August 26, 2021
A national political action committee is beginning an advertising campaign Thursday calling out high-dollar political donors to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The political group 314 Action said people will start seeing ads on Google, Facebook and via text messages that highlight four political donors. The PAC said their donations, which collectively total $4 million to support DeSantis since 2018, “are funding an agenda that has killed thousands of Floridians.”
One version starts with the declaration, “42,252 dead from COVID.” It then gives the name and picture of a donor and says the person “funded Gov. DeSantis’ COVID agenda.”
The donors shown are Isaac Perlmutter, chairman of Marvel Entertainment, of Palm Beach; Daniel MacNeil, founder and CEO of WeatherTech, of Fort Lauderdale; Gale Lemerand, CEO of Stonewood Holdings, of Daytona Beach; and Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, of Daytona Beach.
314 Action is a political action committee that tries to get people with science backgrounds elected to office. The PAC said in a statement it would be “educating” the donors “about “the governor’s destructive, anti-science agenda.”
David MacNeil, the founder and CEO of WeatherTech, is one of the targets of a political ad campaign targeting political donors to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis has emphasized personal responsibility and opposed mandates such as mask rules to combat COVID-19 in Florida.
“DeSantis’ failure to fight the pandemic with science and medicine has led to the deaths of tens of thousands — including children — across Florida,” 314 Action said.
The group said first installment of the Florida campaign would involve spending five figures. In 2020, it spent $25 million to help candidates and helped them raise another $5. For the 2022 elections, its goal is $50 million.
Read on South Florida Sun Sentinel.