Daytona Insiders now putting Florida's judiciary in corruption spotlight with massive campaign bucks

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In the Spring of 2014, International Speedway Corp. czar Lesa France Kennedy, whose billionaire family controls NASCAR, was able to get the Daytona Beach City Commission and Volusia County Council politicians to each pony up $20 million for her One Daytona retail village that was supposed to break ground way back in January. Dirt has yet to be turned even as both government entities are passing budgets for the upcoming fiscal year with hefty tax increases.

In the first three months of 2014, J Hyatt Brown, former Florida speaker of the House, chairman of Brown and Brown Insurance and a board member with France Kennedy's ISC, got a bunch of other friend and associate to help bankroll the campaign of circuit judge candidate Sandra Upchurch to the tune of close to $25,000 of the nearly $48,000 he amassed -- with no opposition. hen qualifying ended that June, Upchurch was automatically elected to a seat on the bench. That summer, Brown and France Kennedy paid another visit to the Frank T. Bruno County Council Chambers in DeLand to lobby the politician to further restrict beach driving on the World's Most Famous Beach for the benefit of two proposed luxury hotel developments.

And like a perfect storm, Upchurch was given the task of ruling on a lauit bbrought by Voluia County at the behet of Brown and company to challenge the validy of a citizen petition ith more than 18,000 votes to