David Smith to return donation from Vote Men PAC opposed to women holding office

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Rep. David Smith accepted a $500 contribution from a political committee dedicated to stopping women from holding office. And according to the 23-year-old in charge of the Vote Men PAC, the Winter Springs Republican sent a thank-you note for the money.

Smith said he was unaware of the organization’s views when he accepted the contribution and is now set to return that donation in full.

“Unsolicited,” he said in a text to Florida Politics. “They just sent me a check.”

The organization’s controversial views are spelled out on its website. Chairman Cody Davis of Naples writes that the nation’s foundation has been threatened by changing gender roles in society.

“If relations between men and women in any society are unhealthy, then that society will never progress. It will always fall into stagnation and eventually die,” Davis wrote. “Our founding fathers had the wisdom to understand this truth and they deliberately chose to exclude women from their political system.”

Smith faces a rematch next year with Democrat Sarah Henry.

Davis said the organization has simple criteria for deciding who to send support. “The way we choose is really simple,” he said. “It’s just really that Mr. Smith is a man and he’s running against a woman.”

Davis has flagged legislative races throughout Florida where male candidates face female ones and offered financial support. To date, only Smith accepted the help.

Smith said he did not know of the organization’s agenda and wasn’t lobbied on any policy issues. “I’m unfamiliar with the organization,” Smith stressed.

Davis told Florida Politics that Smith sent a note thanking the group for the check.

“He specifically communicated with me,” Davis said. “He said, ‘I don’t know what the Vote Men PAC is, but I appreciate the money.”

Notably, the organization also sent an unsolicited message to Henry — one demanding she drop out of the race.

Henry said she received a phone call weeks ago from Davis.

“Cody had reached out and left a voicemail for me encouraging me to respect his view of gender roles in politics, and to drop out of this race and focus on the domestic sphere,” Henry said, “and to really allow Rep. Smith to take leadership in this space and our race.”

She said that message was offensive. “It’s insensitive for 1993, let alone 2023,” she said.

The donation became public in financial reports due this week. Smith’s campaign reports showed he raised more money than any Republican incumbent in the House. The $500 check was among 389 individual donations over the quarter, part of more than $114,000 collected over the third quarter this year.

Vote Men PAC’s own financial reporting shows the group also sent $500 donations to two other House candidates: House District Greg Folley and House District 18 candidate Nick Primrose. The committee reporting shows both of those Republican candidates immediately returned the checks. Doing so earned each of the candidates a spot on the political committee’s website under a “Cowards and Criminals” section.

Folley faces Gladyvette Benarroch in a Republican Primary in House District 81. Primrose also only faces Republican opposition, and is running against Kim Kendall in House District 18.

The only other candidate to ever accept a check from the organization since its founding last year was Mike Isaak, a Hillsborough County judge candidate. He lost his race in November to Melissa Black.

Davis said his committee expects nothing in return policywise from Smith.

“He doesn’t have to change his positions on anything,” Davis said. “We do what we do and he does what he does.”

Henry said it’s discouraging to hear the group even likes Smith.

“Clearly this group advocates and justifies slavery and genocide on their website,” she said, “and seems to think David Smith agrees with their position.”

The website for Vote Men PAC also defends Founding Fathers’ ownership of slaves and cites Abraham in the Old Testament also owned slaves. Davis asserts on the site the practice is consistent with Mosaic law.

Smith, for the record, said he does not support any of the group’s aims. He’s endorsed by Attorney General Ashley Moody and has worked to elect a number of women into office.

Currently, 50 of the Florida House’s 120 House seats, less than half, are filled by women.