“The good news for Florida, and the better news for the legislators and the special interests and the Chamber of Commerce in Tallahassee, is John Morgan is done,” Morgan told reporters in a video chat.
Morgan, who spent $6 million successfully pushing Tuesday’s amendment to raise the minimum wage, after leading passage of a 2016 amendment to broadly legalize medical marijuana, said he’s “happy” with the job Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing and doesn’t see himself running for political office or bankrolling another amendment.
Part of the reason is that lawmakers continue to make the citizens’ ballot-initiative process too timely and expensive.
A bigger reason is that he’s now 68, he’s living part time in Maui and it’s time to down-shift his political involvement.
Morgan said he was already moving in that direction before this year, easing off on political donations, while admitting he couldn’t resist helping Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
With his wife Ultima, an attorney who is one of the names in the Morgan & Morgan firm, they will continue their philanthropic ways with organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, the Boys and Girls Club and Central Florida’s Harbor House.
“We've built up a foundation that we think could be substantial and my four children will run when I'm dead,” Morgan said. “They know that the things that are important to me are food, water, medicine, shelter and dignity. And that my children will take that foundation and try to do what me, their mother would want done. So, it's weird getting old, but it's also almost like you finished the race and you won. So, mixed bag.”
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This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2020.