US NATIONAL NEWS
Biden-Harris Earns Critical Early Endorsements From Leading Reproductive Rights Groups Ahead of Dobbs v. Jackson Anniversary
Today, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris earned a critical early endorsement from leading reproductive rights groups Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List and NARAL-Pro Choice America, on the eve of the one year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. The Biden-Harris administration has been a powerful advocate in defending and expanding reproductive rights. Protecting and preserving access to reproductive health care and safe abortions will always be a top priority for the Biden-Harris administration, and President Biden and Vice President Harris will work tirelessly to make history and codify Roe v. Wade into federal law in their second term.
Tweets:
@PPact: When people want to know where @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris
stand on reproductive freedom, we tell them: they are unwavering. For that, today us alongside @NARAL and @EMILYSList are excited to announce our 2024 endorsement of Joe Biden for President. #AbortionIsHealthcare
With our eyes on 2024, we’re rising up to restore and expand abortion rights in all fifty states! Let’s gooo! 🔥
That’s @KamalaHarris.
@emilyslist is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection! [QUOTED TWEET]
@LaphonzaButler: One year ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Since then, it’s become more important than ever to stop the anti-choice Republican agenda–and @kamalaharris is at the forefront of this fight.
applauds the Biden-Harris administration for this action. We’re looking forward to the implementation of the executive order and working with the admin to expand access to reproductive health care for all.[QUOTED TWEET]@Leanne4pa: In the #Dobbs decision, the Majority wrote “Women are not without electoral or political power.”
President @JoeBiden: You ain’t seen nothing yet, Court.
@FinnyK: President Biden just pointed out the strength of women’s voices to fight for Roe v. Wade and as he said, you ain’t seen nothing yet! @NARAL @emilyslist @PPFA
@AliceOllstein: .@POTUS up now, hitting Rs for calling for national abortion restrictions and pledging to veto them if they ever pass Congress. The mention of Lindsey Graham’s name elicits boos from the crowd.
@JulieZebrak: “To ensure women are making progress, women must be at every table where decisions are being made.” @POTUS
@Acyn: Biden: The Dobbs decision practically dared the women of America to be heard. This is what the majority wrote: Women are not without electoral or political power. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
@AkaylaGardner: “There’s something happening in our country right now. Some people would suggest that the measure of strength is based on who you’ beat down. That’s perverse,” @VP says, seemingly a reference to Trump.
“Empathy is a true quality of a true leader, and that is the true Joe Biden.”
@JuliaJohnson: Pro choice orgs putting Harris front and center in their endorsements of Biden and Harris for re-election [QUOTED TWEET]
@JuliaZebrak: The @VP is all about freedom and the foundational principles — as well as the dignity and autonomy to which all people are entitled. She’s been a fighter in this space of reproductive health since her time as a District Attorney.
@AliceOllstein: .@mintimm up next with @NARAL’s endorsement for Biden/Harris: “We are in a state of emergency… From one president to another, this is a big effing deal.”
@AkaylaGardner: At an abortion-rights event Friday, @POTUS and @VP rallied voters around a pitch to elect Democrats nationwide to enshrine federal abortion rights into law. Republicans, Biden said, won’t stop “until they get a national ban.”
Latest w/ @JenniferJJacobs: [LINK]
@AkaylaGardner: “Women put Joe and Kamala in the White House, and we will do it again,” @FLOTUS says at an abortion-rights event in DC.
Associated Press: Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List and NARAL-Pro Choice America endorse Joe Biden in 2024 race
[Colleen Long, 6/22/23]
[…]
“I think that President Biden has been an incredibly valuable partner, along with Vice President Harris, in fighting back against the onslaught of attacks that we have seen,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
[…]
Mimi Timmaraju, head of NARAL-Pro Choice America, said the Biden administration has worked really well to raise awareness. “They’ve also been strategically smart about deploying all the resources they can to really support providers and patients.”
[…]
For Emily’s List, an advocacy group for Democratic female candidates, Harris is a powerful symbol, said president Laphonza Butler.
