Jacob Ogles
Is Rep. Paula Stark living large off a political committee instead of using it to defend a battleground seat?
Public expenditure reports for Friends of Paula show her paying rent and travel costs. The committee is chaired by Stark’s boyfriend, Joel Davis, who also serves as the committee’s Treasurer. Reports show significant spending on “entertainment advocating candidate,” usually accompanying large restaurant bills.
The committee as of July 12 spent more than it ever brought in, and hasn’t collected an outside donation since early June.
The unusual expenses may have come to light sooner, but for the frequent lateness of reports. The political committee has repeatedly received notices from the Division of Elections scolding treasurers for filing late reports.
Most recently, the committee failed to file a report until July 1 that was due nine days prior, resulting in a $500 fine. But in November, the committee was assessed an $11,000 fine after failing to file a report due in early April until Halloween.
Notably, Stark came under public fire earlier this year when the Orlando Sentinel reported a failure to report $7,000 in official expense reports with the state for six months. That involved taxpayer money, which the political committee deals with donor contributions.
But beyond general tardiness, the committee’s reported expenses cover several items that bear little impact on Stark’s chances at re-election.
For example, the committee paid $1,650 in monthly office rent on space in Tallahassee. The money went to Leon Corbett, whose wife, Laura Lee Corbett, is a Tallahassee-based historical preservation consultant whose LinkedIn page shows she worked as the Department of State’s Florida Main Street Coordinator from 2000 to 2004. Stark serves as Executive Director of St. Cloud Main Street.
The address listed for payments is a single-family home owned by the Corbetts that had a homestead exemption claimed in 2023 and 2024, according to Leon County property records. A Google Earth image of the home does appear to show a white Corvette similar to one driven by Stark parked in the driveway.
Of course, that “office” would be in addition to Stark’s office in the Capitol as the House District 47 Representative. She has a separate Kissimmee office in her home district.
But the reports also show the committee was paid reimbursements by Stark’s official office for rented space in Kissimmee and St. Cloud in four installments totaling over $8,400.
Of note, the committee appears to be relying significantly on loans.
The committee formed in November 2022, shortly after Stark’s surprise win in HD 47 the same month. In an election cycle where Republicans overperformed expectations statewide, she took 51% of the vote over Democrat Anthony Nieves is a district where almost 56% of votes in 2020 had voted for Democrat Joe Biden for President.
The race once again is expected to be a battleground in November. A Democratic Primary in August will determine if Nieves, Andrew Jeng or Maria Revelles will face Stark in November. Stark is sitting on less than $44,000 in her candidate account as she prepares for that race.
But the political committee has even less.
Since its inception, the committee had reported about $75,000 in donations, as well as almost $10,000 in loans from 20/20 Media Holdings in Kissimmee, which shares a phone number with Davis’ Davis Land Company. Without the loans, the committee would be more than $3,200 in the hole.
The committee covered $10 magazine subscriptions of some sort from November through July. In May 2023, the committee covered a $175 stay at the Doubletree in Tallahassee by Stark, but using committees to cover travel expenses isn’t terribly unusual.
The most surprising line items cover some form of entertainment, a description listed as purpose on 25 itemized expenses for the committee. Reasoning varies from “entertainment advocating for issue,” “entertainment advocating candidate” or with no further explanation at all.
A significant number of these payments are to restaurants in Tallahassee or St. Cloud. That includes nine different meals at Savour; the most expensive of those last November cost more than $267. That restaurant’s entrees range in price from $28 to $54.
But the committee also covers an $874 expense at 2 Brothers Steak House in Kissimmee.
And there’s a $780 “entertainment advocate for issue” item paid directly to St. Cloud Main Street, the organization Stark heads in her day job.
