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The full roster of current and former elected leaders speaking this year at the Miami-Dade Democratic Party’s 2022 Blue Gala isn’t out yet, but the man hoping to lead progressives statewide after Election Day is now a lock for the event.
On Wednesday, gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist confirmed he will be among the speakers at the Blue Gala Sept. 9 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Word of his participation came four days after he selected United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernández as his running mate and mere hours after he resigned from Congress to focus on the Governor’s race.
In a statement accompanying the Blue Gala announcement, Crist took aim at Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he hopes to unseat Nov. 8.
“Under Gov. DeSantis, Miami-Dade, like much of Florida, is facing an affordability crisis. Yet, we have a Governor who doesn’t care. He’d rather inflame culture wars, attack a woman’s right to choose, and take away our freedoms than address the real issues impacting everyday Floridians,” he said.
“That’s why this November, Floridians across the state will rally together to defeat Ron DeSantis — and build a Florida that truly works for everyone, not just the wealthy and connected.”
Robert Dempster, Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, called Crist the progressives’ “best chance to win back the Governor’s Mansion in 2022” and their “best hope of stopping a Ron DeSantis presidential campaign before it begins.”
“We know that Charlie Crist and Karla Hernández will fight for every vote in Miami-Dade County, and we are determined to support them every step of the way,” he said.
The Blue Gala is a celebratory, fundraising and rallying event the Miami-Dade Democratic Party has annually since Nov. 17, 2013, when U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts delivered the keynote address.
Crist, at the time a new member of the Democratic Party, attended the inaugural event. He’d left the Republican Party the year prior after endorsing former President Barack Obama. He was also between jobs in elected office, having served as Governor from 2007 to 2011, and had just begun to mount a campaign to supplant then-Gov. Rick Scott the following year.
Based on comments from the 2022 Blue Gala’s co-Chairs, Miami Gardens Sen. Shevrin Jones and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins, much of this year’s event will focus on tackling affordability issues and recent laws that disproportionately target minority and LGBTQ groups.
“Democrats are organizing this Gala so we can refocus our attention on the issues that matter to voters and (ensure) we have a strategy to win come November,” said Higgins, who represents parts of Miami and Miami Beach and chairs the Transportation Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties.
“I’ve talked to Miami-Dade residents who are feeling the pain of our affordability crisis with the rising prices of everyday goods like gas, food and housing. Democrats at all levels of government are working to provide real relief for our residents while the other side is focused on a fake culture war.”
Jones said he is fed up with “hateful laws” Republicans in the Legislature have passed recently, including one called Parental Rights in Education that restricts classroom instruction on gender and sexual identity. Critics have dubbed the measure, which has attracted legal challenges, “Don’t Say Gay” for the chilling effect some teachers and members of the LGBTQ community worried it would have on efforts to include and recognize non-straight students.
“It’s time for Democrats to stand up against Republicans and show Miami-Dade our vision for the future,” Jones said. “We’re ready to get our inflation under control, secure the rights and freedoms of everyone, and ensure every resident has the opportunity to thrive.”
In its materials for the Blue Gala, the Miami-Dade Democratic Party notes it is moving to a year-round organizing model and needs “to raise funds like never before.”
The 2022 Blue Gala is on Friday, Sept. 9, in the Sunset Vista Ballroom at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Doors open with a reception at 6 p.m. — cocktail attire required — followed by dinner from 7-9:30 p.m.
The event also includes the Blue Bash celebration from 8:30-11:30 p.m. with an open bar, dancing, music, dessert and speakers.
Tickets for the full Gala are $350; however, entry for the Blue Bash alone costs $75 apiece.
The post Charlie Crist to speak at Miami-Dade Democratic Party’s Blue Gala on Miami Beach appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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Democrat Andrea Doria Kale quietly qualified earlier this year to challenge U.S. Rep. Greg Steube for his seat in Congress. Now, the former Hillary Clinton campaign official hopes to make some serious noise by unseating him.
A self-described “Bill Clinton Democrat,” the North Port resident hopes to surprise people and win a seat not on many people’s radars.
“It came to my attention after redistricting that Gov. Ron DeSantis created this district as the Whitest district in Florida,” she notes. It’s also a solidly Republican one. Indeed, at 79.1% White, there’s no district in the state where a single ethnicity makes up such a large part of the electorate, according to data from Dave’s Redistricting.
But it’s also a heavily Republican seat where 57.49% of voters went for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 election and just 41.56% voted for Democrat Joe Biden.
Kale, nevertheless, looks to put up a fight. She served as the IT director and deputy operations manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign in Florida, and later helped support Biden’s 2020 campaign. In both elections, Trump won Florida.
She sees any number of reasons why the far-right politics of Trump and Steube shouldn’t represent the district where she has lived since 2015. She expects decisions like the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade will energize women to vote Democrat. Steube said the ruling marked a “monumental day in America that will be celebrated for decades to come.” For Kale, the issue is more personal.
She was first pregnant at age 18, and gave up her baby for adoption because she lacked support to be a single mother. She later reconnected with her daughter when she was 22 and now has a relationship with four grandchildren as a result.
But going through with a pregnancy was her choice.
“A lot of women out there, and I have met many of them already, don’t want government in their bodies, intruding on them in the bedroom, telling them when to make babies and how to make babies,” Kale said. “That’s been the trend. Hispanic voters, Catholic voters, they all say, just because of my belief and what I choose for myself, they don’t believe in imposing our religious preferences on anyone else.”
She doesn’t believe Americans want to deny a young girl the ability to end a pregnancy while providing so little in terms of resources to raise a child.
There many other issues Kale takes issue with in Steube’s voting record. “He is a veteran who claims to care about veterans but voted against the PACT Act with no explanation,” she said. “He also voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”
She hopes to rally connections through her political involvement, including those who worked with Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s successful 2020 election campaign.
Steube holds a cash advantage — and wants more. His campaign sent out an email blast Wednesday seeking donations and predicting Democrats “will try to manipulate and lie their way into keeping power this November.” As of Aug. 3, Steube had raised almost $1.3 million this election cycle and had $853,960 in cash on hand, while Kale had raised $18,215 and had spent all but $1,040.
The post Andrea Doria Kale to challenge Greg Steube on a woman’s right to choose appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam said he wasn’t finished when he suspended his 2020 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination — and now he’s been elected President of the Florida League of Mayors.
Miramar’s Mayor since 2015, Messam succeeds Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer as the leader of the organization. He’ll be serving a one-year term, according to a release from the association.
“While we’re all from different parts of our diverse state, we all share common goals, and the Florida League of Mayors helps us achieve those goals,” Messam said in a prepared statement. “I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to lead this association and its members, and I look forward to the year ahead as we continue working together and learning from one another.”
Messam’s quest to move directly from a mayoral seat to the White House received national press — it would have been a first. And his city, the state’s 13th largest, is bigger than former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Peter Buttigieg’s. But ultimately, Messam’s campaign never gained much momentum, and he ended his bid the morning of the fifth Democratic presidential debate.
Messam, who earned full athletic and academic scholarships to attend Florida State University, was first elected to the Miramar City Commission in 2011.
