Florida GOP Drops Lawsuit Over Democratic Hope Florida Ad After Judge Refuses to Pull It Without a Hearing

The Republican Party of Florida has dropped its lawsuit seeking to block a Democratic television ad about the Hope Florida grand jury report, a day after a Highlands County judge refused to pull the ad without first hearing from the other side. The party filed a notice dismissing the case at 3:39 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, saying it wanted to give state prosecutors room to pursue criminal investigations, WUSF reported.

The dismissal ends, for now, a court fight over whether a state grand jury secrecy law can be used to keep a campaign ad off the air less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Both parties claimed vindication, and the underlying questions about the $10 million Hope Florida payment, and about how the grand jury's report leaked, remain before the courts.

What happened in Highlands County

The Republican Party sued at 11:36 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, in Highlands County, where none of the defendants is based. The suit named the Florida Democratic Party, three Democratic statewide nominees, David Jolly for governor, José Javier Rodríguez for attorney general and Annette Taddeo for chief financial officer, and the owners of 11 television stations in the Orlando and Tampa Bay markets.

The party asked for an immediate order, issued without notice to the defendants, barring the ad, followed by temporary and permanent injunctions. It argued that broadcasting the "content, gist, or import" of the grand jury's presentment is a first-degree misdemeanor under Section 905.27 of the Florida Statutes, the grand jury secrecy law. The complaint also said the ad falsely attributed criminal wrongdoing to a Republican candidate, Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Circuit Judge Heather Beato, originally assigned to the case, recused herself on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 20. Circuit Judge Peter Estrada took over and, shortly after noon, denied the request for an order without notice and directed the Republican Party to serve the defendants and coordinate a hearing. The next afternoon, the party dismissed the case instead.

A voluntary dismissal filed before the defendants answer is generally without prejudice, leaving the party free to refile. CBS News Miami reported the case was dismissed without prejudice. The party's notice said it was dismissing the case "so that the work of the State Attorneys can continue without distraction," according to CBS News Miami.

Dueling claims over the ad

The two parties offered different accounts of why the ad was no longer on television. A Republican Party press release said its letters and lawsuit had served their purpose, and its lawyers argued Democrats had pulled the ad. Democratic Party spokespeople said the 30-second spot was never pulled because of the lawsuit and was always scheduled to stop running by Oct. 20. The Orlando Sentinel reported that the ad ran its scheduled run, which ended Tuesday, and that Democrats then released a new ad, running only on social media, that again criticizes Uthmeier and also targets U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried cast the dismissal as a retreat. "Republicans raced to court in the middle of the night to silence us," she said, according to the Sentinel and CBS News Miami. "After a judge denied their emergency request to pull our ad, they walked away from their own case." She added: "Their stunt backfired." Fried also said the questions about the money "aren't going away just because Republicans dropped their lawsuit."

The ad says a leaked grand jury report found that taxpayer money was moved into a dark money committee controlled by Uthmeier and that $10 million was misappropriated. Its narrator closes: "James Uthmeier. Conspiracy. Concealment. Corruption."

The attorney general's separate bid failed

Hours before the ad was set to begin airing on Oct. 16, Uthmeier and other officials named in the grand jury report asked the First District Court of Appeal to bar any persons or entities from publishing or broadcasting the expunged presentment, according to court records obtained by the Florida Trident. The emergency motion, filed by attorney Christopher Kise in case 1D2026-2435, cited three sections of the grand jury law and asked for an injunction or, at minimum, a written declaration that further dissemination was illegal. The state joined the motion.

The appeals court denied it the same day in a one-sentence order with no explanation. The Republican Party's lawsuit, filed later that night, did not mention the denial.

