Originally published at Naples Daily News.
Alexandra Glorioso , alexandra.glorioso@naplesnews.com; 239-435-3442 5:43 p.m. ET Feb. 24, 2017
Two Lee County lawmakers are stepping up as early contenders to replace Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the position that has had a hand in high-profile fights ranging from controversial land buys to gun policy.
Rep. Matt Caldwell, a North Fort Myers Republican who represents most of Lee County, hasn’t officially announced yet for the 2018 race. But he has begun fundraising.
In 2017, Friends of Matt Caldwell, a political committee affiliated with him, has raised nearly $200,000. As of Friday, Caldwell had $252,907 in cash on hand between this committee and a different committee he shares with State Rep. Ben Albritton Jr., R-Wauchula.
Sen. Denise Grimsley — a Sebring Republican who represents a sliver of Lee as well as Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands and Okeechobee — filed for the race in September. As of Friday, Grimsley had raised $40,750 directly for her campaign. She also has $337,711 on hand through a political committee — Saving Florida's Heartland — that supports her and one she shares with Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs.
A third candidate is also in the mix: Paul Paulson, a Republican from the Orlando area, filed at the end of December.
Grimsley comes from a family of Florida farmers and said she would make the department more consumer friendly if elected.
Senator Denise Grimsley (Photo: Florida Senate)
“We were regulated by the Department of Agriculture," said Grimsley, 57. "I’ve been on that end where I didn’t feel like the department was very consumer-friendly.”
Caldwell said he would use his position to urge the federal government to consider tax policy changes that would encourage farmers to stay in production instead of selling or developing their land.
“We incentivize (farmers) to get off the land,” Caldwell, 35, said. “It’s no wonder you’ve got sprawl going everywhere.”
The commissioner advocates for Florida farmers and landowners. In that position, the commissioner can wield a kind of political power in controversial debates such as whether to buy land owned by sugar farmers to build a reservoir to help restore the Everglades, which is what is being proposed by Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart.
Both candidates, like Putnam, are philosophically aligned with the sugar industry — Negron’s fiercest opponent on the land purchase. Grimsley represents many constituents employed by the industry, and Caldwell said he and the industry have a kind of “mutual respect,” pointing out there are still farmers in rural parts of his county.
Over the years United States Sugar Corporation — one of two major sugar companies in Florida — has given $109,500 to the committees supporting Caldwell. It’s contributed $61,000 to the committees supporting Grimsley.
Caldwell said he expects it will require raising between $2 million and $4 million to become a serious contender. He said he is unsure who U.S. Sugar would ultimately support in the GOP primary.
“It becomes a challenge when you’ve got multiple friends in the same race,” Caldwell said. “Obviously, everyone wants (U.S. Sugar) to be with them.”
Caldwell said he was aligned with U.S. Sugar on the Everglades for years before they started supporting his campaigns, and Grimsley said she's "disagreed with them and agreed with them on some things," saying she never supported buying their land for Everglades restoration projects, even when U.S. Sugar wanted to sell under Gov. Charlie Crist.
The agriculture commissioner is one of four statewide posts along with the governor, chief financial officer and attorney general.
The office oversees 18 departments that touch most aspects of farming, like protecting crops from pesticides, regulating best practices and which foods end up in stores and schools. It’s also the state’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints.
By statute, the commissioner can make recommendations to the governor and advocate for positions as a statewide officer.
The Department of Agriculture also oversees the issuance of concealed weapons permits in Florida, which has the highest number in the country: 1.3 million. Under Putnam’s tenure in office, he lowered fees for the permits, allowed them to be renewed online, and pushed a bill that made them available at county tax collector offices.
Putnam is eyeing a run for governor in 2018.