9 Investigates: Washington PAC pays $1 million to fight against State Attorney Jeff Ashton

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Eyewitness News has found out a Washington-based political action committee spent $1 million on TV ads that support Aramis Ayala, the opponent to State Attorney Jeff Ashton.

Ayala told Channel 9’s Kathi Belich she accepts backing from anyone dedicated to improving the local criminal justice system and said she's proud of the local support she's received.

Records show she's raised about $43,000 to Ashton’s $83,000.

A new $740,000 TV ad released for the Ayala campaign showed the ad was paid for by the Florida Safety & Justice PAC, which is based in Washington, D.C.

“This office is not for sale,” Ashton said. “It’s hard for anyone to understand why they think they need to spend a $1 million to make our system better. We have the best criminal justice system in the state of Florida now. This is not about making our system better, it’s about controlling it.”

Federal and state election records show the Florida Safety & Justice PAC shares the same D.C. address and leadership as the Safety & Justice PAC and its main contributor is New York billionaire George Soros.

Soros has reportedly put his wealth behind state prosecutor candidates in Louisiana, Houston and St. Louis.

Eyewitness News tried to ask Soros why he's involved in local prosecutors' races, but were unable to reach him.

Eyewitness News also reached out to the PAC in D.C. to see why it’s getting involved in Central Florida politics, but could not reach anyone for comment.

The local registered agent for the Florida Safety & Justice PAC is Lake County attorney Leonard Jackson, who said he has no pending cases in the district.

Jackson told Eyewitness News that he’s spoken with Ayala in the past about possibly working at the public defender's office, and said he supports structural changes that she's proposing in handling domestic violence cases.

Contact Kathi Belich for more on this story.

Cox Media Group