Messam is the son of Jamaican immigrants who owns his own construction company and he’s served in various leadership roles. The former wide receiver for the FSU Seminoles was the President of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and served on the board of directors for the National League of Cities. He is also a current board member of the African American Mayors Association. He’s served six terms on the Florida League of Mayors board of directors.
Locally, Messam served two terms as Chair of the Broward County Small Business Development Advisory Board.
When Messam’s term is up, the leadership of the Florida League of Mayors will remain the province of South Florida’s leaders. Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook will succeed Messam, according to a news release.
The post Former presidential candidate will lead Florida League of Mayors appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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Citizens Property Insurance Corporation passed 1 million policies this month and is continuing to grow despite efforts by its officials and lawmakers in recent years to reduce its risk by placing policies with private carriers.
That task has grown harder as the private market has struggled — especially smaller domestic companies — and seen five insolvencies in the first eight months of the year. In another sign of the precarious nature of the property insurance market, more of the policies of failed insurers are going into Citizens.
When Gulfstream went insolvent in 2021, 5,048 of its policies, or 16%, ended up with Citizens coverage. When Avatar went bust in March, 14,854 of its policies went to Citizens, or 41%. Subsequent failed companies had higher rates entering Citizens, too: Lighthouse had 7,571, or 28%; FedNat had 19,644, or 30%; and Southern Fidelity had 27,088, or 35%.
It’s too soon to determine the figures for the latest failed company, Weston, which was ordered into liquidation Aug. 8, but the early returns show 5,771 policies, or 29%, have gone into Citizens. But more are on the way, Citizens chief operating officer Kelly Booten said during a meeting of Citizens’ Market Accountability Advisory Committee, as the deadline for cancellations for Weston policies is Sept. 7.
The influx of policies contributed to Citizens’ growth, which has doubled in two years, from nearly 500,000 in August 2020 to more than 1 million today.
That growth is significant because it increases the risk of assessments on Citizens. If a large hurricane or series of storms wipes out Citizens’ ability to pay claims — it has $6.6 billion in surplus and more in reinsurance coverage and borrowing capacity that bring its claims-paying ability to $17.8 billion — Citizens customers could be assessed up to 45% of their premium.
Most Citizens customers, though, don’t know that. Citizens spokeswoman Christine Ashburn presented the results of a survey to Citizens’ Consumer Services Committee showing 72% of respondents weren’t aware of the possibility of assessments.
But a new program set up to backstop Florida’s fragile property insurance market that uses Citizens’ surplus to guarantee the claims of some financially troubled companies isn’t likely to be a drain on its ability to pay claims.
State regulators set up the program in response to a warning from ratings agency Demotech that 17 companies could be downgraded, which would put the companies below Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s underwriting guidelines and force mortgage companies to place the policies into different insurers. Under the program, Citizens will use its surplus to pay the claims of any downgraded insurer that goes insolvent, after the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) pays a claim up to its $300,000 cap in state law.
Citizens Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Montero told the Market Accountability Advisory Committee 15 of the companies in question have been affirmed in their rating by Demotech. Of the two others, Weston just went insolvent and United Property and Casualty is leaving the marketplace, effectively canceling its Florida policies as they come up for renewal throughout the year. Also, FIGA has only had one claim in recent years that fell above its cap, Montero said.
The post As Citizens seeks to shed risk, insolvencies send influx of policies appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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Project EverGreen volunteers work on a community garden revitalization project in New York City . (Photo: Project EverGreen)
More than 25 green industry professionals and community volunteers recently took part in Project EverGreen’sGreenCare for Communities initiative to revitalize a beloved garden for New York City residents.
For more than 30 years, Harlem’s Bradhurst Garden stood on the site of a former concrete building. Despite the efforts of a community garden group and interested neighbors, the annual upkeep was a daunting task.
Project EverGreen volunteers worked in partnership with NYC Parks Green Thumb to renovate, improve and expand access to the garden. Improved accessibility was critical as it has been relying on plywood flooring to form its outdoor gathering space.
“A well-maintained green garden that brings cooling relief is vital to this highly populated neighborhood, but over the years it had fallen into disarray,” said Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “Bringing the community gardeners’ vision to life is possible only through collaboration of individuals, businesses, and community grants. Our professional volunteers love sharing their expertise and giving back to neighborhood parks and gardens.”
Project EverGreen’s initiative – valued at $30,000 – transformed the garden’s accessibility and was the first step to restoring the 5,000-square-foot space.
“I grew up here and I love the peace and serenity it brings me and my family,” said Leanne Williams, president of the Bradhurst Garden Group. “My uncle, Papa Joe, helped build this garden and created a place to bring people together in the community. It’s our pride and joy and now it’s better than ever.”
Renovation specifics include:
Installing pavers to create new, accessible patio and path from front to back of the garden
Pruning trees and bushes
Installing more than 150 native perennials and shrubs
Mulching updated planting beds
Removal of brush and debris
Building a new garden pergola
Lead donors for the project were ConEdison and Mt. Sinai Health System. The partner donor was the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Green Thumb Community Garden Initiative.
Industry volunteers and donors included representatives from Artisan Gardens, Cast Lighting, Mike Darling Construction, Plant Detectives, SRW Products, Totalscape Design and Turfs Up Radio. Their professional, donated volunteer time is estimated at $15,000.
The post Project EverGreen volunteers breathe new life into community garden appeared first on Landscape Management.
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Democratic candidate for Governor Charlie Crist is leaving the U.S. House of Representatives as the General Election heats up.
Crist, who has represented Florida’s 13th Congressional District since winning the seat in the 2016 election, told the Tampa Bay Times that serving in the House was an “honor and a privilege.” He highlighted his work for veterans, solar initiatives, and community funding.
Crist had served in Congress throughout the Primary campaign against Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, relying on a proxy vote mechanism that got Republican criticism well before he got the nomination. A spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association earlier this month called his use of proxies a “flagrant violation of ethics rules and complete disrespect for his constituents.” The Times article counted up 107 different proxy votes between January and April.
Current Gov. Ron DeSantis faced the same decision of when to resign from Congress in 2018, and like Crist, waited until after he got his party’s nomination in the gubernatorial race. DeSantis resigned on Sept. 10 of that year.
“This is not a decision I make lightly,” DeSantis noted in 2018 upon announcing his decision to leave Congress.
“As the Republican nominee for Governor of Florida, it is clear to me that I will likely miss the vast majority of our remaining session days for this Congress. Under these circumstances, it would be inappropriate for me to accept a salary,” DeSantis wrote in a letter to then-Speaker Paul Ryan.
DeSantis was almost immediately condemned by the then chair of the Florida Democrats as having “quit on the people of Florida” by resigning.
DeSantis served the constituents of Florida’s 6th Congressional District. According to GovTrack, which tracks Congress, DeSantis missed 4.2% of the roll call votes since January 2013, but the percentage spiked to 53.8% from July through his resignation.
Prior to that, DeSantis had spent much of the 2016 cycle running for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat as Rubio ran for President. DeSantis eventually returned to his House seat when Rubio reversed course and ran for Senate again after abandoning his bid for the White House.
We have reached out to the Crist and DeSantis campaigns for comment on the recent developments, and will update as warranted.