“She is the highest serving woman who has broken the hard glass ceiling of representing women in the White House,” Butler said. “This is the administration using every bully pulpit it can to advance reproductive health and freedom across the country. ”
Associated Press: As Biden rallies for abortion rights, conservatives a mile away are pushing a 15-week national ban
[Colleen Long, 6/23/23]
[…]
Biden and fellow Democrats have already seen the power of the issue: A majority of Americans want legalized abortion nationwide. In the leadup to the 2022 midterm elections, many political pundits dismissed the issue, but it was among the top concerns for voters, who consistently rejected efforts to restrict abortion in the states when given the chance.
[…]
“MAGA Republicans promising a national abortion ban makes the stakes for reelecting President Biden and Vice President Harris all the more important,” she said in a statement. She added that the organizing power of the three groups was essential to Democrats’ strong performance in the 2022 midterms and will be again.
[…]
“We’re really trying to do three separate things all related to each other,” said Jen Klein, a top Biden aide on gender policy. “The first is increased and expanded contraceptive options. The second is to lower out-of-pocket costs. And the third is to raise awareness about what options are available.”
[…]
“The longer these bans are in place, the more people either will know someone who has experienced something or read a terrible story,” said Mini Timmaraju, head of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “They have to make a decision about where to go to college based on the states with the bans. They have to make a decision about whether to practice medicine based on an abortion ban. It’s permeating everyday life now, and it’s having unintended consequences.”
[…]
For Emily’s List, an advocacy group for Democratic female candidates, Harris, the first female vice president, is a powerful symbol, president Laphonza Butler said.
“She is the highest-serving woman who has broken the hard glass ceiling of representing women in the White House,” Butler said. “This is the administration using every bully pulpit it can to advance reproductive health and freedom across the country. ”
[…]
Reuters: Biden slams Republicans on abortion rights a year after Roe repeal
[Nandita Bose and Steve Holland, 6/23/23]
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday marked the one-year anniversary of a Supreme Court ruling overturning the right to an abortion by telling a rally of abortion-rights supporters that Republicans will regret their efforts to limit reproductive rights.
“The majority wrote, ‘Women are not without an electoral or political power.’ You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Biden said of the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision. “Make no mistake: this election is about freedom on the ballot once again.”
[…]
Over the past year, Biden has signed multiple executive orders aimed at shoring up access to abortion rights, including the ability to access abortion pills or travel out of states that have banned the procedures.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who also attended the rally, has taken a key role on the issue, traveling around the country to meet with state legislators, local leaders and advocates.
[…]
The biggest expansions of abortion rights over the past year occurred in states, including Michigan and Minnesota, where Democrats control both the legislature and the governor’s office.
[Alex Gangitano, 6/23/23]President Biden on Friday rallied reproductive rights advocates to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, saying that decision dared women to be heard.
“The Dobbs decision, the court practically dared the women of America to be heard. This is what the majority wrote, ‘women are not without electoral or political power.’ You ain’t seen nothing yet, court,” Biden said at the Mayflower Hotel in D.C.
[…]
He added that in the midterm elections “they did find out.” Democrats experienced better-than-expected midterm results and in every state where abortion right were on the ballot, voters opted to protect them.
[…]
An NBC News poll released Thursday found 61 percent of Americans said they disapprove of the Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe, up from 58 percent last August.
The president also criticized Republicans for their focus on restricting abortions, arguing that in the U.S. there are other issues to tackle, including that there isn’t guaranteed paid leave.
“There’s so much more to do, and we’re fighting over abortion?” he said.
[…]
Bloomberg: One Year After Roe v. Wade Decision, Democrats Make Abortion Rights Key Election Issue
[Nancy Cook and Jordan Fabian, 6/23/23]
Democrats will unleash an abortion-rights messaging blitz on the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, seizing on an issue that remains a vulnerability for Republicans heading into the 2024 election.
[…]
Republican lawmakers have passed state laws that severely restrict women’s access to abortion and limit the use of medications like mifepristone, which is used in abortions and, in some cases, miscarriages. A White House official said one in three women now live in a state with abortion restrictions.
