Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 106.31 (2025)

Legislative intent.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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106.31 Legislative intent.—The Legislature finds that the costs of running an effective campaign for statewide office have reached a level which tends to discourage persons from becoming candidates and to limit the persons who run for such office to those who are independently wealthy, who are supported by political committees representing special interests which are able to generate substantial campaign contributions, or who must appeal to special interest groups for campaign contributions. The Legislature further finds that campaign contributions generated by such political committees are having a disproportionate impact vis-a-vis contributions from unaffiliated individuals, which leads to the misperception of government officials unduly influenced by those special interests to the detriment of the public interest. Furthermore, it is the intent of the Legislature that the purpose of public campaign financing is to make candidates more responsive to the voters of the State of Florida and as insulated as possible from special interest groups. The Legislature intends ss. 106.30-106.36 to alleviate these factors, dispel the misperception, and encourage qualified persons to seek statewide elective office who would not, or could not otherwise do so and to protect the effective competition by a candidate who uses public funding.

History.—s. 1, ch. 86-276; s. 67, ch. 2001-40; ss. 1, 6, ch. 2024-116.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1992–2017 · leading case: Smith v. Crawford, 645 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994).

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Smith v. Crawford, 645 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). · cites it 4× “" Although referring to the language of intent found in section 106.31, [2] the trial court concluded that: The object of the statute, as explained in this section, is to ensure that public office does not become the exclusive domain of the wealthy and the connected.”

Scott v. Roberts, 612 F.3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2010). “Fla. Stat. § 106.31 . According to the enabling statute, “the purpose of public campaign financing is to make candidates more responsive to the voters of the State of Florida and as insulated as possible from special interest groups,” and to dispel “the misperception [that]…”

Chiles v. Dept. of State, Div. of Elections, 711 So. 2d 151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). · cites it 2× “See § 106.31 Fla. Stat. (1997). It would be illogical to assume that the legislature wished to accomplish these objectives in some election years but not in others.”

STATE BY BUTTERWORTH v. Repub. Party, 604 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 1992). · cites it 2× “[3] Section 106.31, Florida Statutes (1991), states the intent and purpose of the Florida Election Campaign Financing Act: The Legislature finds that the costs of running an effective campaign for statewide office have reached a level which tends to discourage persons from…”

Repub. Party of Florida v. Smith, 638 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 1994). · cites it 2× “§ 106.31, Fla. Stat. (1991). The Legislature created the Election Campaign Financing Trust Fund (Trust Fund) to finance the Act.”

Connor v. Div. of Elections, 643 So. 2d 75 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). · cites it 2× “The intent of Florida’s Election Campaign Financing Act, as set forth in section 106.31, Florida Statutes (1993), is to encourage the candidacy of otherwise qualified persons who are not independently wealthy and who do not have ready access to large-scale contributors and to…”

Thurston v. State, Florida Elections Comm'n, 210 So. 3d 684 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017). · cites it 3× “” § 106.31, Fla. Stat. We conclude that where a candidate for a Cabinet office submitted documentation before the primary election, some of the documentation contained legibility defects which made verification impossible, the candidate was advised of the defects after he was…”

Richard L. Scott v. Dawn K. Roberts (11th Cir. 2010). “Fla. Stat. § 106.31 . According to the enabling statute, “the purpose of public campaign financing is to make candidates 14 more responsive to the voters of the State of Florida and as insulated as possible from special interest groups,” and to dispel “the misperception [that]…”

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