The same day, Republican Party lawyer Benjamin Gibson of Shutts and Bowen sent a seven-page letter to television station managers. "Knowingly broadcasting advertisements built on the contents of the confidential Presentment is criminal conduct in Florida," he wrote, according to the Sentinel. The letter referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and prosecutors, with copies to FDLE Commissioner Larry Keefe, Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay, who works under Uthmeier, and state attorneys in 11 of Florida's 20 judicial circuits. Several Republican state attorneys, including in the Tampa Bay area and the 10th Circuit, sent their own letters warning stations of potential criminal consequences. The dismissal does not withdraw those letters.

First Amendment Foundation director Bobby Block called the Republican letter an attempt to use the levers of state power to silence speech, WLRN reported, and noted that the appeals court's own opinion recounts the report's findings. "The barn door's open, the horse is gone," he said.

The grand jury report at the center of the fight

The dispute traces to a September 2024 Medicaid settlement with Centene, a state contractor. Of the $67 million settlement, $10 million went to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity tied to first lady Casey DeSantis' Hope Florida initiative. The foundation passed the money to two nonprofits, which gave it to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee led by Uthmeier, then Gov. Ron DeSantis' chief of staff. The committee campaigned against the 2024 ballot measures on recreational marijuana and abortion rights, both of which failed.

A Leon County grand jury finalized a report in January that found the $10 million was "misappropriated as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities," but it found insufficient evidence to charge anyone, the Sentinel reported. Because there was no indictment, the officials named in the report could seek to keep it sealed. On Aug. 25, the First District Court of Appeal entered a confidentiality order. The next day, CBS News Miami journalist Jim DeFede published an unredacted copy.

On Oct. 7, the appeals court ordered the presentment expunged in its entirety. In an opinion by Judge Lance Neff, the court held that the grand jury exceeded its authority by accusing people of a scheme without returning an indictment, and it rejected the conclusion that the money was misappropriated, finding it was not public money. DeSantis and Uthmeier hailed the ruling. Uthmeier has denied wrongdoing, and his office has said the transfer was legal. The expungement ruling takes effect Friday, Oct. 23, unless it is delayed by further proceedings, the Sentinel reported.

Leak investigations continue

The appeals court has opened two inquiries into how the report reached the public. On Oct. 9, it ordered Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell, whose office presented the case to the grand jury, to show cause under oath why it should not appoint a special master to investigate how the unredacted report reached DeFede, and why Campbell should not be sanctioned or referred to The Florida Bar over an Aug. 26 email suggesting a court clerk was the source. The court has said the Leon County clerk did not send the unredacted report to the appeals court until Sept. 9, WLRN reported. Campbell filed a 263-page sealed response on Oct. 13 and has said he is legally prohibited from commenting.

On Oct. 16, the court opened a second inquiry, into an Aug. 28 leak of the redacted version of the report. It ordered the officials who sought secrecy to disclose within 10 days any information they have about unauthorized disclosures and to show cause why a special master should not investigate. It also ordered Campbell to identify within 10 days which parts of his response must stay confidential. Those filings are due around Oct. 26. Separately, the court has ordered parties in both Hope Florida cases to explain why the briefs and record should not be unsealed, with responses due Oct. 25.

Other inquiries are also pending. Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell has said her office is reviewing whether misappropriated money was spent in Central Florida and that she will file charges only if she can prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Uthmeier has called her review a politically motivated witch hunt. In February, The Floridian reported that the U.S. Justice Department had decided not to pursue a federal complaint, though the department has not confirmed that publicly.

What's next

Uthmeier faces Rodríguez on Nov. 3, and Rodríguez has said he would reopen the Hope Florida investigation if elected. A new UNF poll found 30% of likely voters said Democratic messaging about Hope Florida made them less likely to support Moody, who was attorney general when the settlement was reached; among independents, the figure was 38%.

In court, the key dates are the expungement ruling's effective date on Oct. 23, the unsealing responses due Oct. 25 and the leak filings due around Oct. 26. The Republican Party could refile its suit, but with early voting under way and the original television flight finished, the fight over the ad has largely moved to social media and the ballot box.