After Richard Corcoran left his role as Florida’s education commissioner in 2022, he joined the lobbying firm Continental Strategy LLC, where he began cashing in on his political connections.

State records show Corcoran lobbied for his clients almost exclusively the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close political ally who’d appointed him not only as education commissioner but also to the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system.

The lobbying firm, which was founded by former state rep and Donald Trump appointee Carlos Trujillo, has offices in Miami, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Washington D.C. Considered a founding partner, Corcoran boasted in his resume he “led” the firm to bring in more than $5 million in 2022, with a projection to double that number the following year.

But a funny thing happened on his way to becoming one of Florida’s top influence peddlers: In early 2023, Corcoran instead became president of New College of Florida, a move that was a lynchpin of DeSantis’ hostile takeover of the then-vaunted liberal arts school in Sarasota.

The public first learned of Corcoran’s New College coronation not from the state or the school but from Continental Strategy’s Trujillo, who announced it in a letter to clients prior to the Jan. 31, 2023 vote installing him as interim president.

“We are proud of Richard’s record of service to the state … and his ability to succeed,” Trujillo wrote in the premature announcement. “The selection of Richard [at New College] distinguishes our firm as a leader in innovation and strategic solutions for the clients we serve.”

Trujillo then indicated that additional business for the firm would result from the move. “We look forward to finding new synergies that can better serve our current clients,” he wrote, “and ensure their goals are made a reality.”

Though Corcoran ostensibly left his lobbying job when he took the New College post, financial disclosures he filed with the state show he continued to draw income from the company in 2024 – the same year Continental began racking up with the state’s university system.

In July 2024, the Board of Governors, on which Corcoran served before taking the New College job, hired Continental Strategy to represent the “State University System of Florida’s interest in issues related to higher education, taxes, research, and economic development.” The three-year contract pays Continental $325,000 annually, giving it a total value of $975,000.

DeSantis took over New College in early 2023. (Credit: New College of Florida)

On top of that, the Board of Governors entered into a second lobbying contract with Continental that has so far paid the firm $150,000 through June of this year. That deal, according to federal records, was subcontracted to Ballard Partners, a powerhouse lobbying firm closely aligned with DeSantis and President Donald Trump. Continental bolstered its connection to the White House earlier this year when it made Katie Wiles, daughter of Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles, the head of its D.C. office.

Those contracts were just the beginning. Federal filings show that in February, the University of North Florida hired Continental as its lobbyist with a contract that stipulates, rather vaguely, that the firm would provide “government relations services … in connection with [UNF’s] projects and initiatives.” Miami’s Florida International University followed suit when it hired Continental in a similar agreement the same month. The UNF contract pays the lobbying firm $15,000 a month, or $180,000 annually, while FIU is paying Continental $10,000 a month.

Corcoran’s New College also got into the act when it too hired Continental, his former company, that same month. Federal records show the school had paid Continental $55,000 through June at a $10,000-per-month clip. New College also hired Continental to lobby at the state level, adding an additional $3,300 to $6,600 per month in payments to the firm, according to state records.

New College social media director Will Witt. (Credit: Facebook/Will Witt) More recently Continental Strategy’s sister company, the law firm Continental PLLC, was hired to represent Miami-Dade College in a lawsuit over a secretive giveaway of prime college-owned land to be used for the Trump presidential library.

Totaled up, the Florida Trident found Continental Strategy is now raking in roughly $80,000 per month from the Florida public university system, transactions that illustrate the fast-spinning revolving door between top state officials, the university system, and the lobbying elite, where public contracts are handed out and roles are routinely swapped.

While Corcoran refused comment for this story, New College social media director Will Witt said there was no direct financial connection between Corcoran and Continental Strategy at the time the college hired his former firm.

“There is no conflict of interest,” said Witt, a Republican influencer who first became known for conducting anti-woke pranks on college campuses.

There remain outstanding questions about the relationship between Corcoran and his former lobbying firm – including a financial settlement he struck with Continental a year after he began serving as New College’s top official.

Corcoran’s payout

At the time he accepted the New College position, Corcoran dropped his Continental clients and registered with the state to lobby directly for the school in his capacity as its president. Yet, perhaps tellingly, he didn’t use his college contact information when he registered with the state — instead he entered the address for Continental Strategy’s Tallahassee office and the office phone number of firm founder Trujillo.

When asked if Corcoran listed the contact information with the firm’s knowledge or blessing, Continental Strategy General Counsel Jesus Suarez replied in the negative.

