Politics, as they say, makes strange bedfellows. Unfortunately for conservatives in St. Johns County, those bedfellows are aligned directly against our interests, and they are dumping tens of thousands of dollars into our upcoming primary.
Ron DeSantis and Trulieve, BFFs?
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently endorsed two candidates for the St. Johns County Commission, one in District 2 and one in District 4. Those candidates are running against Martin Valerian Pyszczymuka and Krista Keating-Joseph, respectively.
The DeSantis-endorsed candidates are also being supported by a political committee called Keep Florida Great under the guise of a misleading “Official St. Johns County Conservative Voter Guide”. Another PAC named First Coast Leadership has sent attack mailers against incumbent Keating-Joseph.
Who is funding Keep Florida Great? Trulieve – and they don’t want you to know.
Cannabis conglomerate Trulieve, Inc. contributed $300,000 to the political committee Keep Florida Great on June 18, 2025, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Florida Division of Elections. That represents three-quarters of the $400,000 in total contributions disclosed by the committee this election cycle as of August 14, 2026.
Meanwhile, on July 28th, First Coast Leadership received $150,000 of its $160,000 this cycle from Greater Florida Foundation, another PAC. Three weeks prior on July 8th, Greater Florida Foundation received $200,000 from – you guessed it – Keep Florida Great.
Strange bedfellows
Just two years ago, DeSantis and Trulieve battled each other over Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana while cementing Trulieve’s position as Florida’s dominant corporate cannabis provider. DeSantis won the argument with backing from conservatives who believed that legalized drug use would damage societal cohesion. He also painted Trulieve’s campaign as a corporate power grab that would exclude private growers from the market.
But now, with DeSantis’ term nearing its end, it seems likely that he is taking steps to ensure that major donors and corporate political interests will continue to back him after he leaves the governor’s office.
Wait, Don’t You Like Ron DeSantis?
Ron DeSantis has undoubtedly been the best governor in America during his time in office. However, that is more an indictment of the other 49 than unbridled praise for Ron.
One area in which DeSantis has been particularly weak is development. Three of his legacy measures – the Live Local Act, SB 180 on hurricane recovery, and SB 686 on agricultural enclaves – are blatant land grabs by major corporate developers. They cede zoning authority to Tallahassee, allowing developers to build at higher densities and in protected areas where their projects might otherwise be rejected by county residents.
In an inversion of truth, First Coast Leadership sent multiple mailers attacking Krista Keating-Joseph over the “15,294 new homes” approved during the past four years, despite the fact that Krista was the lone vote against those developments. They are banking on voters not knowing how their county commissioners vote, flooding mailboxes and phones with misleading mailers and text messages.
What Now?
Many voters can see through the obvious lies, but some simply do not have the time to dig into the facts. This is how conservatives end up with elected officials who are completely out of step with their values: We do not want politics to dominate our lives. We want to live meaningful, fulfilling lives and elect competent representatives who will uphold their stated values after taking office.
Unfortunately, our elected officials do vote according to their values; those values just are not shared by conservatives in St. Johns County.
Reject the Trulieve- and developer-backed candidates in Districts 2 and 4. Look to the actual conservative grassroots endorsements in St. Johns County. Real, physical organizations such as the Republican Liberty Caucus, not shell-game corporate fictions like “Keep Florida Great”.
Vote for Martin Valerian Pyszczymuka in District 2 and Krista Keating-Joseph in District 4 for County Commissioner, and make St. Johns County conservative again.