“Voters will be even more engaged than we’ve seen previously because this is affecting their daily lives,” said Ryan Stitzlein, senior national political director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. Stitzlein said his group will be “making sure that we’re holding folks accountable for their positions, particularly Republicans.”
[…]
“What Democrats are going to be able to do come 2024 is to tell the story of a party that literally believes that American women should be second-class citizens, should not have the same rights as men,” said Maria Cardona, Democratic National Committee member and strategist.
CNN: Biden marks anniversary of Dobbs decision by calling on Congress to ‘restore the protections of Roe v. Wade’
[Betsy Klein and Sam Fossum, 6/23/23]
[…]
“MAGA Republicans made clear that they don’t intend to stop with the Dobbs decision. No, they won’t, until they get a national ban on abortion,” Biden said, promising to issue a veto if a national ban is ever passed by Congress.
The Biden administration and campaign have been making an all-hands-on-deck push for reproductive rights messaging this week ahead of Saturday’s anniversary of the ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade, harnessing the moment on an issue that animated voters in 2022 and they believe will do so again in 2024.
[…]
Friday’s event comes after Harris held a roundtable conversation on reproductive rights on MSNBC Tuesday and is also set to give a major speech on the Saturday anniversary in Charlotte, North Carolina.
And first lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted an emotional conversation Tuesday with four women who shared their stories of how the Dobbs decision and subsequent state bans on abortion impacted their own medical care.
“The Dobbs decision was devastating, and Joe is doing everything he can do to fight back,” the first lady said. “But the only way that we can ensure that every woman has the fundamental freedoms she deserves is for Congress to make the protections of Roe v. Wade the law of the land once again.”
[…]
The event also comes as the campaign begins to build coalitions and momentum around key issues important to Democratic voters. Last week, Biden attended an event rolling out an endorsement from four major environmental groups. He also held an event with gun safety activists in Connecticut. And over the weekend, he touted support from leading unions with remarks focused on the economy.
[…]
Politico: Biden expected to get endorsement by major abortion rights groups
[Eugene Daniels, 6/22/23]
[…]
“There is so much at stake. We know, clear as day, that if anti-abortion politicians gain control of the White House, they will exploit their power toward their ultimate goal: a national abortion ban,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement. “That is why we must re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris: people we can trust to keep rebuilding a path forward, because we know the journey to rebuilding our rights will be met with challenges.”
[…]
The endorsements are not unexpected, given Biden’s status as an incumbent and considering how front and center abortion rights have been to the Biden administration. Last week, a group of leading environmental associations and top unions also endorsed the president’s reelection effort.
This would be the third large endorsement the nascent campaign has received in the last two weeks.
[…]
Washington Examiner: Biden receives endorsement from top abortion rights groups
[Cami Mondeaux, 6/23/23]
[…]
“There is so much at stake. We know, clear as day, that if anti-abortion politicians gain control of the White House, they will exploit their power toward their ultimate goal: a national abortion ban,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “That is why we must reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris: people we can trust to keep rebuilding a path forward, because we know the journey to rebuilding our rights will be met with challenges.”
EMILY’s List, a prominent pro-abortion rights group, specifically cited Harris’s voting record on abortion, painting the vice president as crucial to the ticket. The support follows multiple endorsements from the group during Harris’s Senate runs.
“Vice President Harris has been a steadfast fighter throughout her career for women and their abortion rights — a role that is more important than ever before,” the group said in a statement. “Every day, Kamala Harris lives the directive of her mother that she may be the first, but she should make sure she’s not the last.”
[…]
The Messenger: ‘They Are Going to Find Out Again’: Biden Highlights Abortion’s Electoral Power
[Dan Merica, 6/23/23]
[…]
“To state the obvious… this fight really matters. It really, really matters,” Biden said at a speech where he accepted the endorsement for a trio of groups that support abortion rights. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Biden said that Republicans didn’t “have any clue of the power” they unleashed when nearly five decades of abortion precedent was rescinded.
[…]
Biden and Harris were lauded throughout the event, which comes the day before the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, as overseeing the most pro-choice administration to date.
