After the legislation that would have paved the way for a public vote in Miami-Dade County on the use of taxpayer funds for upgrades at Sun Life Stadium failed to make it to the floor of the House of Representatives, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross vowed to get more involved in Florida politics.
He now is, via the formation of a Political Action Committee.
According to Politico.com, Ross will use the PAC (dubbed Florida Jobs First) to support a “nonpartisan effort” in select state races.
In other words, Ross plans to try to get House Speaker Will Weatherford knocked out of office when he’s up for re-election.
Sure, the PAC will be used for other things. But this has become personal for Ross. Never mind that the public vote likely would have failed miserably if it had happened. Ross believes Weatherford reneged on a promise to put the measure on the House floor, Ross remains upset, and Ross has the resources and connections to do something about it.
Weatherford presumably aspires to hold statewide office, and some believe he cut a deal with Ross nemesis Norman Braman to kill the bill in exchange of Miami-Dade support if/when Weatherford tries to take his political career to the next level.
Ross also reportedly plans to assist Governor Rick Scott’s re-election effort. And once the PAC has sufficient funds, Ross can pretty much do whatever kingmaking he chooses to do as he tries to stack the deck for a political landscape that will help him get taxpayer money to help finance the upgrades to the stadium he owns.
Some would say that money and effort could just be devoted directly to the stadium upgrades.