A Florida appeals court ruled the $10 million was never public money and threw out the grand jury report.
Now Democrats are running campaign ads based on that same discredited report
And the Florida GOP just sued 11 TV stations to kill this Democrat ad full of lies.
The Scheme Democrats Are Still Running With
Here's what actually happened with Hope Florida.
Medicaid contractor Centene overbilled Florida and settled for $67 million.
Of that settlement, $10 million went directly to the Hope Florida Foundation – the charity Casey DeSantis built to connect struggling Floridians with faith-based community support instead of government dependence.
The First District Court of Appeals said so explicitly in its October 7 ruling: "The $10 million to Hope Florida in the Centene's settlement was never public money."
The grand jury that investigated it couldn't charge anyone with a crime – because grand jurors admitted nobody would take responsibility for a decision that wasn't illegal in the first place.
The court expunged the report and rejected its conclusions.
Democrats responded by making a campaign ad built on that discarded document and buying airtime on 11 television stations in Orlando and Tampa.
What the GOP Filed – and Why It Matters
The Republican Party of Florida sued the Florida Democratic Party, three Democratic statewide candidates, and station owners in both markets – including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox affiliates.
Florida law makes it unlawful to broadcast the content of grand jury testimony.
The GOP isn't just asking for an injunction – their attorneys sent letters to every station manager warning that airing the ad exposes broadcasters to criminal liability under Florida law.
They've referred the matter to state law enforcement and prosecutors.
The ad targets James Uthmeier, who now serves as Florida's attorney general – the man Democrats want voters to believe stole Medicaid money for political ads, despite a court ruling saying that's exactly wrong.
Uthmeier is the only Florida statewide candidate this cycle who's never faced voters in an election, which makes him uniquely vulnerable.
Democrats know the window is closing.
Early voting has already started.
Democrats Are Running an Ad a Court Already Ruled Was Based on False Conclusions
Florida Democrats aren't running this ad because they believe it.
They're running it because a DeSantis-appointed judge expunged the report, giving them a ready-made conspiracy theory – "see, they're hiding something" – that plays perfectly in the final two weeks before November 3.
Florida Democrat Party Chair Nikki Fried said Republicans have "no standing" to bring the lawsuit and that they "will not be intimidated."
She didn't address why her party is running ads built on a legal document a court ruled was factually and legally wrong.
Uthmeier has been consistent: the transfers were "entirely legal, absolutely."
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2112257495364145357?s=20
He's right that Florida has routed settlement money through nonprofits before – the Triumph Florida fund, which manages BP Deepwater Horizon settlement money, works exactly the same way.
The difference is nobody turned Triumph Florida into a campaign attack ad.
And nobody went after Casey DeSantis for building it.
Hope Florida was her signature initiative – connecting struggling Florida families with churches and community organizations instead of government checks.
Democrats are using a court-discredited document to torch a program built to help people get off government assistance – because that's the one thing the left cannot allow to succeed.
They're Hoping You Never Find Out the Court Already Ruled
This is the part Democrats don't want on television.
The grand jury acknowledged it couldn't charge anyone because "nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida."
That's not a confession of guilt.
That's a grand jury admitting it found no criminal actor – and then writing a report that blamed people anyway.
The appellate court reviewed the full money trail, concluded the grand jury had overstepped by targeting individuals without indicting them, and threw the report out entirely.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2112250960680460442?s=20
CBS Miami obtained and published the report in August.
Democrats turned it into a political ad and bought airtime on 11 stations anyway.
Now they're calling the GOP's lawsuit an attempt to "bully broadcasters into silence" – the words of a press freedom group that lined up behind them – as if airing the contents of an expunged legal document is protected journalism and not a campaign stunt with a two-week shelf life.
The Florida GOP is drawing exactly the right line.
Nikki Fried can call it bullying all she wants.
The court already ruled.
Sources:
- A.J. Katz, "GOP Sues 11 TV Stations to Block Democrats' Hope Florida Ad," The Wrap, October 19, 2026.
- Hunter Walterman, "Republican Party of Florida sues over 'Hope Florida' campaign ad," WINK News, October 19, 2026.
- "Republican Party of Florida sues over Hope Florida ad, threatens criminal charges," Florida Trident, October 19, 2026.
- "Uthmeier sticks by his guns: Hope Florida transfers were 'entirely legal, absolutely,'" Florida Center for Government Accountability, October 5, 2026.
- First District Court of Appeals, ruling expunging Hope Florida grand jury presentment, October 7, 2026.