___
Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics contributed reporting to this article.
The post Charlie Crist leaves Congress to focus on Governor’s race appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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A Washington law firm wants to know what communications Senate Democrats have had with the groups who sued Florida over the new congressional redistricting map.
The Senate Democrats and their staff members have been served with a records request asking them to turn over any communications they’ve had with the five major plaintiffs in the suit of Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute et al versus Laurel Lee et al.
The request also asks for communications the Senate Democrats may have had with other interested parties in the suit, including various Democratic Party organizations.
The Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute, Equal Ground Education Fund, League of Women Voters of Florida, League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund and Florida Rising Together, plus 12 individuals, are suing in Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County to have the redistricting map declared in violation of Florida’s Constitution and thrown out.
This year’s elections are going forward with the map. The 1st District Court of Appeals said the challenge would need a full trial if any judgments are to be rendered, and time ran out for that for the 2022 elections. But the lawsuit remains active and could affect future congressional elections.
Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book called the records request “strange” and wondered why Democrats are being targeted with the request, when Republicans were the ones who did all the work on the map.
She said she is uncertain what interest the Washington law firm of Holtzman Vogel might have with Florida’s congressional map, Florida’s Republican leadership that produced the map, or the lawsuit trying to stop it.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Kelly crafted the map (P 0109) ultimately passed in Special Session and signed by DeSantis in March.
Democrats watched helplessly as DeSantis pushed the map through to partisan approval, replacing a version the Legislature had approved earlier, which DeSantis had vetoed. The final map controversially dismantles a North Florida district represented now by U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat. It also created the prospect that Florida’s congressional delegation could become 20 Republicans and eight Democrats after the General Election, changed from the current split of 16 Republicans and 11 Democrat.
Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute and the other plaintiffs, backed by former Attorney General Eric Holder, filed their lawsuit mainly contending that DeSantis’ map diminishes the power of Black communities to elect a candidate of their choice. That would violate the Fair Districts amendment to the Florida Constitution.
The records request from Holtzman Vogel asks the Democrats to provide copies of any emails, text messages, or other messages from or to them or staff communicating about the map with the various organizations or with individuals associated with them.
The records request also asks for Senate Democrats’ communications about the map with the Elias Law Group, Perkins Coie, King, Blackwell, Zehnder & Wermuth, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Common Cause Florida, the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, Latino Justice, Fair Districts Now, the Florida Democratic Party, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee, and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“It’s crazy,” said state Sen. Linda Stewart, an Orlando Democrat, who was on the Senate committee.
State Sen. Victor Torres, an Orlando Democrat, said responding should not be a problem because he has had no communications with any of the groups.
“They should be checking the records on the Republican Side,” Torres said.
The post Washington law firm probing Senate Democrats’ links to congressional redistricting lawsuit appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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It wasn’t long ago a Primary challenge from a conservative activist posed an existential threat to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan. The Longboat Key Republican had faced pressure from the right before, but this was the MAGA era, and Martin Hyde had a list of reasons to paint the incumbent as insufficiently pro-Donald Trump.
Yet a week ago, Buchanan emerged from a Republican Primary not just with another term in the House all but secure, but buoyed by the best margin of victory achieved by any Republican in Florida on Primary day.
How did he get from a target of the far-right to a favorite on the cusp of unprecedented power for a Florida Congressman? A series of positive events for Buchanan — and some unpredictable consequences for predictable behavior on the part of Hyde — produced a landslide.
Right swipe
Hyde arose as a potential challenger to Buchanan in March of 2021, and by that time already had developed a reputation in Sarasota for stirring controversy. He had run two Sarasota City Commission campaigns, making the runoff once in a citywide contest.
He’d also had a moment of anger go viral once, when he got into an argument with a group of teenagers at the Bath & Racquet Club and at one point told them to “cut some grass.” But the brief furor that caused didn’t seem to hinder an ability to build a local fan base in part thanks to memorable public comments offered at Sarasota City Commission and Sarasota County School Board meetings.
He also believed there to be a chance to unseat Buchanan in a GOP Primary. The incumbent Republican had been among a small group of GOP representatives supportive of the Paris climate accords. He also perturbed activists when he voted to override a veto of the federal budget by President Trump.
Perhaps most unholy among the MAGA faithful, Buchanan was among the only Florida Republicans in Congress to vote to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the Presidential Election.
But the last straw, Hyde said, was a vote for universal background checks on firearm purchases. “One of eight Republicans who voted for new gun controls. RINO Vern Buchanan,” Hyde posted on Facebook. “You just voted yourself a primary challenge pal.”
In Buchanan’s world, officials quickly downplayed the challenge. Buchanan had survived Primary challenges during the Tea Party revolution and otherwise, including one from now-Manatee County Commissioner James Satcher.
But there seemed some potential behind a Hyde challenge, particularly when he nabbed the support of Trump associates Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. The latter had recently moved to south Sarasota County, outside Buchanan’s district but actively building influence in local GOP politics.
And a vague threat seemed to hang on the horizon within the halls of Mar-a-Lago. Trump remained on a crusade to convince supporters he won the 2020 Presidential Election, and had publicly feuded with some Republicans, even Vice President Mike Pence, on the choice to certify the electoral college results that ousted him from the White House.
Buchanan maintained a fundraising edge, however, and a certain level of sway as Republican chair of the Florida Congressional Delegation.
Then came some major news in Washington. First, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, ranking Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, announced his retirement from Congress. Buchanan immediately made known his interest in taking over the top GOP spot.
“At the appropriate time, it would be an honor to be considered for the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee when we win back the House in 2022,” Buchanan said.
At first, he seemed a long shot, still behind U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of California in terms of seniority. But then, Trump recruited Nunes to run his new social media platform, Truth Social, ironically headquartered within Buchanan’s home county. Buchanan was elevated to front-runner status immediately.
Suddenly, the Longboat Key Republican’s focus turned to raising money for the National Republican Congressional Committee and to sending generous catering to Republican Steering Committee meetings. His campaign efforts turned to shoring up a Ways & Means position, one likely to turn to a Chairmanship for the most powerful committee in Congress should Republicans retake a majority in the House in November.
“Florida, even as the third largest state in America, has never had a chairman of the most powerful committee in all of Congress,” said Max Goodman, a political consultant who has worked with Buchanan since his election to Congress in 2006.
It may be that the sudden growth in stature in Congress reached from Washington to Palm Beach County. Trump soon made an endorsement of the race — for Buchanan.
“Congressman Vern Buchanan is a terrific representative of the people of Florida,” Trump said in a statement released by the Save America PAC. “He is working hard to lower our Taxes, grow our Economy, support our Military and Vets, protect our Seniors, and defend our Second Amendment. Vern has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Goodman said the Congressman never truly worried about landing the nod. Buchanan had served as congressional liaison to the White House during negotiations of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and as a mogul-turned-public servant had a profile similar to Trump’s from the start.
But winning Trump’s support effectively cut off the clearest path to a credible challenge from Hyde. And that wouldn’t be the last hit to the activist’s reputation.
Road blocks
But Hyde’s greatest challenge came on Feb. 14, when a traffic stop turned into a viral moment that made the Ball & Racquet Club incident seem like a minor embarrassment.
