How Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times tracked the DeSantis administration’s spending

When the Herald/Times set out to uncover where Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration got the money to fight two ballot initiatives last fall, and exactly how much the state spent, there were a number of hurdles.

The biggest: the state hasn’t turned over several contracts and other records — most of which were requested in July. The documents released by the state included only limited records.

Reporters determined the spending pertained to the governor’s campaign against the amendments using a number of factors, including emails between the state and advertising firms, and the size and timing of the contracts. Nearly half of the payments for work done weren’t recorded in the state’s public-facing contracting system. So reporters had to trace them through the state financial system using 29-digit account codes and 6-digit object codes.

The Herald/Times analyzed thousands of pages of records to produce the most detailed accounting yet of the state’s spending. Most importantly: the Herald/Times was able to determine where the money came from.

The state declined to discuss the Herald/Times’ findings, answer questions or produce complete records, making it impossible to know exactly where all of the money went. For these reasons, the Herald/Times’ estimates of the state’s spending are conservative. It may have been more.