Name: After his wealthy Florida Keys enclave got early vaccines, ex-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner gave $250,000 to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
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After his wealthy Florida Keys enclave got early vaccines, ex-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner gave $250,000 to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

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Former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner made a $250,000 campaign contribution to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last week after seniors in the uber-wealthy Florida Keys enclave where Rauner owns a home were among the first in the state to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in January. Rauner’s connection to the favorable treatment Wednesday by the Miami Herald, which obtained a memo the management of the exclusive Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo sent to residents noting that its medical center had vaccinations for residents age 65 and over while most Floridians struggled to access the shots. DeSantis has used the state’s vaccination program to open special distribution sites in select communities while skipping state and local vaccine registration logs, various Florida news outlets have reported. Advertisement “Over the course of the last two weeks, the Medical Center has vaccinated over 1,200 homeowners who qualify under the State of Florida’s Governor’s current Order for those individuals who are 65 years of age or older,” the Ocean Reef Club’s message to residents read, according to the Herald. “We are fortunate to have received enough vaccines to ensure both the first and second for those vaccinated. At this time, however, the majority of the State has not received an allocation of first doses of vaccines for this week and beyond, and the timing of any subsequent deliveries remains unclear.” In its report, the Herald stated that contributions to DeSantis’ political fund surged amid the disbursement of vaccines, noting the only contributions the Florida governor received from Key Largo were from Ocean Reef residents. Advertisement Campaign finance records by the DeSantis campaign show Rauner contributed $5,000 to DeSantis in September, listing a Key Largo address on Card Sound Road, which is in Ocean Reef, as his home. Rauner, who is believed to be a billionaire and is the former chairman of the Chicago private equity firm GTCR, contributed another $250,000 on Feb. 25 — a week after he turned 65, the threshold to receive a vaccine in Florida at the time. It’s unclear if or when Rauner received a vaccination. The former governor, who listed his occupation as retired on his campaign contributions, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. During Rauner’s run for governor, the Tribune reported on his , including his waterfront villa in the Florida Keys with a 72-foot-long pool. The home, which was worth nearly $7 million in 2013, according to local property records, has a private boat dock, four bedrooms, four baths, 5,370 square feet of ground-floor living space and a patio nearly half that size. The former governor registered to vote in the 2020 election in the Florida Keys, . Rauner first ran for Illinois governor in 2014 with an ad blitz that highlighted his $18 watch, 20-year-old camper van and preference for cheap hotel rooms. In addition to his Florida estate, the Tribune reported at the time that Rauner’s real estate holdings included a Winnetka mansion, since ; two units, including a penthouse, in a luxury high-rise overlooking Millennium Park; ranches in Montana and Wyoming; a condo in an upscale Utah ski resort; and a Central Park penthouse. Most of the properties carried seven-figure price tags. IRS data as of 2014 showed Rauner to be in the nation, but most of the millions he made in recent years was taxed at 15% — less than half the top federal rate for the wealthy. One reason behind that sharp discount was that Rauner took advantage of a strategy that yielded big tax savings on his share of investment fees paid to GTCR. Rauner spent of his own money — or nearly $36 a vote — to win the governor’s mansion, clashed with then-Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan during a lengthy budget standoff and lost in 2018 to billionaire Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The two shattered campaign spending records with a combined total that went . The Herald reported that since DeSantis started sending vaccines to select communities, his campaign had raised $2.7 million in February alone — the most since his run for governor in 2018. The highly exclusive Ocean Reef Club where Rauner lives is a gated community with more than 2,000 members, according to Sotheby’s International Realty. How DeSantis has rolled out the vaccines in Florida has come under scrutiny. State data has shown Black residents receiving the shots at a rate that is far less than their share of the state’s population. The Florida governor also has faced questions about steering vaccines to three high-end communities developed by Republican fundraiser Pat Neal, who the Herald reported has given $125,000 to the governor’s campaign. After local reports about the vaccination access granted to one of the Neal developments, DeSantis dismissed the criticism. “There’s some people who are more upset at me for vaccinating seniors than they are at other governors whose policies have killed seniors, and that is a joke,” DeSantis said. bruthhart@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @BillRuthhart Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement

Former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner made a $250,000 campaign contribution to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last week after seniors in the uber-wealthy Florida Keys enclave where Rauner owns a home were among the first in the state to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in January. Rauner’s connection to the favorable treatment Wednesday by the Miami Herald, which obtained a memo the management of the exclusive Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo sent to residents noting that its medical center had vaccinations for residents age 65 and over while most Floridians struggled to access the shots. DeSantis has...

After his wealthy Florida Keys enclave got early vaccines, ex-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner gave $250,000 to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

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