[…]
“Not agonizing, organizing,” said former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who urged Democrats to turn the pain felt by the Dobbs decision into political energy ahead of the 2024 election.
Harris, speaking before Biden, framed the fight over reproductive rights as a debate over “freedom.”
“We are fighting on behalf of foundational principles,” the vice president said. “We stand for the freedom of every American, including the freedom of every person everywhere to make decisions about their own body, their own healthcare.”
[…]
The Messenger: Biden Expected to Get Endorsement from Planned Parenthood, Other Abortion Right Groups
[Mariana Labbate, 6/22/23]
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to get endorsements Friday from Planned Parenthood, EMILY’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice.
The announcements are expected to happen during an event that will mark one year since the Supreme Court ended the national right to abortion with its verdict in Dobbs v. Jackson. Both Biden and Harris are expected to attend.
“I think that President Biden has been an incredibly valuable partner, along with Vice President Harris, in fighting back against the onslaught of attacks that we have seen,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, told the Associated Press.
Fox News: Biden endorsed by Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List and NARAL-Pro Choice America ahead of Dobbs anniversary
[Chris Pandolfo, 6/23/23]
[…]
In contrast, Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation that would codify federal protections for abortion rights. The president also signed executive orders intended to safeguard access to abortion and make abortion pills more available. And the Biden administration has brought together leaders from all 50 states to talk strategy on how to expand access and work together to help people in more restrictive states.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are the strongest advocates for reproductive freedom ever to occupy the White House, and NARAL Pro-Choice America proudly endorses their reelection,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju. “It’s as simple as this: Abortion matters to Americans. In elections since the Supreme Court took away our right to abortion, voters have mobilized in massive numbers to elect Democrats who will fight to restore it. Americans know the extremist GOP stacked the courts to take away our freedoms, and they won’t forget it.”
[…]
EMILY’s List, a group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights, praised Vice President Kamala Harris as a powerful symbol for women.
“She is the highest serving woman who has broken the hard glass ceiling of representing women in the White House,” EMILY’S List president Laphonza Butler said. “This is the administration using every bully pulpit it can to advance reproductive health and freedom across the country.”
The Guardian: Biden puts abortion rights at center of campaign on Roe reversal anniversary
[Maya Yang, 6/23/23]
Joe Biden on Friday put reproductive rights squarely in the middle of his 2024 re-election campaign as the US president hosted a rally based around defending abortion rights, notched three high-profile endorsements from groups dedicated to the issue, and announced an executive order aimed at boosting access to contraception.
The moves came in stark contrast to the Republican field of candidates, many of whom were attending the Faith & Freedom Coalition annual conference in Washington DC.
[…]
Biden and the Democrats, meanwhile, are on the attack on abortion, pointing out the huge loss of reproductive freedoms for millions of women since the US’s highest court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade decision that had protected abortion freedoms.
[…]
Biden has said he will work to protect reproductive health care, including enshrining abortion rights in federal law. He is expected to convey that message in remarks on Friday at a rally with the first lady, Jill Biden, Harris and the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.
[…]
“Contraception is an essential component of reproductive health care that has only become more important in the wake of Dobbs and the ensuing crisis in women’s access to healthcare,” Biden said.
Biden is seeking to strengthen access to “affordable, high-quality contraception and family planning services”, the statement added. It’s his third executive order on reproductive health care access since the Dobbs ruling.
[…]
Washington Post: Biden, GOP rivals in split-screen showing stark divide in post-Roe America
[Marianne LeVine, Maeve Reston and Toluse Olorunnipa, 6/23/23]
[…]
The split-screen highlighted the country’s stark political divide over abortion on the eve of the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Democrats, emboldened by a midterm election in which many voters were galvanized to vote for their candidates, are eying a similar playbook this cycle. Republicans, still reeling from those losses and confronting divisions about the path forward, are facing renewed pressure from their base to embrace tighter restrictions, even as some in the party are wary of the potential fallout in a general election.
