UPDATED: Oct. 21, 2026, 7:11 p.m. ET (This story has been updated with court records from the First District Court of Appeal and the Highlands County dismissal.)
The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) on Wednesday filed a notice dismissing its Highlands County lawsuit seeking to ban Democratic television ads about the Hope Florida scandal, abandoning the case a day after a circuit judge refused to pull the ads off the air without a hearing. The notice was filed at 3:39 p.m.
The RPOF said it wanted to allow prosecutors latitude to conduct criminal investigations.
The dismissal ends a week in which the ads survived two separate attempts to silence them — one by the party, and an earlier one by Uthmeier himself.
Court records obtained by the Florida Trident show that on Oct. 16, hours before the Democratic ad was set to begin airing, Uthmeier asked the First District Court of Appeal to enjoin “persons or entities” from publishing or broadcasting it. The “Emergency Motion to Prohibit Illegal Publication of Expunged Presentment” was filed by Christopher Kise of Continental PLLC in the sealed appeal in which the court, on Oct. 7, ordered the Leon County grand jury’s presentment expunged.
The motion argued that the ad — which says a leaked grand jury report found taxpayer money was moved into a dark-money political committee Uthmeier controlled and that “$10 million was misappropriated” — repeats the “content, gist, or import” of grand jury testimony in violation of §§ 905.24, 905.27 and 905.28, Florida Statutes. It asked the court to use its all-writs power to enjoin the broadcast or, “at the least,” to declare in a written order that further public dissemination of the expunged presentment violates Florida law. Uthmeier asked that any such order be entered publicly “so that the requisite notice may be effected” — a signal that the goal was a court pronouncement that could be waved at broadcasters.
- Uthmeier Emergency Motion to Prohibit Illegal Publication of Expunged Presentment, 1D2026-2435, Oct. 16, 2026https://floridatrident.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Motions-Other-Motion.pdf
The appeals court denied the motion the same day. The one-sentence order, signed by Clerk Kristina Samuels at the court’s direction, gives no explanation.
- First DCA Order Denying Emergency Motion, 1D2026-2435, Oct. 16, 2026https://floridatrident.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Order-Order.pdf
The order was served on Kise, lawyers for the other appellants — including Joseph Jacquot, Jesse Panuccio, Charles Lawson and Bradford Thomas — and on State Attorney Jack Campbell, whom the court has separately ordered to explain under oath why he should not face sanctions over the presentment’s leak. Kise represented Katie Strickland, the former deputy chief of staff for DeSantis, in the earlier proceedings to suppress the grand jury report.
Kise did not return a call seeking comment.
Having lost at the appellate court, the RPOF turned to a trial court hours later. Its suit in Highlands County — a county where none of the defendants is based — was filed at 11:36 p.m. Friday and named the Florida Democratic Party, gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, attorney general candidate José Javier Rodríguez, chief financial officer candidate Annette Taddeo, and the owners of 11 Orlando and Tampa Bay television stations. It sought an immediate order, without notice to the defendants, barring the ad, followed by temporary and permanent injunctions.
The RPOF argued that because the First District Court of Appeal ordered the grand jury presentment expunged on Oct. 7, anyone who broadcasts its “content, gist, or import” commits a first-degree misdemeanor under section 905.27, Florida Statutes. The near-midnight filing did not mention that the same relief had been sought and denied in the appellate court earlier that day — an issue lawyers noted is likely to warrant attention.
On Tuesday morning, the judge originally assigned, Circuit Judge Heather Beato, recused herself “in the interest of assurance to the parties of complete impartiality.” Just after noon, her replacement, Circuit Judge Peter F. Estrada, denied the ex parte request and directed the RPOF to serve the defendants and coordinate a hearing.
Rather than argue the case with the other side in the room, the party dismissed it the next day.
Under Florida’s civil rules, a plaintiff may dismiss its own case by notice at any time before an answer or a summary judgment hearing, and the dismissal is without prejudice unless the notice says otherwise, which leaves the RPOF free to file again.
- Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, Republican Party of Florida v. Florida Democratic Party, No. 28-2026-CA-000555-GCAM, Oct. 21, 2026https://floridatrident.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/259723073-Notice-Of-Dismissal-Before-Hearing.pdf
Neither Uthmeier’s motion nor the party’s complaint disputed that the leaked presentment says what the ad says it says. Both instead argued that repeating it is a crime under Florida’s grand jury secrecy statutes — an argument the First DCA’s Oct. 7 opinion expressly declined to reach, noting only that the press disclosure of the presentment “may itself” have violated § 905.27.
The appeals court has since ordered the parties in both Hope Florida cases to show cause why the briefs and record, which quote the report, should not be unsealed, with responses due on Oct. 25.
The dismissal does not withdraw the Oct. 16 letter that party lawyer Benjamin Gibson of Shutts & Bowen sent to station managers, which told them that airing the ad “is criminal conduct in Florida” and that the party was referring the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and prosecutors. Copies went to FDLE Commissioner Larry Keefe, Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay and state attorneys in 11 of the state’s 20 judicial circuits.
State attorneys in the Tampa Bay area and the Tenth Circuit followed with their own letters to stations warning of “potential criminal consequences.” Whether those referrals remain open is unclear.
State Attorney Ed Brodsky of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit told the Florida Trident that he sent the letter to WWSB, a television station in Sarasota. Public records obtained from Brodsky’s office show the letter was sent by Gibson on Friday afternoon.
Brodsky forwarded the letter to WWSB’s news director, Jeff Schlesser, stating: “I am forwarding this to you for your attention in the event that you and others at WWSB had not seen it, and to bring to your attention the concerns raised in the letter.”
RPOF chair Evan Power did not respond to a request for comment.
The ad remains on the air, including new ads that surfaced today. Early voting is underway in much of the state. The general election is Nov. 3.
Michael Barfield is an award-winning investigative reporter who helps strengthen transparency and accountability across Florida. He assists reporters and the public with public records questions and requests, and he oversees and supports the organization’s litigation to enforce open government. He’s a frequent lecturer on Florida’s Public Records Act and Sunshine Law, serves on the governance committee of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Barfield is a former President of the ACLU of Florida, a life member of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and has twice been named by Sarasota Magazine as one of the most influential people in Sarasota. He lives in Sarasota with his wife, Iru.
