- April 24, 2024
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An Alan Lowe for Palm Coast Mayor campaign mailer featuring a photo of Lowe standing next to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has prompted the Republican Party of Florida to request that candidates seek the governor's permission before using his image.
"We certainly don’t want people to give the wrong impression, that the photo with the governor is an endorsement," said Helen Ferré, executive director of the RPOF. “We would like people to request the governor’s permission to use the image, so we can decide if it’s appropriate or not.”
The Lowe mailer doesn't state that DeSantis endorsed Lowe: Such an assertion, under Florida law, would have required the Lowe campaign to secure the governor's written permission. But, Ferré said, people viewing the mailer could be forgiven for making that assumption.
Lowe, asked by a reporter via email about the mailer and the RPOF's reaction, responded to a different question contained in the same email, but did not respond address the campaign mailer.
The other question had asked Lowe about City Councilman Ed Danko's relationship to the Lowe campaign, in light of a comment Lowe left at FlaglerLive.com stating that Danko is not his campaign manager: Lowe's email reply stated that Danko is a campaign adviser, and that Lowe is and always has been his own campaign manager.
Danko, asked about the mailer, said he hadn't been aware of any requirement for explicit permission to use a photo of the governor.
"I don’t know that you need somebody’s permission," Danko said. "Alan met with Ron DeSantis; they took a photograph."
He noted that the mailer didn't state that the governor had endorsed Lowe.