A Sarasota Police officer pulled Hyde over for a tag issue, and Hyde called her supervisors and threatened her job. “I’ll just call the Chief. You know who I am, right?” Hyde said as police body cameras captured all. The matter drew international attention and millions of views online for multiple media outlets, including Florida Politics.
Hyde pulled back from the trail, at one point writing a front-page op-ed for the Herald-Tribune listing him as a “former” congressional candidate. Yet, he still qualified to run for Buchanan, even as he stopped seeking outside contributions.
Meanwhile, a threat greater than Hyde loomed in Tallahassee.
Buchanan appeared a beneficiary of Florida’s congressional redistricting process as led by the Legislature, but Gov. Ron DeSantisinjected himself in an unprecedented way into the process of drawing new political boundaries. He vetoed the Legislature’s maps and his own staff presented a different vision that significantly altered the make-up of Southwest Florida’s political boundaries.
That included drawing Buchanan out of his own district and putting all of Sarasota County, where Buchanan lived for decades, into the district represented by U.S. Rep. Greg Steube.
Haggling went on between Buchanan and Steube about who should run for a Manatee County seat containing much of Buchanan’s existing constituency and who would campaign in Sarasota County. Ultimately, Steube announced he would seek the southern seat and Buchanan announced he would run for the Manatee jurisdiction within an hour.
Goodman downplays the significance of the jockeying as a final map came together in Tallahassee. “Ultimately, the decision was an easy one,” Goodman said. Buchanan had represented Manatee and a portion of Hillsborough County for years, and he would not need to face a fellow incumbent in a needless turf war.
Besides, there was a more important message Buchanan wanted to reach voters, a positive one that would blanket the region in coming months.
Rags to riches
Buchanan in June blasted texts to voters throughout Florida’s 16th Congressional District that aimed to show a picture of the Congressman as a young man. Many knew Buchanan, the wealthy car salesman who became one of Congress’ wealthiest members. Less known was his story growing up as one of six children in a 900-square-foot Michigan home.
Goodman and a camera crew flew to Inkster, Michigan to film “Self-Made,” a two-minute documentary-style video ad. The campaign team spoke to people about Buchanan’s days delivering newspapers and teaching karate classes to pay his way through college. The montage moves forward through time as Buchanan became a fixture in business journal stories and eventually into political headlines.
“The story had a major impact on people,” Goodman said, showing metrics that indicated more than 150,000 people in the district watched the video for more than six seconds. “We were pulling the curtain back showing people the real Vern Buchanan.”
Meanwhile, Hyde gradually re-introduced himself to voters after months of social quarantine, but ran a low-key campaign. He made headlines again after a dispute with an ex-girlfriend, who reported concerns to the police about Hyde voicing thoughts of suicide. After Florida Politics published a story on that episode, he threatened to sue the publication.
“You’ll get my side in the court papers,” he texted Florida Politics.
Regardless, Buchanan scored an indisputable win on Aug. 23. He won 86.24% of the vote in the Republican Primary, 64,028 votes to Hyde’s 10,219. Goodman believes that to be the highest share of the vote for any Republican on the ballot that day for any race in the entire state of Florida.
Election season isn’t done for Buchanan, however. He still faces a General Election opponent in Democrat Jan Schneider, who he has faced a few times in his eight prior elections. Even Schneider concedes she lacks the resources to defeat Buchanan, and suggested she ran this year in part just in case a Tea Party-like surge unexpectedly led to a Hyde victory for the GOP nomination.
Buchanan also enjoyed his greatest fundraising ever this cycle, seeing a major uptick once he became a front-runner for the Ways & Means post. Through Aug. 3, he pulled in more than $3.7 million. He also has paid down all the campaign debt accrued in 2018 and 2020 when he faced nationally backed Democratic challenges from David Shapiro and Margaret Good respectively.
He entered the final weeks of the Primary with $1.77 million in cash-on-hand. Hyde, by comparison, raised a little over $230,000, almost all of that out of pocket, and went into the Primary endgame with just over $6,700. Schneider through June had $41,178 in the bank, most of that raised in prior campaigns.
But the focus for the Congressman likely will turn now away from the vote in CD 16 and toward closing a gap with Democrats in House districts across the country. He could not become Ways & Means Chair without securing his own re-election, but with that all but settled, he also needs a GOP House. Democrats right now enjoy a nine-seat majority. Buchanan will join a national effort to erase that difference.
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An outgoing Jacksonville City Councilman sought information on how the city’s disbursements to the local Chamber of Commerce have been spent in one of his final acts on the Council.
Democrat Garrett Dennis wrote a letter to Council Auditor Kim Taylor for “some confirmation that money being sent to the non-profit is being spent effectively” in the wake of Florida Politics reporting that the Chamber seeks $750,000 this year from the city, a higher threshold than recent years.
The measure (2022-510) was slated to be part of the larger budget, but was pulled out to permit a conflicted Council member to vote on the budget — presumably Finance Chair Aaron Bowman, a Senior Vice President for the Chamber-affiliated JAX USA Partnership.
The money, per the bill summary, is earmarked exclusively for “advertising, target industry marketing to brand our region’s key sub-clusters and outreach to site selectors and corporate decision makers.”
Dennis wants more details, however, especially regarding what percentage of money is spent on “administrative functions, such as salaries and benefits.”
Dennis lost his Primary in House District 14 to former Rep. Kim Daniels, and in that race the endorsement from the Chamber didn’t matter. It went to third-place finisher Mincy Pollock instead.
Meanwhile, his replacement has already been selected: Tyrona Clark-Murray won her election outright Tuesday to fill the remainder of Dennis’ unexpired term. The election was certified Aug. 25, meaning she is now in office.
The controversy over Chamber funding comes as CEO Daniel Davis readies to announce his own run for Mayor in 2023, entering a crowded field that already includes three Republicans, multiple Democrats, and NPA candidates.
A number of people are offering off-the-record ruminations about how extra money to the Chamber would fund fill-in staffers for Davis, making it easier for him to come back to the Chamber gig if he were to lose next year.
Davis will enter the field as the leading fundraiser, with more than $4 million on hand in his Building a Better Economy political committee. Polling by the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida shows more of an uphill battle, with Democrat Donna Deegan 20 points ahead of anyone else in the field. Davis leads GOP hopefuls in that poll, but with barely double-digit support.
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A newly unsealed FBI document about the investigation at Mar-a-Lago not only offers new details about the probe but also reveals clues about the arguments former President Donald Trump’s legal team intends to make.
A May 25 letter from one of his lawyers, attached as an exhibit to the search affidavit, advances a broad view of presidential power, asserting that the commander-in-chief has absolute authority to declassify whatever he wants — and also that the “primary” law governing the handling of U.S. classified information simply doesn’t apply to the president himself.
The arguments weren’t persuasive enough to the Justice Department to prevent an FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this month, and the affidavit in any event makes clear that investigators are focused on more recent activity — long after Trump left the White House and lost the legal authorities that came with it. Even so, the letter suggests that a defense strategy anchored around presidential powers, a strategy employed during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation when Trump actually was President, may again be in play as the probe proceeds.
