José Javier Rodríguez crosses $1M raised for Attorney General bid, adds VoteWater endorsement

Democrat José Javier Rodríguez has added another endorsement and crossed a major milestone in his bid to take Florida’s Attorney General job in November: $1 million in fundraising.

Between Jan. 1 and March 31, Rodríguez amassed $336,000 through his campaign account and political committee, Floridians for JJR.

That haul, coupled with prior gains he made since launching his campaign in early June 2025, put him at $1.02 million raised altogether.

After spending $533,000 — including about $121,500 last quarter — he had roughly $490,000 heading into April.

Rodríguez’s camp credited “continued support from a broad coalition of Floridians ready for new leadership in the Attorney General’s Office” for his fundraising success so far.

That now includes VoteWater, a South Florida clean-water advocacy group, which announced it is backing Rodríguez in the contest, citing his record as a state lawmaker standing “up to polluters and ensuring safe drinking water for families across our state.”

“He’s worked to protect Florida’s wild and natural spaces by buying land and making it public, and fought to build resilience into our communities to mitigate the damage from natural disasters,” VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart said in a statement.

“We trust Jose to stand up for everyone who believes Floridians deserve clean water.”

Rodríguez is one of three candidates running to supplant Attorney General James Uthmeier, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the role in early 2025.

“Day after day, James Uthmeier’s disastrous and radical record shows Floridians why he’s not the Attorney General they need, and why it’s time for a change,” Rodríguez said in a statement. “The support we’re seeing across the state makes clear Floridians are ready for accountability, to take on corruption, and to lower costs for families. I’m ready to be an Attorney General who fights for them.”

Rodríguez’s biggest Q1 donor was Steve Pajcic, a Jacksonville-based lawyer and philanthropist who served in the Florida House for six terms from 1974 to 1986. Pajcic, who championed affordability and environmental policies as a lawmaker before mounting an unsuccessful Governor’s bid, gave $75,000 to Rodríguez’s PC.

Other large contributions included $50,000 from The Florida Project, a PC chaired by Florida Alliance Managing Director Tessa Bay; $15,000 from Fort Lauderdale-based real estate company Next Generation Properties LLC; and $5,000 apiece from South Florida auto magnate Ed Williamson II, Infinite Energy co-founder Darin Cook, retired airport retailer Ramon Bosquez, Miami Beach retiree Margaret Gupta, retired maritime entrepreneur John Duke and the Jacksonville law firms of Farah & Farah and Terrell Hogan Yegelwel.

Altogether, Rodríguez received 603 donations last quarter. His average contribution was $550.

He also benefited from about $4,300 worth of in-kind aid from former Democratic Rep. Ben Diamond and Jacksonville lawyer Bob Spohrer for event concessions.

Rodiguez’s spending covered travel, legal services, web services, software, accounting, compliance services, fundraising services, bank fees and donation-processing fees.

The VoteWater nod adds to others from former U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson, former Attorney General Bob Butterworth, former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, former state Rep. Sean Shaw and former Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.

A labor lawyer from Miami, Rodríguez served in the Florida House from 2012 to 2016 and in the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2020, when he narrowly lost his re-election bid in a so-called “ghost candidate” scheme that has since led to the criminal conviction of its main conspirator.

In 2024, he was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor under ex-President Joe Biden after years of delays.

He launched his campaign for Attorney General in early June 2025, vowing to take on the “corrupt power brokers who want to keep things as they are and keep increasing our costs.”

He is one of two Democrats — the other being former state prosecutor Jim Lewis — running to unseat Uthmeier, who faces a Primary challenge from litigator Steven Leskovich.

The Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.