Бывший сенатор Хосе Хавьер Родригес выдвигается кандидатом в генеральные прокуроры Флориды, обещая противостоять влиянию крупного бизнеса

By Romy Ellenbogen, Tampa Bay Times TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The last time Jose Javier Rodriguez was up for election, an illicit spoiler campaign pushed him out of office by just a few dozen votes. Now Rodriguez, a former state senator, is embracing the same campaign themes that put him in the crosshairs as he runs as the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier, saying he’ll stand up for consumers against big business. In 2020, conservative-allied political consultants targeted Rodriguez’s Miami Senate district, recruiting a “ghost candidate” with a similar name to siphon away votes. Rodriguez says he was a target because of his pushback on the powerful utility industry’s influence in Tallahassee. As Rodriguez mounts his first campaign since the scandal, he has not been dissuaded from sharing some of the same views that made him a target. Instead, he’s using what happened to him to buoy his case to voters that he’ll be a check against big money interests. “I say we gotta give them hell right back in Tallahassee,” Rodriguez said in a May interview with the Herald/Times. Even before becoming the Democratic nominee, Rodriguez, 48, was locked in on his opponent in the general election: Uthmeier, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ former chief of staff, whom DeSantis appointed in early 2025. Rodriguez has said Uthmeier isn’t using his office to help the lives of everyday Floridians. Instead, he said Uthmeier is “punching down” and using the office for “political theater.” Uthmeier has said his office is protecting Floridians from criminals, illegal immigration and ideological threats. Rodriguez hopes voters connect instead with his vision for the office — one of an attorney general who takes on unjust landlords and multimillion-dollar corporations, especially those in the insurance and utility industries. He wants to make the election a referendum, in part, on which candidate would be the best advocate for consumers. He points to attorneys general in other states, such as Michigan, who he said have been able to prevent millions in rate hikes and recover money incorrectly charged to customers. He says Florida’s most recent attorneys general have kowtowed to big business. Florida’s attorney general used to “at least show up” at rate-setting hearings, Rodriguez said. “We don’t have that anymore,” he said. “It’s not just that I disagree with his priorities,” Rodriguez said of Uthmeier in an interview with the Herald/Times. “He’s doing the opposite of what the job calls for. He is the corruption, rather than rooting out the corruption.” Uthmeier has the incumbent advantage. Rather than touring the state campaigning, he’s been able to run on the actions of his office — including launching Alligator Alcatraz, the now-shuttered immigrant detention center. Uthmeier also has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, in a state Trump thrice won, and millions more in fundraising. Centering consumer protection In 2020, a ghost candidate scheme that helped unseat Rodriguez relied on paying candidates to run who had no plans to win but could shave votes from Democratic candidates. In Rodriguez’s race, former state Sen. Frank Artiles offered an acquaintance $50,000 to run as an independent. The acquaintance shared the same last name as the incumbent and received 6,000 votes despite not campaigning. Rodriguez, the former senator, said voters were the victims of the scheme, saying he was targeted because “there was nobody standing up” to corporate interests like him. He said that included proposing a law that would have let landlords sell rooftop solar power to their tenants, which would cut out utility companies, harming their profit. While Rodriguez and others accuse Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest utility, of funneling money to help the spoiler candidate, the organization has denied any involvement. Five people tied to the scheme took plea deals or were convicted for their campaign finance or election law actions. NextEra, the parent company for Florida Power & Light, did agree to a $150 million settlement in a lawsuit from two Florida pension funds focused on the company’s accused political misconduct, including the ghost candidate scheme. Rodriguez has long touted himself as being someone who fights big corporations. Before getting elected as a state representative in 2012, he was an attorney with Florida Legal Services focusing on workers’ rights issues. He has represented labor unions as an attorney with Sugarman Susskind & Braswell. As he campaigns, he has continued his law practice, most recently representing a group of Epcot contractors. In 2015, he tried to push then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to do more to enforce the minimum wage. At the time, he said Florida should drop politically motivated lawsuits to more aggressively go after wage theft. Around that same time, rumors circulated that Rodriguez, who was three years into elected office, might run for attorney general. But he remained in the Legislature. He held the seat for one term before losing in 2020 to Sen. Ileana Garcia. Rodriguez then worked briefly for President Joe Biden’s administration as an assistant secretary of the Department of Labor. His nomination at first failed after two Democrats voted against him, citing a lack of experience, but he was later confirmed. Uthmeier says he stands up to big corporations Uthmeier’s campaign said Rodriguez’s depiction of himself as the lone consumer advocate in the race is false. “James has taken more legal action against big corporations than any Attorney General in Florida history, and he secured almost a billion dollars for Florida consumers in just the last year,” said Kayla Little, a spokesperson for Uthmeier’s campaign. “As AG, James is focused on free market principles with swift and effective oversight when it’s needed, not communist takeovers of private businesses,” she said. Since being appointed by DeSantis last February, Uthmeier has gone after several wealthy corporations. Largely, he has focused on claims that companies are violating the state’s laws against “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs or whether their business model can leave children vulnerable to abuse. Uthmeier has started cases against the National Football League over its rules that encourage minority and female coaches; against Starbucks for using race in its hiring practices; and against OpenAI for endangering children, saying their platform was designed to foster emotional dependence. Rodriguez acknowledged that Uthmeier does issue subpoenas against companies, but said it “seems very much tied to getting a quick headline, and it’s not clear that it’s part of a larger strategy.” This summer, Uthmeier issued subpoenas to CVS and the company behind the FICO credit score, the Fair Isaac Corp., saying that both are participating in anti-competitive practices that harm Floridians. On Uthmeier’s campaign website, he positions himself as an attorney “fighting for freedom,” including by “suing corporations that jeopardize shareholder value by sexualizing and indoctrinating our children.” He touts his experience with DeSantis’ administration fighting COVID measures like school closures and mask requirements. Rodriguez said Uthmeier’s agenda mirrors that of DeSantis and doesn’t work on behalf of Floridians. He points to Uthmeier orchestrating the transfer of a multimillion-dollar parcel in downtown Miami for President Donald Trump’s library. He also highlights the Hope Florida scandal, where the state used $10 million in Medicaid money to fund opposition campaigns to two citizen-proposed constitutional amendments. Uthmeier was not attorney general during the Hope Florida scandal, but headed a political committee that received the Medicaid money. Rodriguez also pointed to the three separate cases where Uthmeier got involved in a legal case days or weeks after receiving a $25,000 donation to his campaign. Rodriguez said several of the past attorneys general have lacked independence from the state’s governor. His model for the ideal attorney general is Democrat Bob Butterworth, who served under four governors. Rodriguez said he seeks advice from Butterworth weekly. Other attorneys general — like Bill McCollum and Charlie Crist — were “not totally beholden” to the governor, Rodriguez said. While he may disagree with their priorities, he said they did the job. Convincing voters that the attorney general is “the people’s lawyer” is the toughest part of the campaign trail, Rodriguez said. “This is an office that can improve their lives in ways that you maybe haven’t seen in a very long time,” Rodriguez said. ©2026 Tampa Bay Times. Visit at tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.