It’s perhaps not surprising that Trump’s legal team might look for ways to distinguish a former President from other citizens given the penalties imposed over the years for mishandling handling government secrets, including a nine-year prison sentence issued to a former National Security Agency contractor who stored two decades’ worth of classified documents at his Maryland home.
But many legal experts are dubious that claims of such presidential power will hold weight.
“When someone is no longer President, they’re no longer President. That’s the reality of the matter,” said Oona Hathaway, a Yale Law School professor and former lawyer in the Defense Department’s general counsel’s office. “When you’ve left office, you’ve left office. You can’t proclaim yourself to not be subject to the laws that apply to everyone else.”
It’s not clear from the affidavit whether Trump or anyone might face charges over the presence of classified records at Mar-a-Lago — 19 months after he became a private citizen — and FBI officials are investigating who removed the records from the White House to the Florida estate and who is responsible for retaining them in an unauthorized location.
The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified records during the Aug. 8 search, and the affidavit made public Friday said 184 documents with classified markings also were found in 15 boxes removed in January. The Justice Department, responding to a Trump team request for a legal special master to sort through the materials, said Monday that officials had completed their own review of potentially privileged documents.
No matter the outcome of that latest issue, the affidavit makes clear that investigators are focused on potential violations of three felony statutes, including an Espionage Act provision that criminalizes the willful retention or transmission of national defense information.
Another law punishable by up to three years in prison makes it a crime to willfully remove, conceal or mutilate government records. And a third law, carrying up to 20 years imprisonment, covers the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.
The Espionage Act statute regarding retention of national defense information has figured in multiple prosecutions. Past investigations have produced disparate results that make it hard to forecast the outcome in the Trump probe. But there have been convictions.
Harold Martin, the ex-NSA contractor, pleaded guilty in 2019 to storing troves of classified information inside his home, car and storage shed, including handwritten notes describing the NSA’s classified computer infrastructure.
Which is why the Trump legal team may look to play up his status as a former President.
When it comes to handling government secrets, there are indeed some differences that could possibly be considered: Presidents, for instance, don’t have to pass background checks to obtain classified information, they’re not granted security clearances to access intelligence and they’re not formally “read out” on their responsibilities to safeguard secrets when they leave leave office.
“There’s no intelligence community directive that says how presidents should or shouldn’t be briefed on the materials,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA officer and senior director of the White House Situation Room. “We’ve never had to worry about it before.”
The May 25 letter from Trump attorney M. Evan Corcoran to Jay Bratt, the head of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence section, describes Trump as the leader of the Republican Party and makes multiple references to him as former president.
It notes that a President has the absolute authority to declassify documents, though it doesn’t actually say — as Trump has asserted — that he did so with the records seized from his home. It also says the “primary” law criminalizing the mishandling of classified information does not apply to the president and instead covers subordinate employees and officers.
The statute the letter cites, though, is not among the three that the search warrant lists as being part of the investigation. And the Espionage Act law at issue concerns “national defense” information rather than “classified,” suggesting it may be irrelevant whether the records were declassified or not.
Corcoran did not return messages seeking comment Monday.
It’s possible to “imagine a good faith mistake” or a President taking something sensitive without realizing it or because they needed it for a particular reason, said Chris Edelson, a presidential powers scholar and American University government professor.
But that argument could be complicated by the fact that the documents were not returned earlier in their entirety by Trump to the National Archives and Records Administration and that the FBI came to suspect — correctly — that there was still classified information at the property.
“I think if he had simply returned the documents right away, he’d be in a much stronger position legally,” Edelson said.
Ashley Deeks, a University of Virginia law professor and a former deputy legal adviser to President Joe Biden’s National Security Council, said in an email that the Trump team claims in the letter “seem to be more of a political argument than a legal argument.”
She added, “The president’s defense team seems to be trying to point out the magnitude of proceeding with this case rather than articulating a clear legal defense.”
_____
Republished with permission of The Associated Press
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The St. Petersburg Association of Firefighters is endorsing Democratic candidate LindsayCross in battleground House District 60.
The local firefighters’ union represents more than 380 firefighters across St. Pete, South Pasadena, and Lealman.
“We believe you will honorably serve the citizens of House District 60 and the interests of the men and women in the Fire and Emergency Medical Services, who have made the protection of life and property their life’s work. The relationships you have built around the state and understanding of the legislative process will serve you well as you represent the citizens of House District 60,” Rick Pauley, president of the St. Pete Association of Firefighters, said in a statement.
Local 747 joins a growing list of unions and organizations that have backed Cross, including SEIU FL, the West Central Florida Labor Council AFL-CIO, Pinellas County Teachers Association, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 915, and Teamsters Local 79.
“When residents of House District 60 are struggling with some of the most frightening and challenging situations, from fire to medical emergencies, it is Local 747 that’s there to pick them back up. Our firefighters do so much to protect and serve this community. It is an incredible honor to have these brave men and women behind me as I fight for a healthy environment, healthy community, and healthy economy for everyone in St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park,” Cross said in a statement.
Cross faces Republican Audrey Henson in the upcoming General Election. The pair are racing to succeed Democratic Rep. Ben Diamond in the St. Petersburg district, and both raised substantial funds leading up to the Primary. While Democratic candidate Cross leads in total fundraising, Henson has a slight cash-on-hand advantage.
Neither Cross nor Henson faced any Primary opponents in the race. Diamond is endorsing Cross as his successor.
Henson dropped her congressional campaign back in June to instead run for HD 60. In switching her candidacy, she brought along what remains in her congressional war chest. During her first two weeks on the campaign trail, Henson also received hefty support from the Florida GOP, showing the party’s eagerness to flip the seat red.
But, despite heavy support from the state party, Henson may face an uphill battle. About 54.92% of voters in the newly drawn district voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential Election, while just 43.51% supported Donald Trump.
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Defending itself in a lawsuit, Universal argued it was not aware of any other existing deals for the land that Universal bought for its Epic Universe theme park in Orlando.
Earlier this year, Fourth Watch Acquisitions filed a $250 million lawsuit claiming it was under contract to buy 135 acres of land from developer Stan Thomas’ Universal City Property Management, or UCPM. Instead, Thomas sold the land to Universal behind Fourth Watch’s back in 2018 as part of a lawsuit settlement related to another matter, Fourth Watch’s lawsuit alleged.
Fourth Watch is suing both Universal and UCPM as Universal builds its new theme park set to open by the summer of 2025 near the Orange County Convention Center. Fourth Watch said Universal knew Fourth Watch had been in the process of buying the land.
But in court documents filed last month, Universal said it was not aware of Fourth Watch’s plans to buy the land until Fourth Watch served Universal with the lawsuit this spring. Universal described Four Watch’s four-year delay in raising the issue as telling.
“There was no claim from Fourth Watch of having a contractual right to the property being purchased,” Universal said when it acquired the land, according to court documents.
Fourth Watch, a Georgia real estate entertainment development company, wanted to acquire land near the convention center to build its own attractions. Fourth Watch described its vision as “a thrill-seeker’s extravaganza, featuring an iconic 750-foot-tall snow dome, ATV-tracks, river rafting, canyoning, ice skating, and surfing,” according to court documents.