“I don’t run the state lobbyist registration system,” Suarez wrote in an email to the Trident. “And I don’t give blessings.”

Details of Corcoran’s payout from Continental Strategy remain unknown. (Florida House of Representatives) At the time, however, Corcoran still had a financial connection to the firm, one New College spokesman Witt said didn’t end until March 2024, when Continental paid Corcoran a “final payment for the sale of his interest” in the company. Witt did not elaborate on the deal.

Corcoran and his wife, Anne, were also partners in Continental PLLC. Anne Corcoran responded to questions about her time with the law firm via email, writing that she exited Continental PLLC “a few months after” Corcoran became president at New College.

Suarez’ account of the timeline slightly differs. He wrote that Anne Corcoran worked with Continental PLLC through the beginning of 2024. Meanwhile her Florida Bar Association profile indicates she was an active partner and shareholder with the firm through August 2025.

A few months after Richard Corcoran received the Continental payment, the New College board voted to increase the school’s lobbying budget by 50 percent, from $240,000 to $360,000, money originating from the New College Foundation, a non-profit organization that fundraises for the school.

The New College Foundation’s executive director is Sydney Gruters, who reports to Corcoran and was installed in the position in 2023 shortly after DeSantis’ takeover of the school. She, too, comes with a political pedigree – her husband is state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), the former head of the Florida Republican Party who now serves as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Interestingly, the RNC paid Continental Strategy’s sister company, Continental PLLC, $30,000 in late 2024 for “legal and compliance services.” Joe Gruters was serving as the RNC’s treasurer at that time.

“New College has no role in or influence over attorney hiring decisions made by the Republican National Committee,” Witt said.

New College hired Corcoran’s former firm not only to lobby federally but also at the state level. State law forbids public universities from hiring outside companies to lobby Florida’s legislative and executive branches. But the school used an apparent loophole – Witt said the state lobbying was being paid with “foundation funds” rather than direct college funds, making it technically legal.

Poor performance?

While FIU and UNF provided the Florida Trident copies of their contracts with Continental Strategy, New College denied the request, claiming that no such contract exists with the lobbying firm exists.

Federal lobbying filings show New College payments totaling $55,000 made to Continental through June 2025. The filings show the firm is “researching funding opportunities” for the school and don’t reflect that Continental lobbied any government offices on New College’s behalf.

Spokesman Witt, who was initially responsive to emailed questions about New College’s relationship with Continental, ignored questions about what services Continental has provided the school—then ceased responding to emails from the Trident altogether. Suarez also didn’t respond to emailed questions regarding what his firm has done for the public universities it now counts as clients.

The Board of Governors’ lobbying disclosures show Continental was hired to lobby Congress, the White House, and the Department of Education on issues including “higher education, taxes, research funding, and economic development.”

At New College, spending is soaring while rankings tank. (Credit: New College of Florida) New College has upped its spending on more than just lobbying since the takeover. The New College budget this year stands at $118.5 million, which, as first reported by Inside Higher Ed, puts its per student spending at $134,000 – more than ten times the state average. Not that all the spending is going to students – last year Corcoran was paid about $900,000, which comes to roughly a thousand dollars per student. In comparison, his predecessor, Karen Okker, made a salary of $305,000.

Despite the largesse, New College has seen its overall performance fall since the DeSantis takeover and installment of Corcoran. As graduation and retention rates have fallen, the school’s U.S. News and World Report ranking has sunk from 76th in 2022 to its current 135th spot.

Corcoran has called the ratings downfall “unfair,” and blamed negative peer reviews for the drop. In comments to the Board of Governors last month, he seemed to be feeling the heat from what he called the “many critics” of New College. If the school wasn’t providing a “special” education, he told the board, it should be shut down. But then he pointed at the Board of Governors itself.

“But if we are closed down, I say this very respectfully, Chair, then this Board of Governors should be shut down too,” Corcoran told them.

The Florida Trident is an investigative news outlet focusing on government accountability and transparency across Florida. The Trident was created and first published in 2022 by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, a non-profit organization that facilitates local investigative reporting across the state.

About the authors: Trident senior editor Bob Norman is a veteran investigative journalist whose work has won dozens of awards and led to criminal charges and the removal of several corrupt public officials. He can be reached at norman@flcga.org.

Kevin Danko is a freelance reporter and graduate student at the City University of New York.