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Emails Reveal Scott Donor Frustration

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Health care mogul Mike Fernandez is unhappy with Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign and one of his staffers has labeled the billionaire a "renegade donor," theHerald/Times Tallahassee Bureaureports.

Three e-mails from the former co-chair of Scott’s finance committee were leaked to the Miami Herald and Politico. In them, Fernandez questioned the quality of Scott’s advertisements, his campaign’s Hispanic outreach strategy, the quality of the governor’s advisors and his own lack of access to Scott.

Scott is trying to avoid the controversy, the Herald/Times reports. Wednesday, Scott held a routine meeting by phone in order to avoid the press outside the capital, and later avoided the topic during a visit to Jefferson High School in Tampa.

Fernandez, the founder of MBF Healthcare Partners, gave $1 million to Scott’s reelection campaign and held fundraisers at his home in Coral Gables. His net worth is more than $3 billion.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.