[…]
Now, as he makes the case for his own reelection, Biden is aiming to show his base that he is committed to fighting for abortion rights, aides said. He has pledged to sign a bill codifying the protections of Roe if elected to a second term, and said that, in the meantime, he would use the levers of presidential power to protect the right to an abortion.
“I insist that we’re going to pass legislation in a majority of the states reinstating Roe v. Wade,” Biden told donors in California this week. “That’s the only way we can get back these rights.”
Central Florida News
ActBlue Managers Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Jose Gamboa Hold Key Roles in Florida House Race Amid Federal Investigations
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN NEWS) — ActBlue, one of the Democratic Party’s most influential online fundraising platforms, remains under federal and congressional investigations over its donor-verification, fraud-prevention and compliance practices as two ActBlue employees — Florida House District 43 candidate Samuel Vilchez Santiago and campaign treasurer Jose Gamboa — hold key political and campaign-finance roles in the same Central Florida race.
Vilchez Santiago publicly identifies ActBlue as his employer while seeking the Democratic nomination for Florida House District 43. Gamboa, who is publicly identified as an ActBlue employee, serves as Vilchez Santiago’s campaign treasurer and also holds a leadership role with Central Floridians for Change, a Florida political committee associated with Vilchez Santiago.
The overlap places two ActBlue employees at the center of a competitive Orlando-area legislative contest while congressional investigators and federal authorities continue examining allegations involving straw donors, potentially prohibited foreign contributions, donor verification, payment safeguards and ActBlue’s internal compliance procedures.
There is no public evidence identified by Florida National News that Samuel Vilchez Santiago or Jose Gamboa has been named as a subject or target of any federal investigation involving ActBlue.
Their employment with ActBlue does not establish that either participated in, knew about or was responsible for any conduct being examined by federal authorities.
The federal scrutiny concerns ActBlue’s broader fundraising and compliance practices and should be distinguished from the activities of individual employees unless evidence establishes a connection.
ActBlue Faces Continuing Federal Scrutiny
ActBlue has faced congressional and federal scrutiny involving its online political fundraising practices.
Congressional inquiries have examined issues including donor identity verification, fraud prevention, potentially prohibited foreign contributions, prepaid-card transactions, suspicious contribution patterns and ActBlue’s internal compliance procedures.
The scrutiny has involved the U.S. House Committee on House Administration, House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Federal scrutiny expanded following President Donald Trump’s April 24, 2025 presidential memorandum, which directed the attorney general, in consultation with the Treasury secretary, to investigate allegations involving online political fundraising platforms.
The memorandum addressed allegations involving straw or “dummy” contributions, prohibited foreign contributions, identity-related fraud and other potential violations of federal campaign-finance law.
The presidential memorandum ordered federal officials to investigate the allegations. It did not establish that ActBlue or any individual committed a crime.
Straw and “Dummy” Donor Allegations
One focus of the federal scrutiny involves allegations of straw donations, generally referring to political contributions made in another person’s name to conceal the true source of the funds.
Federal law prohibits making a political contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permitting one’s name to be used to disguise the actual source of a contribution.
Investigators have examined whether vulnerabilities in online fundraising systems could potentially allow political money to be divided into smaller transactions and attributed to other individuals.
Trump’s April 2025 memorandum specifically directed federal officials to investigate allegations involving “straw” or “dummy” contributions and potentially prohibited foreign contributions made through online fundraising platforms.
Federal scrutiny has also included questions about whether prepaid cards, gift cards, false identities, unauthorized payment information or other methods could be used to conceal the actual source of political contributions or circumvent fraud-detection systems.
The directive ordered an investigation into allegations; it did not establish that those allegations were proven.
Foreign Contributions and Online Fundraising
Another focus has been whether prohibited foreign money could enter U.S. elections through online fundraising platforms.
Federal law generally prohibits foreign nationals from directly or indirectly making contributions or donations in connection with federal, state or local elections.
Congressional investigators have examined whether foreign individuals or organizations could exploit weaknesses in online donation systems to route political contributions into American campaigns while obscuring the original source.
The April 2025 presidential memorandum cited congressional investigative findings stating that ActBlue had detected at least 22 “significant fraud campaigns,” nearly half of which reportedly had a foreign nexus.
