THE U PS IDE oj FLORIDA

Ol FICE oflht < ITS ATTORNEY

October 20, 2014
Mr. David H. Stafford
Escambia County Supervisor of Election
P.O. Box 12601
Pensacola, Florida 32591-2601
Via Regular U.S. Mail and Electronic Mail
Dear Mr. Stafford:
On October 16, 2014, you submitted the following question to my office for
comment:
"Does the City Charter anticipate that for candidates without any opposition in the
primary election there is a $1,000.00 campaign contribution limit per donor for the
combined primary and general election cycle or does the contribution limit reset after the
primary election allowing all candidates, with or without primary competition, to accept an
additional $1,000.00 campaign contribution per donor for the general election?"
You also opined in your correspondence that "[T]he provisions of sections 3.02
and 6.04 of the Charter do not directly answer this question and appear to leave the
question up to interpretation."
The Charter did not and cannot address this question because Chapter 106 of the
Florida Statutes expressly preempts campaign financing to the State of Florida. Chapter
106 is made applicable by the inclusion of municipal in the definitions of "election" and
"public office." See Florida Statute, 106.011 sections (7) and (17) (2014).
The Charter recognizes the preemption of this field of legislation by the State of
Florida in section 6.04 (e) of the Charter by stating that "[Ejections shall be conducted ...
in accordance with general law." Because of the preemption of this field of legislation by
the State of Florida, the Charter can neither enhance nor diminish the State law of
campaign financing contained in Chapter 106 of the Florida Statutes.
EVERYTHING THAT'S GREAT ABOUT FLORIDA IS BETTER IN PENSACOLA.
222 West Main Street Pensacola, FL 32502 / T: 850.435.1 6 I5 / www.cityofpensacola.com
October 20, 2014
Page two
While the Citymay exercise the authority under the Municipal Home Rule Powers
Act to provide such regulation to municipal elections as deemed appropriate, it cannot
regulate those areas preempted to the State by general law or the Constitution. No
Charter provisioncan be adopted whichconflictswith any provisioninthe Florida Election
Code that expressly applies to municipalities. See Florida Statute 100.3605 (1) (2014).
In my opinion, since the field of campaign financing is preempted by the State of
Florida, the Charter is irrelevant to the issue and your Special Counsel should lookto the
Florida Election Code, specifically Chapters 106.08 (1) (c) and 106.011 (18) in order to
provide you with a definitive answer to this question.
That being said, I believe it would be remiss of me not to express my belief that in
view of Florida Statute 106.08 (1) (c), that establishes the primary election and general
election as separate elections so long as the candidate is unopposed, the contribution
limits apply to each election. The critical fact would appear to be whether or not the
candidate falls within the definition of "unopposed candidate" contained in Florida Statute
106.011 (18). That would have to be determined on a case by case basis.
Although I certainly recognize that I must defer to your Special Counsel in the
interpretation of the general law, I hope my thoughts and this response have been of
assistance to you.
Additionally, I would remind you that the regulatory authority established to
implement the Florida Election Code, the Florida Division of Elections, has a statutory
duty to render a binding opinion to you if asked.
As usual, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance in
this matter.
Sincerely,
*4
/I. Mes ames M. Messer
ttorney
JMM/jIm
cc: Ashton J. Hayward, III, Mayor
Richard Barker, Jr., Interim City Administrator
Alison Rogers, County Attorney