Peter Schorsch
On the surface, Democratic attorney Carrie Pilon seems to be gaining traction in her Senate District 24 bid, challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes.
In reality, most of Pilon’s support is coming from one specific constituency — trial lawyers.
For its first reported month, Pilon’s campaign bragged about raising $104,433 between the campaign account and an associated committee, Moving Pinellas Florida.
What they failed to mention — of the $54,433 raised by the campaign, over 70 percent of that was directly from trial attorneys and associated organizations. And Moving Pinellas Forward received just a single $50,000 contribution — from “Florida for All, Inc.,” a well-known pass-through for trial attorneys and out-of-state Democratic activists.
Pilon’s contributions came from 149 donors, many listing occupations as “attorney.”
Another clue to who is the source of her support can be found on the invite for the Carrie Pilon for State Senate campaign kickoff event Tuesday evening; the host committee is made up of a large group of current and former attorneys.
There is little surprise that trial attorneys are lining up behind Pilon. As a law firm owner and former prosecutor, she is a member of the Florida Justice Association, which represents state trial attorneys. The FJA is also a longtime Brandes adversary.
As reported by POLITICO Florida, the FJA routinely testifies against “Brandes-sponsored legislation” on autonomous vehicles, one of his top Senate priorities. Lawyers are mostly concerned over legal liabilities in regards to self-driving cars.