The memorandum also cited findings that during one 30-day period in the 2024 election cycle, ActBlue detected 237 donations originating from foreign IP addresses and involving domestic prepaid cards.
Those figures were cited as reasons for further investigation.
They do not establish that all 237 transactions were illegal foreign contributions or that the individuals involved violated federal law.
Donor Identity and Payment Verification
Congressional scrutiny has also focused on how ActBlue verifies donor identities and determines whether the person making a contribution is the individual identified in the transaction.
Investigators have examined issues involving donor identity verification, suspicious-transaction detection, prepaid cards, foreign IP addresses, potentially unauthorized payment information and repeated or unusual contribution patterns.
Another area of inquiry has involved ActBlue’s historical policies concerning card verification value, or CVV, the security code commonly associated with credit- and debit-card transactions.
Investigators have questioned whether stronger identity and payment-verification requirements could help prevent fraudulent transactions, contributions made in another person’s name or attempts by prohibited foreign sources to participate financially in U.S. elections.
Congressional Investigation Reaches ActBlue Personnel
Congressional scrutiny has expanded beyond ActBlue’s fundraising technology to include current and former employees, executives and personnel involved in legal and compliance operations.
House investigators have sought documents and testimony concerning ActBlue’s handling of potentially fraudulent or prohibited contributions and what employees and executives knew about suspicious fundraising activity.
Congressional investigators reported that five current or former ActBlue employees invoked their Fifth Amendment rights in response to substantive questions during depositions, according to a 2026 joint congressional staff report.
Invoking the Fifth Amendment is a constitutional right and does not establish guilt or prove that an individual committed a crime.
Investigators have also examined personnel changes within ActBlue’s legal and compliance operations following the 2024 election and sought information about how senior officials responded to internal concerns.
Scrutiny Expands to ActBlue Leadership
Congressional investigators have also sought information from individuals within ActBlue’s leadership structure, including members of its board.
Investigators have requested documents, communications and testimony concerning what senior leadership knew about fraud concerns, potentially prohibited foreign contributions, internal compliance procedures and ActBlue’s responses to congressional inquiries.
Congressional committees have additionally examined whether requested information was fully provided and whether representations made to lawmakers accurately reflected ActBlue’s internal fraud-prevention and compliance practices.
Those allegations remain disputed and do not constitute findings of criminal wrongdoing by a court.
Justice Department and FBI Scrutiny
The scrutiny has extended beyond Congress.
Trump’s April 24, 2025 memorandum directed the attorney general, in consultation with the Treasury secretary, to investigate allegations involving unlawful straw or dummy contributions, prohibited foreign contributions and other potential violations involving online fundraising platforms.
Congressional investigators have also referred or provided information from their ActBlue investigation to federal law-enforcement authorities.
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil said in 2025 that he received a classified briefing at FBI headquarters concerning active campaign-finance investigations following congressional concerns about potential foreign participation in U.S. elections through online fundraising platforms.
Because portions of federal investigative activity are not public, the full scope and current status of any Justice Department or FBI investigation cannot necessarily be determined from publicly available information.
The existence of an investigation does not establish that ActBlue, its employees or campaigns using its platform committed a crime.
ActBlue Denies Wrongdoing
ActBlue has denied allegations of wrongdoing and has maintained that it complies with federal campaign-finance laws and maintains systems designed to detect and prevent fraudulent or prohibited contributions.
Evidence that ActBlue detected suspicious transactions does not necessarily mean those transactions were completed, accepted as lawful political contributions or ultimately determined to violate federal law.
Congressional subpoenas, investigative reports, federal inquiries and employee testimony likewise do not, by themselves, establish criminal or civil liability.
Against that national backdrop, the involvement of ActBlue employees Samuel Vilchez Santiago and Jose Gamboa in Florida House District 43 gives the federal scrutiny a direct Central Florida political connection.
Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Jose Gamboa Hold Key HD 43 Roles
Public campaign records identify Samuel Vilchez Santiago as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Florida House District 43.
