Campaign cash from utilities? ‘I’ll accept it,’ Richard Corcoran says

House Speaker Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O' Lakes, bangs the gavel to end the day's business on the floor of the House Friday evening, May 5, 2017 at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. (Photo by Phil Sears)

While GOP gubernatorial rivals Jack Latvala and Adam Putnam feud over campaign contributions from investor-owned utilities, Richard Corcoran is watching from the sidelines.

As reported by FloridaPolitics last week, Agriculture Commissioner Putnam’s political committee has received nearly $800,000 from the utilities, and another $1.8 million to political committees that may have been re-directed to him.

Latvala, a Clearwater state senator, last month said he would no longer accept political contributions from the power companies, saying they should spend their money on improving power grid infrastructure following the outages after Hurricane Irma barreled through the state.

Corcoran, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, said Wednesday that he has accepted campaign contributions from the investor-owned utilities in the past, and he hopes to in the future.

“I’ve accepted in the past, as has Senator Latvala, and I’ll accept it in the future,” he said to reporters following a news conference in Tampa. “And my record speaks for itself in fighting for consumers in utility fights.”

Corcoran added that he’ll take contributions from virtually any group.

“My point to anybody is, anybody can donate to my campaign for the most part. I’m Richard Corcoran, this is what I stand for, and that’s what I’m going to fight for. And if you don’t like it, don’t donate.”

On another issue, the speaker said Gov. Rick Scott won’t have to worry about a bill funding an airplane for the next governor.

Scott, who is term-limited next year, ended the practice when he became governor in 2011, saying that it was a waste of taxpayer money as he had the funds to afford his own personal plane. Scott sidestepped reporters’ questions about it after this week’s Cabinet meeting.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a plane in the House budget, I can assure you of that,” said Corcoran, who also is term-limited next year—and may declare his own run for governor after the 2018 Legislative Session.