But Universal argued Fourth Watch’s plans were moot because local leaders did not greenlight the plan.
“The development of a theme park was also highly speculative because Fourth Watch would be required to obtain approval from Orange County,” Universal said in court filings, adding there were land restrictions in place that prevented Fourth Watch from building a theme park.
Universal also asked Fourth Watch to identify which land was specifically part of its alleged deal with UCPM.
The legal fight over the land has deepened.
Thomas’ UCPM is now countersuing Fourth Watch, saying Fourth Watch didn’t have the $125 million to buy the property in the first place.
“Fourth Watch lacked the funds and ability to ever obtain the funds required to close the Transaction, and Fourth Watch was well aware of this inability at that time,” UCPM said in its lawsuit filed in June.
UCPM alleged Fourth Watch misrepresented its portfolio of projects, saying it completed projects “but in fact had not,” the lawsuit said.
UCPM also accused Fourth Watch of harming its reputation by making “defamatory statements” to Orange County and others. The lawsuit doesn’t provide details on what the alleged comments were.
The growing litigation between Universal, Fourth Watch and UCPM could be costly if the matter reaches trial, according to an Orange Circuit Court joint case management report filed last month.
There would be “substantial” documents called into evidence and potential expert witnesses to testify on land use, theme park development and other issues over the dispute whether UCPM breached its contract with Fourth Watch, Universal interfered with the deal and other legal questions.
Fourth Watch estimated its legal fees and attorney costs going to trial will cost between $1.5 million to $2 million. Universal said its legal fees were estimated between $500,000 to $750,000. UCPM said its fees were similar to the others.
Mediation is set to begin no later than Sept. 1, 2023, court documents showed.
The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in December 2023.
Florida Politics reached out to Universal as well as attorneys for Fourth Watch and UCPM for comment but did not get a response.
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Lawmakers appropriated more than $600 million to increase the wages long-term care providers pay their staff to $15 an hour.
To ensure the money is used to boost wages, Medicaid officials require providers to enter into a supplemental agreement with the state by Oct. 1.
The Agency for Health Care Administration, which houses the state’s Medicaid offices, has been sending notices ahead of the deadline. The latest reminder was sent out Monday afternoon.
Medicaid providers that don’t reimburse direct care staff $15 an hourbeginning Jan. 1, 2023, can sue their employer in court. If they are successful, workers can recover the total amount of any back wages, liquidated damages the state assessed against a managed care provider (if any), and attorneys’ fees.
The law also allows workers who are not paid the minimum mandated amounts to pursue a class action lawsuit against their employers.
The wage agreement has been posted on theMedicaid Provider Secure Web Portalwebsite since Aug.4. Providers failing to sign the agreement will be subject to recoupment of funds associated with the minimum wage requirement.
Most providers, including local governments, which are enrolled in the Florida Medicaid program must pay direct care workers $15 an hour. However, nursing homes are required to pay their entire staff a minimum of $15 an hour.
Increases apply to managed care companies, nursing homes, and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled, as well as most providers outside of the mandatory managed care program and bill Medicaid based on a fee-for-service schedule.
But not all fee-for-service providers are slated for this increase.
The agency said the increases would not apply to the fee schedules used for pediatric surgeries,behavior analysis;early intervention services;durable medical equipment and medical supply services,andRegional Perinatal Intensive Care Center (RPICC) neonatal services or obstetrical services, among others.
The rates for Medicaid managed long-term care and ordered medical assistance plans have already been adjusted, effective Oct. 1, to accommodate for the new minimum wage requirements.
In 2020, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment that raises the wage floor to $15 per hour by 2026.Each year on Sept. 30, the minimum wage will increase by $1 until 2026, when it hits $15 per hour.
After that, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation.
Senate President Wilton Simpson championed the inclusion of wage increases for direct care workers, all nursing home staff, and state employees in the state fiscal year 2022-2023 budget.
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Key Largo businesswoman and two-time House District 120 candidate Rhonda Rebman Lopez fell just short of unseating incumbent Rep. Jim Mooney last Tuesday. Now, she’s thinking of suing over “slander” in an attack ad that ran on TV ahead of Primary Election Day.
The ad in question, paid for by the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee, debuted in late July. It described Lopez as a “RINO” (Republican in name only) and cited several FloridaPolitics stories linking anti-Mooney ads that aired in HD 120 to the political committee of disgraced former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.
Lopez already pushed back on accusations she and Gillum are in cahoots, touting her GOP bona fides and asserting she has never met him. But that isn’t what has her most incensed.
Rather, it’s mentioned near the end of the short video that she accepted money traceable to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime.
Lopez was indeed the subject of a related campaign finance complaint by the Miami-Dade Democratic Party during the 2020 election cycle. The complaint stemmed from a $1,000 donation her campaign took from Interamerican Consulting, which The New York Times found had ties to PDVSA, a state-run Venezuelan petroleum company Maduro controlled.
Lopez kept the contribution, explaining to Florida Politics that the money came through a check she received from the “school teacher and Democrat” sister of former Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera. As it turned out, Rivera’s sister in fact served as an officer with Interamerican.
In March 2021, the Florida Election Commission ruled against the Miami-Dade Democratic Party after it found the complaint was “legally insufficient” because it was based on “hearsay” and “speculation.”
That didn’t stop the Florida House GOP from using that claim against her, said Lopez, who said she may file a lawsuit.
“They used it on TV — on ESPN, the Weather Channel, Fox News,” she told Florida Politics.
“I’m considering a slander lawsuit because all I’ve got is time and money, and that’s a dangerous combination. I am not bowing to this corruption. The FEC ruled that was a lie based on hearsay and rubbish, but Mooney and his campaign ran that as though it were true when they knew it was ruled in my favor.”
Lopez added that she is suspicious of the Republican Primary outcome for HD 120, which saw her lose by just 90 votes following an automatic machine recount after the initial tally showed just 43 votes separating her and Mooney.
“They miraculously found (47) more votes,” she said. “I’m very skeptical of how this went.”
She added, “I was called and told they didn’t care if it cost them a million dollars, they were going to make sure I did not win this election. And they did. They found the votes. And they lied.”
Mooney said he isn’t shocked the race was close, “particularly considering the low voter turnout in Monroe County.” He was similarly unsurprised by the “mainland vote” from Miami-Dade County that favored Lopez by a nearly two-to-one ratio.
“That’s something I’ll rectify next time around,” he said.
Regarding the ads linking her campaign to Maduro, he noted the only ads pulled from the airwaves were those run on her behalf.
“None of our ads got pulled because we weren’t lying,” he said. “She said she wouldn’t give the money back from Venezuela — not directly from Venezuela, but moved around. (Meanwhile), we had numerous ads pulled up here that she ran because they were blatantly false and lies.
“I don’t lie about our opponents. They are what they are and they do what they do. We ran a television ad that was factual, and anybody who wants to delve into that deeper can certainly delve into it.”
Mooney, a former Islamorada Mayor and Village Council member, is now slated to face Democratic “anti-corruption” lawyer Adam Gentle, who emerged victorious last Tuesday with more than 55% of the vote.
