Florida GOP lawsuit to censor TV stations fails Sunshine State — and First Amendment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tallahassee, Fla., Oct. 19, 2026 — The Republican Party of Florida is suing a dozen TV stations in Central Florida, seeking to block a state Democratic Party election advertisement about the Hope Florida scandal, in which $10 million of federal Medicaid funds may have been misappropriated by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his former chief of staff, James Uthmeier — as well as reporting about the grand jury proceedings referenced in the ad. Both DeSantis and Uthmeier, who is now running for attorney general, had spent hundreds of thousands in state funds to keep the grand duty report secret until it was leaked to a South Florida broadcaster in late August. Both men admonished media outlets for reporting on the leaked material, saying it was a crime. In the lawsuit filed on Oc…