Texting for dollars: Maddox messages show intersection of public policy, campaign cash

When Scott Maddox needed money to float his many campaigns for public office, he turned to a cast of characters that included well-heeled and reliable old friends, political operatives from both sides of the aisle and city vendors whose dealings ended up under the FBI’s magnifying glass.

Maddox, a former Tallahassee city commissioner and mayor who made several Democratic bids for statewide office, developed a reputation as a prodigious fundraiser before his political career ended amid an undercover FBI probe into graft at City Hall.

But his private text messages — which were intercepted by the federal government and later obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat — illustrate just how relentless he was in his pursuit of campaign cash.