The texts show the county commissioner, a wealthy developer, said a vaccination campaign for wealthy zip codes would give Florida governor exposure for potential re-election in 2022

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“Gov said he might show up,” Jensen, the Lakewood Ranch real estate developer, said in a text message sent before the start of the vaccination campaign. “I should try to see if that would help him get known here.”

CNN obtained the texts through a request for public records.

“Excellent point,” replied Baugh. “After all, 22 is just around the corner.”

“Yeah and he’s better known on the east side,” Jensen replied. “Premiere (the vaccination site) could have a nice setup for it.”

texts vanessa baugh rex jensen

“Absolutely, we’ll do a really big deal to get him to the prime minister,” Baugh said. “It can be huge for him.”

CNN reached out to Jensen, Baugh and DeSantis for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

DeSantis in Florida faces criticism of Covid-19 vaccination clinics in high-end communities

DeSantis, a Republican, did not directly respond to texts questioned on the subject during a press conference on Tuesday. Instead, he pointed out that the vaccine collection was done to help Manatee County increase vaccination rates for residents 65 and older. He turned to a conspiracy theory, claiming that “partisan corporate media” “demonized” impulses because they didn’t want “vaccinated people who disagree with them politically.”

Although it is widely suspected that he will run for re-election in 2022, DeSantis has yet to announce his standing for re-election.

The Tampa Bay Times and the Bradenton Herald were the first to report on texting.
Baugh and Jensen are responsible for launching the now much-criticized vaccine drive in Manatee County, Fla., At Lakewood Ranch in mid-February. Baugh, herself, previously admitted that she ordered county employees to limit vaccine collection to residents of two zip codes that largely made up the wealthy community.
DeSantis denies involvement in vaccine collection after $ 250,000 PAC donation from former Illinois governor revealed

The texts come at a time when DeSantis and the Commissioner face bipartisan calls for investigations into the Manatee County vaccination campaign.

Former Florida Governor and current Democratic Representative Charlie Crist has asked the Justice Department to investigate DeSantis and whether the vaccination campaigns have benefited political allies and DeSantis donors. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into Baugh’s activity with the vaccination event, following a citizen surveillance complaint.

Crist spokeswoman Samantha Ramirez told CNN they have yet to receive a response from DOJ and has deferred further comments to Crist’s campaign.

“The more we learn about Governor DeSantis’ abuse of power, the worse it is. We already knew that the governor was directing vaccines to his favorite donors and voters,” said Joshua Karp, a spokesperson for the reelection of Crist to CNN in a statement. “Now it’s clear that the governor’s team hand-picked the vaccines, bypassing the process of randomly selecting a county – for political gain – denying the elderly and others the vaccines they have. The authorities must immediately investigate this abuse of power. “

In a recent interview with Bay News 9, Crist said he plans to run for governor again.

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