In 1986, the Florida Legislature passed the Florida Election Campaign Financing Act, 1986 Fla. Sess. Law Serv. ch. 86–276 (codified at
Fla. Stat. §§ 106.30–
106.36). The Act establishes a system that provides matching public funds to candidates for state political offices who agree to certain conditions. To be eligible to participate in the system, a gubernatorial candidate must submit an application for matching funds,
Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 1S–2.047(1); be an opposed candidate,
Fla. Stat. § 106.33; agree to abide by an expenditure limit, which for the 2010 election is $24,901,170,
id. § 106.34; raise an initial $150,000 in qualified contributions from Florida residents before receiving any public funds,
id. § 106.33(2)(a)(1); agree to limit loans or contributions from his personal funds to $25,000,
id. § 106.33(3); limit contributions from national, state, and county executive committees of a political party to $250,000 in the aggregate (this limit applies to all candidates participating or not),
id.; submit disclosure and reporting statements of each qualified contribution,
id. § 106.35(3)(a); and submit a post-election audit of the campaign account,
id. § 106.33(4). The Secretary represented to the district court that a participating candidate, like a nonparticipating candidate, remains free to coordinate electioneering expenditures with
section 527 organizations, and these expenditures do not count toward the participating candidate's expenditure limit.
See id.§ 106.011(18)(c).