Gov. Ron DeSantis has named two new members to the Florida Athletic Commission, which oversees and licenses the state’s combat sports activities, like boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing.

Both — Alan Suskey and Cody Vanlandingham — gave thousands to his federal political action committee, Restore Our Nation (RON) PAC, Federal Election Commission records show.

Suskey is a lobbyist and U.S. Army veteran who works as Executive Vice President of Shumaker Advisors, a government advocacy firm with multiple locations across Florida, five other states and Washington, D.C.

He is a current Board member of Florida is for Veterans and has served on the Boards of the St. Petersburg Pier Aquarium, St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, CareerSource Pinellas and Veterans Florida, among other involvements.

Suskey, who earned a degree in political science from American Military University, has made about $51,000 worth of federal-level contributions, including $3,300 to RON PAC one day after DeSantis launched his unsuccessful bid for President in 2023.

Suskey gave $7,000 to U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, $8,000 to U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, $2,000 to U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean and about $3,500 to former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, a prominent Democratic candidate for Governor, when Jolly was still a Republican.

Since 2009, Suskey has also donated more than $89,000 to state-level political candidates, the overwhelming share of whom were Republican. His largest single donation was a $23,000 check to Senate President Ben Albritton’s political committee in 2023. He also gave $1,250 to former House Speaker Chris Sprowls, $2,250 to former Speaker Paul Renner and $116 to DeSantis’ now-closed political committee, Empower Parents, whose Chair, CFO Blaise Ingoglia, also received $1,000 from Suskey.

Suskey is heavily involved in The Process, also donating to Democratic lawmakers including state Sens. Tina Scott Polsky, Darryl Rouson and Jason Pizzo — who has since become an independent — and former state Reps. Ramon Alexander and Rick Kriseman.

Vanlandingham, a doctor with the Tallahassee Medical Group, gave $9,900 to RON PAC within a week of DeSantis’ presidential announcement.

Florida records show no state-level campaign donation activity by Vanlandingham, who doesn’t appear to be registered to vote.

Vanlandingham’s community involvements are many, according to the Governor’s Office, which noted his membership to the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, Capital Medical Society and College of Medicine Selection Committee at Florida State University, where he earned his medical degree.

Suskey and Vanlandingham’s appointments, made late last week, are subject to Senate confirmation.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is again pushing back against the idea that a “one rule” executive order from President Donald Trump protecting the artificial intelligence industry will limit Florida from passing laws against the industry.

During a roundtable at Florida Atlantic University, DeSantis said he was confident that much of what he wants to do falls within what is permissible under Trump’s order. And he also believes that the state would prevail if Attorney General Pam Bondi took legal action against Florida for going too far.

“The President issued an executive order, and some people were saying, ‘Well, no, this blocks the states from doing it.’ It doesn’t,” DeSantis said.

“First of all, an executive order can’t block the states. You can preempt states under Article 1 powers through congressional legislation on certain issues, but you can’t do it through executive order. But if you read it, they actually say a lot of the stuff we’re talking about are things that they’re encouraging states to do. They say it doesn’t prevent child safety. It doesn’t prevent any of that stuff. So even reading it very broadly, I think the stuff we’re doing is going to be very consistent. But irrespective, clearly we have a right to do this.”

Trump’s order, issued Thursday, compels Bondi to “establish an AI Litigation Task Force (Task Force) whose sole responsibility shall be to challenge State AI laws inconsistent with the policy set forth in section 2 of this order, including on grounds that such laws unconstitutionally regulate interstate commerce, are preempted by existing Federal regulations, or are otherwise unlawful in the Attorney General’s judgment.”

The goal, per the EO, is to establish “a minimally burdensome national standard — not 50 discordant State ones” to “sustain and enhance the United States’ global AI dominance.”

But DeSantis says that unlike “woke” states like Colorado and California that want to pass their own laws, Florida’s would comport with the guidance from the President, much of which is toothless without legislation.

“I don’t anticipate that even happening against any of the stuff we’re doing in Florida. But if it does, I think we would be well-positioned to be able to prevail on that. So I don’t think that’s going to be a bar for us creating a bill of rights for people and making sure,” he said, seemingly unconcerned about what he called the “dormant Commerce Clause.”

At Monday’s event, DeSantis repeated his concerns about data centers and foreign labor brought in to work at them and power usage, as well as deepfakes and people using images and likenesses falsely, Chinese technology, AI mental health therapy, and protections for consumers and parental rights, including data privacy protections.

“This is basically protecting against this technology running amok,” DeSantis said.