TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — The Leon County Republican Party is stepping up its efforts to tell voters about Tallahassee mayoral candidate Kristin Dozier’s connections to dark money groups and anti-law enforcement organizations.
In a new mailer that went out on Tuesday, the group states that “Kristin Dozier is running to defund our police and law enforcement with the help of these radical anti-cop groups: Florida Rising, Florida Immigrant Coalition Votes, Dream Defenders. Kristin Dozier wants to give our streets and schools to criminals!”
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey has previously accused Dozier of being associated with unethical campaign practices and dark money groups. The Florida Standard reported on this in August. At that time, Dailey said:
“Kristin Dozier’s campaign and at least one dark money political committee appear to have engaged in improper election activity in an attempt to influence your vote and put her in the mayor’s office.”
More recently, investigative journalist Steve Stewart with Tallahassee Reports did a deep dig on the organizations that Dozier is connected to. It turns out that they, in turn, are all supported by a nonprofit called The Center For Popular Democracy, which runs a program called Local Progress – a municipal-level engagement initiative with the purpose to bring radical socialist policies to municipalities around the country.
Stewart writes:
“The emergence of these groups, with financial ties to well-funded national progressive organizations, coincides with the rise in the local Tallahassee progressive movement. […] The approach by the local progressive elected officials is to demonize law enforcement and cast local developers and business groups as dishonest. These views are consistent with the coalition of groups that are now interested in having an impact on Tallahassee elections.”
Dozier is running as an independent. She’s currently serving as Leon County Commissioner for District 5.
