complaint.

"We put a disclaimer on everything we ran. I'm not sure what (Baker) would be complaining about," Moulton said. "We didn't have the money to run very much."

Then, relating the complaint to his injuries, Moulton added: "This is the least of my worries."

Competing voters' guides

The Volusia County Republican Executive Committee voted this summer on endorsements, including some GOP candidates who were running against other Republicans. The REC mails thousands of voters' guides listing only Republicans it endorses, to the exclusion of other Republicans.

Before the primary, the Republican voters' guides endorsed three opponents of Brower's Volusia Values slate, which led to the Volusia Values backers producing their own voters' guides, similar in appearance.

The two sides have engaged in a war by direct mail, with Voters Response, a Tallahassee dark-money PAC, sending a flyer attacking Chuck Collins, president of the Republican Conservatives Assembly of Ormond Beach, while other mailers have attacked Brower and his slate.

Collins had earlier sent out an email accusing the REC of poisoning Jeff Brower's family dog, who died in August.

In a text message Sunday, Brower the election complaint is "more harassment" aiming to change the subject away from the developer-backed candidates.

"It's just like the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on me when I'm not even running, and on a private senior citizen (Collins) who dares express his opinion on the corruption in local politics," Brower wrote. "Vic Baker is a corrupt bully doing the bidding of the REC's biggest donors who will do anything to win."

Baker responded to Brower's comments, saying Brower violated his loyalty oath to the Republican Party.

"Jeff Brower has promoted a slate of candidates under his own name trying to supplant the Republican Party of Volusia County with the party of Jeff Brower," Baker said Monday. "Jeff Brower broke the law, broke the rules and he will face the consequences."

The Fairest PAC has raised and spent more than $80,000, including more than $27,000 on direct mail from Hamlin & Associates, Ormond Beach; $20,000 on Spectrum Reach television and internet advertising; $21,000 on person-to-person text messaging from Mudshare, a New Jersey firm; and $6,800 on Facebook ads.

The PAC has gotten funding from Bellini Better World Foundation of Tampa, $20,000; Murphy Dugan LLC, a firm associated with John Hamlin of Ormond Beach, $15,000; Russ Moulton, $6,000; other individuals and $1,000 each from four Republican organizations, the Florida Republican Assembly, West Volusia Republican Assembly, Republican Liberty Caucus of Daytona Beach and Republican Conservatives Ormond Beach Assembly.

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Republican official complains to state about 'Volusia Values' PAC