Publicly available professional information identifies Vilchez Santiago as holding a management position with ActBlue. His employment with the organization is separate from his candidacy for public office.
Vilchez Santiago’s campaign website states that, as a Senior Nonprofit Manager at ActBlue, he helps thousands of nonprofits and grassroots movements across the country build people-powered fundraising programs aimed at shifting political influence away from corporations and toward communities.
Jose Gamboa is publicly identified as an Account Management Specialist at ActBlue and serves as treasurer of Vilchez Santiago’s campaign.
Florida campaign-finance records also identify Gamboa as an officer of Central Floridians for Change, a Florida political committee associated with Vilchez Santiago.
The arrangement places Vilchez Santiago and Gamboa — both publicly identified ActBlue employees — in significant campaign and campaign-finance positions surrounding the same Florida legislative contest.
Vilchez Santiago is the candidate.
Gamboa is responsible for campaign treasury operations while also holding leadership roles (chairman and treasurer) with an associated political committee.
Their employment and campaign roles do not, by themselves, establish a violation of state or federal law.
They do, however, create a public-interest question about what safeguards ActBlue maintains when its employees simultaneously become candidates, campaign treasurers or political committee officials.
Political Relationship Between Vilchez Santiago and Gamboa Dates to 2020
The political relationship between Samuel Vilchez Santiago and Jose Gamboa predates the current House District 43 campaign.
When Vilchez Santiago sought the Democratic nomination for the Florida House in 2020, then-Orange County School Board member Johanna López served as his campaign manager.
Gamboa served as deputy campaign manager, while Diana Joaquin served as campaign treasurer.
Vilchez Santiago ultimately lost the 2020 Democratic primary to Daisy Morales, who went on to win the general election and serve in the Florida House.
The political relationships continued to overlap in later election cycles.
According to campaign-finance reports from López’s 2024 Florida House campaign, the campaign reported $2,250 in expenditures to Joaquin and $1,440 in expenditures to Gamboa.
López has endorsed Vilchez Santiago’s 2026 House District 43 campaign, while Central Floridians for Change reported contributing $1,000 to López’s 2026 Orange County Commission District 4 campaign on or about March 20.
The contribution and endorsement do not establish an exchange, agreement or improper relationship.
However, together with the documented campaign relationships dating to 2020, they provide additional context for examining the financial, professional and political relationships surrounding the House District 43 race.
Overall, those expenditures do not indicate wrongdoing. They provide historical context showing that several individuals involved in the current political network have worked together across multiple Central Florida Democratic campaigns.
Gamboa’s involvement with Vilchez Santiago therefore dates at least to the 2020 election cycle, progressing from deputy campaign manager to campaign treasurer while he also holds a leadership position with Central Floridians for Change.
Credit: Samuel Vilchez Santaiago Campaign
Vilchez Santiago Campaign, Associated Committee Report About $217,000 Combined
Campaign-finance reports show substantial fundraising surrounding Vilchez Santiago’s campaign and Central Floridians for Change.
According to publicly reported figures:
- Samuel Vilchez Santiago campaign: approximately $155,000 raised
- Central Floridians for Change: approximately $62,000 raised
- Combined reported fundraising: approximately $217,000
The campaign and political committee are legally separate entities and report their finances independently.
One transaction has drawn particular attention during the closing weeks of the Democratic primary.
Central Floridians for Change contributed $50,000 to the Florida House Democratic Campaign Committee in July 27, 2026, through three separate contributions of $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000, according to Florida campaign-finance reports.
Based on approximately $62,000 in reported committee fundraising, the $50,000 contribution represents roughly 81% of the committee’s reported receipts.
The contribution came weeks before the Aug. 18 Democratic primary.
The Florida House Democratic Campaign Committee is an affiliated party committee that raises and spends political funds in connection with Democratic efforts involving Florida House races.
The contribution itself does not establish wrongdoing.
Its size and timing, however, add another campaign-finance dimension to a primary in which an ActBlue employee is the candidate and another ActBlue employee serves as campaign treasurer and a political committee official.