Mooney described Gentle as “a levelheaded guy who just moved to the Keys.” Gentle, who in January switched from a congressional run to a campaign for HD 120, has lived about 10 miles north of Key West for a year. He previously lived in Los Angeles.
“I don’t know that he knows a lot about the issues we face in other parts of our district or, for that matter, the issues in the northern part, but he’s very well-spoken and I have nothing to say about him other than the fact that I’ve met him a couple times, he was a gentleman to me and vice versa,” Mooney said, adding that he would like to see that mutual cordiality extend into the General Election.
“I hope some of this nastiness that has to be out there stops. If it doesn’t, we’ll be prepared for it.”
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Rick Scott is back from Italy and offering reassuring words about the increasingly precarious Republican chances of taking back the Senate in November, putting himself at odds with Mitch McConnell.
Scott, the National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair, told a national audience Thursday that the Senate Minority Leader was wrong to believe there’s an even chance the Senate stays Democratic next year.
“No! We’ve got great candidates! Look at the background of these people. These are wonderful individuals that believe in this country, and they believe in the right things,” Scott said on the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” program. “We are going to win, but we’ve got to raise our money. When we raise our money, we win.”
McConnell was less optimistic when he told an audience in Kentucky last week that the GOP had just a “50/50” chance of wresting Senate control back.
“Flipping the Senate, what are the chances? It’s a 50-50 proposition. We’ve got a 50-50 Senate right now. We’ve got a 50-50 nation. And I think the outcome is likely to be very, very close either way,” McConnell told the Scott County Chamber of Commerce, as reported by Reuters.
The schism between Scott and McConnell is documented at this point. They had a public split over Scott’s “12-point plan to rescue America.” McConnell slammed the plan’s suggestion of review of federal entitlement programs as a non-starter if he led Senate Republicans next year.
Former President Donald Trump has reportedly urged Scott to make a play for McConnell’s post. Scott has not endorsed McConnell to lead the caucus beyond this year.
Beyond the clapback to McConnell, Scott stayed upbeat as he extolled a series of Republican candidates facing tough battles, with special attention paid to Pennsylvania Republican Mehmet Oz, described by Scott as a “world-renowned surgeon” and the “best health care talk-show host in the world.”
“Oz, he’s raising money off you; if you want to help Mehmet Oz, text WIN to 55404,” Scott urged, telling the Hannity audience that the money would help the former television host “get his message out.”
Scott has been particularly sharp-elbowed in discussing the Pennsylvania race, condemning Fetterman for having “lied about his health” regarding his recovery from a stroke this year.
In the segment, Republicans like Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Budd of North Carolina, J.D. Vance of Ohio, and Herschel Walker of Georgia were each lionized as “running a great race.”
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The electorate who was registered to vote in the August 23 Primary Election is split fairly evenly within six of Florida’s 28 congressional districts, though Republicans hold slight advantages in each of those areas heading toward the November General Election.
The voter registration book closing for the Aug. 23 Primary Election showed Florida had 14.3 million eligible voters registered for that contest, with between 407,000 and 588,000 voters registered in all of Florida’s 28 congressional districts.
Statewide, Republicans held the upper hand, with 5.2 million voters, compared with just under 5 million registered Democrats in the latest count. Another 4.2 million voters were registered without a party affiliation or aligned with one of the eight “minor” parties recognized by the Division of Elections, such as the Libertarian Party or the Green Party.
Florida’s voter party registrations have been trending in Republicans’ favor for several years. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Legislature created new congressional district maps this year that exploit those voter advantages, with the possibility of electing more Republicans to Congress.
Heading into the fall campaign for the General Election, the latest official voter registration counts show that Republicans have what likely would be an insurmountable edge in voter registrations — an advantage of more than 15 percentage points over Democrats — in eight congressional districts, under the new map. Democrats have such an advantage in six districts.
Republicans have advantages that are strong but not outside the prospect of an upset — more than 5 percentage points yet fewer than 15 points — in seven more districts. Democrats have that sort of advantage in two districts.
The remaining six districts are close in voter registration counts between Republicans and Democrats, though Republicans have slight advantages in all of them:
— In Florida’s 15th Congressional District, essentially Florida’s new district, serving the Polk County area of the Interstate 4 corridor, Republicans have just 1,700 more voters than Democrats within an electorate of 472,000, amounting to a GOP advantage of just 0.4 percentage points.
That’s a much weaker advantage than the results of the past couple of General Elections would suggest, indicating the independent and minor party voters in CD 15 likely lean conservative.
Independent and minor party voters make up 31% of the CD 15 electorate.
There, former Republican Secretary of State Laurel Lee and Democrat Alan Cohn are battling for an open seat.
— In Florida’s 2nd Congressional District in the Panhandle, Republicans hold a 3,700 voter advantage, which is about 0.7% of the electorate.
That is a much tighter Republican edge than the past couple of General Elections would suggest. Former President DonaldTrump won the precincts now gathered into that district by at least 7 percentage points in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Independent and minor party voters make up just 20% of the CD 2 electorate.
Two incumbent congressional members are in a showdown there: Republican U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn and Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson.
— In Florida’s 27th Congressional District in Miami, Republicans hold a 3,900-vote advantage, about 0.9% of the electorate.
That suggests more of a Republican advantage, compared with how voters there voted in the past couple of General Elections. Trump actually lost the popular vote count in what are now the CD 27 precincts in 2016, and barely won the vote there in 2020.
Independent and minor party voters combine for 33% of the electorate, nearly even with Republicans and slightly greater than Democrats.
Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar is being challenged by Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo.
— In Florida’s 28th Congressional District in Miami, Republicans have 5,800 more registered voters, an advantage of about 1.3% of the total electorate.
That district has swung widely across the past two General Elections. Trump was outvoted in those precincts in 2016, and then carried the area by 6% in 2020
CD 28 has more independent voters than either Republicans or Democrats. Independents make up 35% of the electorate.
Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez is being challenged by former Democratic state Rep. Robert Asencio.
— In Florida’s 4th Congressional District in the Jacksonville area, Republicans hold an advantage of about 12,500 votes, or about 2.3% of the electorate.
That spread is much tighter than the results of the past General Elections. Trump carried the area in each of those elections by at least 4.9 points.
Just 23% of the CD 4 voters are registered as independents or to minor parties.
Republican state Sen. Aaron Bean faces Democrat LaShonda Holloway for the open seat there in the General Election.
— In Florida’s 7th Congressional District, Republicans hold a 25,000-vote advantage, about 4.4% of the electorate.
That is just slightly a smaller spread than Trump enjoyed in the region in the past two General Elections.
Independent or minor voters make up 32% of the electorate, slightly more than Democrats.
Republican Cory Mills faces Karen Green for the open seat there.
Republicans have strong advantages in voter registration, between 5 and 15 points, in Florida’s 3rd, 11th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 21st and 26th Congressional Districts.
Democrats have strong advantages in voter registration in Florida’s 14th and 23rd Congressional Districts.
Republicans have nearly insurmountable advantages in voter registrations, more than 15 points, in Florida’s 1st, 6th, 8th, 12th, 17th and 19th Congressional Districts, and already have won Florida’s 5th Congressional District, which re-elected Republican U.S. Rep. John Rutherford in the Primary Election.
