Orlando Sentinel: “The already controversial Lakewood Ranch COVID-19 vaccination pod in Manatee County was carefully choreographed by organizers and the governor’s office to help him win reelection next year, texts obtained by the Bradenton Herald show Asked about the report Tuesday, DeSantis called it ‘nonsense’ and suggested that the ‘partisan’ news media didn’t want people in wealthy, Republican-leaning neighborhoods to get vaccinated The Lakewood ‘pop-up’ site was limited to residents of two wealthy zip codes in Manatee County. Prominent Democrats have already called for an investigation after reports showed a Manatee commissioner included herself and developer Rex Jensen on a VIP list to get shots.”

“The Bradenton Herald and Miami Herald report revealed texts between Commissioner Vanessa Baugh and Jensen, including an exchange on Feb. 9 in which Jensen texted Baugh, ‘Gov said he might show up. Should try to see if that would help him get exposure here. ‘Excellent point,’ Baugh responded, pivoting to DeSantis’ reelection campaign next year. ‘After all, ’22 is right around the corner. Jensen had just finished a call between DeSantis and another Lakewood Ranch developer, Pat Neal, the newspapers reported. Neal gave $125,000 to DeSantis’ political committee in 2018 and 2019, and two other pop-up sites in Venice and Sarasota also were set up at his developments An advance team from the governor’s office visited the Lakewood site, the report said. Instead of randomly determining who would get the vaccine at the DeSantis event kicking off the pod, text messages indicated the governor’s staff asked Jensen to create a list. ‘Amazing. They want me to maintain a list. They can’t. Screw this,’ Jensen wrote to Baugh on Feb. 9 after speaking to the Florida Department of Health, according to the report. Baugh then directed the Manatee County public safety director to limit the vaccines to the two wealthy zip codes in which Lakewood was located, emails show.”