Suspend Politician Behind Exclusive Vaccine Clinic, Democrat Says

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, is calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend Manatee County commissioner Vanessa Baugh for her role in an exclusive pop-up coronavirus vaccine clinic that targeted two of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the county.

Baugh, the representative of District 5, which includes Lakewood Ranch, selected the ZIP codes for a state-run vaccine clinic Feb. 17-19 at Premier Sports Campus.

She also created a VIP list of five people to receive the vaccine at the event, and directed the county's Public Safety Director, Jacob Sauer, to add their names to the list of those being vaccinated at the pop-up clinic. The list included Baugh and Lakewood Ranch president and CEO Rex Jensen, though, ultimately, she didn't receive the vaccine.

“Exclusive vaccine sites for political allies and donors is a betrayal of public trust. (Gov. DeSantis’) actions must be investigated (and) this official (Baugh) should be suspended for abusing her power,” Fried tweeted Monday afternoon.

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Fried, Florida’s highest-ranking elected Democrat, called for the same in a pair of letters she sent to DeSantis and the state’s members of Congress, the Bradenton Herald reported.

DeSantis has been accused of favoring wealthy communities and political allies throughout Florida’s vaccine distribution.

Baugh’s handling of the Lakewood Ranch clinic is under investigation by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office after Sarasota paralegal Michael Barfield filed a more than two-dozen-page criminal complaint about the event.

The commissioner’s attorney, George Levesque, called the complaints “ridiculous and false,” the Observer reported.

“We intend on proving this complaint false for the simple fact that Commissioner Baugh never received a vaccine,” he said. "We expect the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office will do its work in a professional manner, and that at the end of the process, Commissioner Baugh will be exonerated against Mr. Barfield’s complaint driven by his personal vendetta against her."