Growth, development-funded candidates face self-funded candidates in Lee County commissioner races

Of the four Republican candidates vying to win two Lee County commissioner primaries, two of them are their own largest contributors to their campaigns, while two of them relied on growth and development dollars as their largest category of donors. 

Politics has become a multimillion-dollar business in the county, with the growth and development community of engineering companies, real estate investors, construction contractors, etc., combining to become the largest financial contributors to elected officials in Lee County. 

With early, in-person voting for the Aug. 20 Lee County primary taking place Aug. 10 through Aug. 17, Gulfshore Business obtained public records and analyzed campaign fundraising, breaking the donors into categories based on how they identified themselves: growth and development, retirees, business, law enforcement, health care, legal/lobbyist, political, hospitality, environment, education and agriculture. “Others” and “unknown” also were part of the mix. The finance records were entering August. 

“One of the concepts that I talk about to my class is the ‘growth machine,’” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. “And that is something that you see in many local areas in Florida. But really across the Sun Belt. Wherever we’ve been having a lot of population growth and economic growth. 

“People who have a vested interest in promoting growth and development, they typically get involved in local politics more so than any other group. They have a lot at stake. Local governments do a lot. But one of the most important things they do—that they actually have some discretion on—is making decisions about growth and zoning. That means the local officials are often promoting people who stand to make a lot of money if the region gets going.” 

Over the last two electoral cycles for county commission, the three candidates who raised the most money—incumbents Cecil Pendergrass and Kevin Ruane and candidate David Mulicka—combined to raise more than $1 million, averaging $350,000 each. Growth and development-related donors led the way as the top interest group for each of these candidates. 

“Growth and development have specific agenda concerns—such as rezoning, roads and access to zoning boards,” said retired Florida Gulf Coast University political science professor Peter Bergerson. “Growth and development is heading east. The question is, who will/should make the decision about Alva’s future? And what should it look like?” 

The answer to that question will be answered in part by the winner of the District 5 race. 

Incumbent Mike Greenwell faces Amanda Cochran. Both are Alva residents and both are registered Republicans. But both had different ways of raising money and campaigning. 

Greenwell, a North Fort Myers High graduate, retired professional baseball player, land investor and construction company founder, has raised $160,610. Of that, he had 71 growth and development-related donations totaling $54,750, an average of $771 per donation and 34% of his total. Greenwell’s largest group of contributors came from law enforcement, with 109 donors combining for $13,575, an average of $123 per donation and 8% of his total. 

Greenwell’s campaign platform includes advocating for property rights and building more roads to accommodate more growth. 

Greenwell did not return phone calls or text messages seeking comment. 

“Usually often what we see, certainly in Florida, is that a counter group arrives,” Jewett said. “They’re called ‘smart growth.’ They just don’t want to have rampant growth. You can have growth, but you can do it more responsibly. You can do it in a way people aren’t inconvenienced with paying more taxes. 

“They usually have a harder time raising money. So, they usually self-fund or rely on neighbors and friends.” 

That pretty much described Cochran, a Fort Myers High graduate who has spent 25 years as a board member for nonprofit Larry Ford Ministries. She has raised $181,401 for her campaign, including a $100,000 check she wrote to herself. She’s her own biggest donor. She wants to keep Alva as the Lee Comprehensive Plan stated it should be, an agricultural area. 

“With a political setup as such as it is in Lee County, I knew I couldn’t come in without getting attention,” said Cochran, who is the daughter of a pastor and has roots in the area dating back to 1910, when her great, great uncle settled in east Fort Myers. “To put it very plainly, that’s how much Lee County means to me. I’m doing it on my own significant cost.” 

Cochran’s campaign platform includes smart growth and developing infrastructure for the future. She decided to run after Greenwell had his property rezoned from agriculture to become a shopping center. Her growth and development-related fundraising amounts to $11,725, 6% of her total. Other than her own contributions, she raised $81,401 from 175 donors, an average of $465 per donor. 

“It increases my motivation,” Cochran said of the small donors. “They are giving up necessary funds because they believe in the cause. They’re partnering with me on this mission, because they believe in it. They want to see more responsible decisions being made in the county, as well.” 

The Cochran-Greenwell race may come down to which candidate organized better, Bergerson and Jewett said. 

“The growth machine candidates, they often win,” Jewett said. “But occasionally, the smart growth and managed growth candidate will win.” 

Mulicka and Matthew Thornton are campaigning for the District 3 seat being vacated by retiring Ray Sandelli. They are doing so in different ways. Mulicka has lower taxes, hurricane recovery, preserve environment and water quality as the top three priorities on his campaign flyer. Mulicka and Greenwell have the same campaign manager in Terry Miller, who also has lobbied commissioners in recent years to approve development projects. 

Mulicka, owner of demolition company Honc Destruction, raised $330,457 entering August. About 40% of that total—$131,632—came from growth and development interests. Mulicka had 111 of his 175 growth and development-related donors combine to contribute the maximum of $1,000 each, the most of any candidate this cycle. His second-largest group, business interests, contributed $38,055. 

“Most of these people are customers and friends and neighbors,” said Mulicka, a Cape Coral High School graduate. “They’re people we have done business with in the past. Those were all people I had cell phone numbers for. I worked really hard to call a lot of people.” 

Thornton listed smart growth and development, traffic reduction and water management as the first three priorities on his campaign flyer. A retired construction contractor who grew up near Jacksonville, he has raised $191,708. His largest contribution of $100,000 came from a retiree—himself. And $89,000 more money in political donations came from a loan—also from himself. He had 16 other contributors combine to donate $2,708, an average of $169.25 per donor. His growth and development-related fundraising amounted to one donation of $20, 0.01% of his total. 

“I don’t take anything from developers,” Thornton said. “I don’t take anything from contractors. I only take money from individuals. And they have to be from Lee County. 

“It’s like I told everybody. Could I do what David Mulicka is doing? The answer is, yes, I can. I could turn around and have giant donors and have them give me a ton of money and get me elected into this office and not have to worry about it. I could have blown David Mulicka out of the water with money. I could have blown him out of the water with people. 

“Now ask yourself. Am I buying the election? And the answer is yes. I’m buying the election. Where is my allegiance to the people of Lee County at that point? For David Mulicka, there are the 50 or 60 people or companies that he’s going to be answering to. I’m not answering to those people. I’m answering to the people of Lee County and myself. That’s it.” 

Mulicka said his decision-making would not be swayed by the people writing him checks. 

“My job is to represent all of Lee County,” Mulicka said. “Almost a million people. In every decision that I make. And just because somebody gave me a donation for my advertising budget last year, doesn’t have any sway on how I vote. I vote on the facts and the merits of each case. Period.”