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The Republican Party of Florida’s top executive confirmed Friday that Gov. Ron DeSantis recorded endorsements of two St. Johns County Commission candidates.
“Legitimate endorsements,” RPOF Executive Director Bill Helmich told The Citizen. “The governor did record those endorsements for them.”
DeSantis backed Heather Brofford in the Republican primary for Commission District 2 and Sam Williams in District 4.
The Citizen first reported the endorsements Thursday after confirming them with a source close to the governor.
Both candidates subsequently posted the personalized audio recordings on their official social media pages.
In each, DeSantis identifies the candidate by name and urges St. Johns County voters to support them.
But the endorsements did not appear on the governor’s website or social-media accounts, fueling skepticism.
Commenters questioned the Citizen’s reporting, raised the possibility that the recordings weren’t authentic and demanded a retraction.
Helmich said the absence of a social media announcement was not unusual.
DeSantis’ endorsements are rarely posted on his own social media pages, he said, and are often distributed directly by the candidates or through targeted campaign messages.
Some commenters said they called a general information line at the Governor’s Office and were told DeSantis had not endorsed anyone in the races.
Helmich said those callers reached state employees who would not be involved in DeSantis’ political activities or have access to his endorsement decisions.
“Those people do not have a list of who the governor has or has not endorsed,” he said. “They would not know anyway.”
Employees answering the government line apparently based their responses on the absence of an official announcement, Helmich said.
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