Charlie Crist wins, Fanjuls lose ... by gimleteye

The Fanjuls are sugar barons whose lands in the historic Everglades are pivotal to control of Florida politics. The influence of campaign contributions is so strong--touching all parts of the political spectrum and all levels of Florida government-- that the possibility a US Senator could emerge in Florida who has not received their blessings is remarkable. The election of Gov. Charlie Crist to the US Senate in November would be a stunning exception to the rule. (please click, 'read more')
The profitability of growing sugar in the Everglades Agricultural Area is such, that campaign cash is as easily available as phosphorous in the Everglades. The money machine fueled by federal guarantees in the Farm Bill cement political order in Florida. Not even the Wall Street Journal editorial page can budge the corporate welfare that keeps Big Sugar in firm control of its legislative priorities.

But power is perception. Gov. Charlie Crist, the sunny optimist, triggered a plan by the State of Florida to add sugar lands to Everglades treatment marshes and storage by purchasing more than 100,000 acres owned by the Fanjuls' biggest competitor, US Sugar. He did this, apparently, without consulting the Fanjuls and, for that, the Fanjuls are applying their muscle to Marco Rubio, the Jeb Bush stand-in on the Republican side. The Society Page of the Palm Beach Daily News, reports that Pepe and Emilia Fanjul hosted a mega fundraiser last week for Rubio at their fab spread in Southampton, NY, with tickets costing $42,200 per person or $90,400 per couple. The Society Page may have had its facts wrong on how much money can go directly to Rubio's campaign (as opposed to another campaign entity controlled by the Rubio camp and allowed by the US Supreme Court), but the point is clear. For his independent streak, the Fanjuls cannot abide Charlie Crist. (On the Democratic side, the Fanjuls have long supported Congressman Kendrick Meek who is engaged in a primary brawl with billionaire newcomer Jeff Greene.)

The goal of Big Sugar with government efforts to restore the Everglades is delay. On every regulatory issue, over a long period of time, sugar growers from large to small have walked in lockstep. Where Charlie Crist offended the Fanjuls was his temerity to engage in secret negotiations with US Sugar principals who for one reason or another, had decided it was time to get the best price they could for their sugar acreage. The US sugar deal is about adding more land to the inventory of acreage that can be used for treatment marshes and water storage for the Everglades, dying from phosphorous pollution. While continuing to grow their sweet profits, the Fanjuls have also pursued-- at the local zoning level-- approvals to convert land to other business purposes: rock mines, suburban sprawl, and power plants. The more the Fanjuls harden their footprint in the EAA, the higher the eventual cost to the public to buy them out.

Democrats line up, too, with the Fanjuls; from former Governor and US Senator Bob Graham, to current US senator Bill Nelson, and of course Bill Clinton. Fanjul contributions have curried favor with African American politicians like Jesse Jackson, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Kendrick Meek. On the Republican side, Jeb Bush had the Fanjuls' interests in mind when he led the legislative effort to change the Everglades Forever Act in 2003, dubbed by environmentalists, "The Everglades Whenever Act". A federal judge threw out the Bush changes in an acidic, 2008 ruling.

For Charlie Crist to be elected the next US Senator from Florida--against the wishes of the Fanjuls-- would be rare as finding a blue lobster. It takes a lot of $500 contributions to make up for a $90,000 ticket; and that is apparently the point this hotly contested summer.