Credit: Samuel Vilchez Santaiago Campaign
Vilchez Santiago Draws Major Democratic Support
Vilchez Santiago has announced endorsements from numerous elected officials, labor organizations and political groups.
His publicly announced supporters include U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, State Attorney Monique Worrell and State Rep. Johanna López, along with other current and former elected officials.
Organizational endorsements announced by the campaign include the Florida Education Association, Orange County Classroom Teachers Association and Orange County Fire Fighters Association, among other labor and advocacy organizations.
The endorsements demonstrate substantial institutional and political support for Vilchez Santiago.
However, an endorsement should not be interpreted as evidence that an elected official or organization independently investigated, reviewed or cleared Vilchez Santiago, Gamboa or ActBlue regarding matters under federal scrutiny unless that official or organization specifically states that such a review occurred. (vetting a candidate for endorsement)
The endorsements represent support for Vilchez Santiago’s candidacy.
No Public Evidence Vilchez Santiago or Gamboa Are Federal Targets
The distinction between federal scrutiny of ActBlue and the status of Samuel Vilchez Santiago and Jose Gamboa is critical.
Florida National News has identified no public evidence naming either Vilchez Santiago or Gamboa as a subject or target of the congressional or federal investigations involving ActBlue.
Their employment with the organization should therefore not be interpreted as evidence that either participated in, knew about or was responsible for conduct under investigation.
FNN has also identified no public announcement by federal authorities alleging that Vilchez Santiago’s House campaign or Central Floridians for Change is part of the federal inquiries into ActBlue.
Credit: Samuel Vilchez Santiago Campaign
ActBlue Employee Political Activity Raises Policy Questions
While there is no public indication that Vilchez Santiago or Gamboa is individually under federal investigation, their simultaneous professional and political roles raise broader policy, transparency and compliance questions.
Among them:
What policies does ActBlue maintain when an employee becomes a candidate for public office?
Are ActBlue employees permitted to serve simultaneously as campaign treasurers or officers of political committees?
What safeguards separate an employee’s ActBlue responsibilities from outside campaign or PAC activities?
Are employees with access to political fundraising systems subject to additional compliance requirements when they become candidates or campaign-finance officers?
Have congressional investigators sought information concerning ActBlue employees who simultaneously serve as candidates, campaign treasurers, political committee officials or political consultants?
The existence of these questions does not establish misconduct.
Answers could provide voters with a clearer understanding of how ActBlue manages employee political activity and potential conflicts involving outside campaigns..
ActBlue Connection Adds National Dimension to Central Florida Primary
The House District 43 Democratic primary is fundamentally a Central Florida legislative contest.
But the employment of candidate Samuel Vilchez Santiago and campaign treasurer Jose Gamboa by ActBlue adds a national dimension as the fundraising organization continues to face congressional and federal scrutiny.
Vilchez Santiago has assembled significant financial, labor and political support as he seeks the Democratic nomination.
Morales is seeking to return to the Legislature after representing Florida House District 48 from 2020 to 2022.
The candidates previously faced each other in the 2020 Democratic primary for House District 48, when Morales defeated Vilchez Santiago and two other candidates before winning the general election.
Redistricting later changed the legislative boundaries, with portions of the former House District 48 now located within House District 43.
FNN Continuing Coverage
Florida National News will continue examining the ActBlue federal investigations and their broader implications while separately monitoring the political and campaign-finance activities of ActBlue employees Samuel Vilchez Santiago and Jose Gamboa in Florida House District 43.
FNN will seek responses from ActBlue, Vilchez Santiago, Gamboa and other individuals or organizations identified in this report when their comments materially contribute to the public’s understanding of the issues.
FNN will also monitor campaign-finance disclosures, congressional developments and any publicly released information from the Justice Department or other federal authorities.
Florida National News will update, correct or clarify this reporting when new verified information warrants doing so.
Election Day Aug. 18
The Democratic primary for Florida House District 43 will be held Aug. 18, 2026, with early voting underway.
The Democratic nominee will advance to the Nov. 3 general election to face the Republican nominee and any qualified write-in candidate.
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