Tampa Republican state Senate hopeful drops prechecked donation box

Republican Jay Collins, running against state Sen. Janet Cruz, D- Tampa, has removed automatic check marks on his online fundraising forms that could create recurring campaign donations.

The forms previously included a prechecked box that would convert a one-time donation into a monthly charge to the donor’s credit card, unless the donor manually unchecked the box.

The Tampa Bay Times reported last week that Collins was using the technique, also used by Donald Trump, which has generated complaints nationwide and led to federal election officials to recommend the practice be banned.