Gov. DeSantis reappoints leading lawyers, campaign donors Richard Cole, Rahul Patel to UF Board

Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be happy with the work lawyers Richard Cole and Rahul Patel have been doing as members of the University of Florida (UF) Board of Trustees.

He just reappointed them to new five-year terms on the 13-member panel.

Both are UF alums, and both have given handsomely to DeSantis and other Republican politicians and political committees.

Cole, a managing partner at the law firm of Cole Scott & Kissane PA, is active in his community and in political giving. He serves as Vice Chair of the Florida Bar’s Grievance Committee and is a past President of the Miami-Dade County Bar Association.

Florida Division of Elections records show that since 2010, he’s given more than $391,000 to state-level candidates and political committees.

That included $130,000 to the Empower Parents PAC political committee while it was under DeSantis’ control; $50,000 to the Republican Party of Florida in 2019; $50,000 to the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2020; and $35,000 to Attorney General Ashley Moody’s political committee in 2021 and 2022.

Federal Election Commission records show Cole gave the DeSantis-backing political committee Never Back Down Inc. $100,000 in 2023, as well as $200,000 to a committee backing U.S. Sen. Rick Scott in 2021 and 2022, among more than 165 other contributions.

Patel is a partner at the law firm of King & Spalding. He also serves as a member of the Crawford & Co. Board of Directors and is a past member of the Westminster Schools Board of Trustees.

State records show Patel gave more than $175,000 to Empower Parents PAC while DeSantis controlled it, $95,000 to the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee between 2019 and 2022, $30,000 to the Republican Party of Florida and $9,000 to Moody between 2018 and 2019.

He was also active at the federal level, giving $6,600 to Scott last year and $6,600 apiece to U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee and DeSantis’ Restore Our Nation PAC in 2023.

Notably, Patel’s federal and state donations ledgers list him living in Atlanta.

Cole earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UF, where Patel — the UF Board of Trustees’ current Vice Chair — earned a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Both received their Juris Doctors there too.

Their appointments, subject to approval by the Florida Senate, are effective Jan. 7.