Democrats have nearly insurmountable advantages in voter registrations in Florida’s 9th, 10th, 20th, 22nd, 24th and 25th Congressional Districts.
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Welcome back to Diagnosis, a vertical that focuses on the crossroads of health care policy and politics.
Florida has led the nation in the number of people enrolled in the federal health care exchange through the arduous work of Florida Covering Kids & Families at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health.
Headed by Jodi Ray, Florida Covering Kids & Families has partnered with organizations from across the state to provide navigator services and collectively operates under the Covering Florida moniker.
For years it has been the only navigator program in the state to receive money from the federal government. And Friday, the Biden administration announced it would earmark $12,908,382 to USF and Florida Covering Kids & Families for navigator services across the state.
Joe Biden comes to the rescue of Florida kids and families.
But the Biden administration also awarded $2,624,933 to the Urban League of Broward County (ULBC). According to the federal government website, the ULBC will provide navigator services beyond South Florida because it will partner with the Tallahassee Urban League, the Pinellas County Urban League, and the Urban League of Palm Beach County.
Through those partnerships the Urban League of Broward County will be able to supply navigation services to people living in Tallahassee, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Delray Beach, Lake Worth, Jupiter, and other cities in the three counties outside of Broward.
The money is to cover the costs of navigation services between Aug. 27, 2022, and Aug. 26, 2023.
In all, the Biden administration last week awarded $98.9 million in navigator grant awards to 59 organizations in 30 states that rely on the federal health insurance marketplace for access to subsidized health insurance policies, commonly referred to as Obamacare plans.
Open enrollment for the 2023 plan year begins Nov. 1, 2022.
I welcome your feedback, questions, and especially your tips. You can email me at SextonHealthNewsletter@gmail.com or call me at 850-251-2317.
— Broward Health saga —
A Broward Health Commissioner is seeking guidance from the state’s Ethics Commission amid the fallout of the death of his father-in-law.
Ray Berry, the Health Business Solutions CEO first appointed to the public board that oversees North Broward County’s five-hospital system by then-Gov. Rick Scott, asked for an advisory opinion in late June after conflict-of-interest accusations from a company that claims Berry’s firsthand experiences could cause it to lose a lucrative contract.
In a letter to the Commission, Berry explained that his father-in-law suffered from multiple myeloma and that he was initially treated at a hospital run by Memorial Healthcare System, which is the public health system for South Broward County but was transferred to a Broward Health-operated facility.
The death of Ray Berry’s father-in-law sparks an ethics investigation.
Berry contends that his father-in-law died in 2019 in part of an inability of the two public hospital systems to exchange electronic health care records.
Berry said he made a promise not to sue the district over his father-in-law’s death if “proper procedures were implemented” and that “something like this never happens again” although attorneys for Broward Health acknowledge nothing was ever put in writing.
“I was distraught after my father-in-law’s death, both because a wonderful man was lost, but also because in my opinion, the district, where I serve as Commissioner, was partly responsible,” Berry wrote.
After Berry’s father-in-law died, Broward Health began looking at its electronic health record databases and whether it should replace its current vendor, Cerner, and possibly turn to the database provider used by the Memorial Healthcare System. It’s a process that is apparently still underway.
But attorneys for Cerner have raised questions about Berry’s role and whether his involvement has “tainted” the process and cited many times that Berry raised questions about Cerner.
In mid-May, an attorney with the Kutak Rock law firm sent a lengthy letter to Broward Health’s general counsel that contended Berry had used his public position on the board “to secure a special privilege and benefit for himself and his family.”
It said Berry was using his “personal situation” to “influence the situation” of the Broward Health board.
“Commissioner Berry’s unwillingness to recuse himself, and the failure of the board to demand his recusal, has created a serious litigation threat and any decision made at this point would likely be set aside by a court,” says the letter signed by attorney Diane Carter.
The staff for Florida Commission on Ethics, however, reviewed the situation and said there is no conflict on the two main questions asked by Berry, noting that he has no financial or contractual relationship with any of the electronic health database vendors.
The Commission staff did say it could not render an opinion on some of Berry’s other questions, including whether it’s a misuse of his position to speak out because it requires more information to determine someone’s intent.
“In addition, we do not typically provide guidance in response to entirely hypothetical inquiries where the facts giving rise to the potential ethical issue are not provided with particularity to the inquiry,” says the staff.
The entire complicated saga will be hashed out in front of the Commission itself at its Sept. 9 meeting. Commissioners could vote to issue the recommended advisory opinion or reach another conclusion.
— MMJ caps are here —
The Office of Medical Marijuana Use issued an emergency rule that, for the first time, places caps on the daily dosage amount of tetrahydrocannabinol included in edibles, vaporization pens, creams, suppositories, and pills that can be ordered and bought by qualified patients every 70 days.
Posted on its website Friday and published in the Florida Administrative WeeklyMonday, the emergency rule caps at 24,500 milligrams the amount of THC a patient can be prescribed for edibles, vaporization pens, creams, suppositories, and pills. The emergency rule also reiterates the statutory limit of 2.5 ounces of smokable medical marijuana for qualified patients every 70 days.
Florida puts a hard cap on medical marijuana dosing.
Some lobbyists say implementing the 24,500-milligram dosage limits could prove problematic because the aggregate limits take effect when patients renew their licenses or when their physicians amend their pre-existing orders.
But the 70-day look-back period, which affects all certified patients, kicks in at once. That means, sources say, there will be different rules for different patients until the 745,259 certified patients have their licenses renewed.
The emergency rule allows qualified physicians who order medical marijuana for their patients, whether smokable or one of the other routes of administration, the ability to request an exception and includes the request for exception form.
Medical marijuana lobbyists say the request for an exception is a possible upside to the emergency rule because while the 2017 law authorized exceptions to the 2.5-ounce cap on smokable marijuana, there hasn’t been a process for physicians to follow until now.
The caps come as the state’s medical marijuana market continues to grow. As of Aug. 25, there were 745,259 people registered in the state to use medical marijuana in Florida and 22 licensed “medical marijuana treatment centers.”
The MMTCs are the only entities authorized to cultivate, process, and dispense low-THC cannabis and medical marijuana. Each MMTC is required to have a medical director.
Gov. Ron DeSantis denied to the press last week having direct involvement in conversations about the caps.
The move to place caps on the amount of THC comes as the state prepares to approve new MMTCs. Unsolicited, however, DeSantis offered his opinion that the state should increase the costs of the MMTCs licenses.
“We should charge these people an arm and a leg. I mean everybody wants these licenses. Why wouldn’t we take the opportunity to make money for the state based on those,” the governor said.
The governor said that would require a statutory change, though.
Meanwhile, this is the second emergency rule the OMMU has issued in the last 30 days. The office issued an emergency rule saying that medical marijuana treatment centers can only maintain one department-approved website and that centers cannot offer website purchasing services without first obtaining approval from the state.
The emergency rule defines website buying as the “purchasing of or making reservations or pre-reservations for the purchasing of usable product or marijuana delivery devices” through a medical marijuana treatment center.
— Social determinants of health and RFI —
To help address the social determinants of the health care needs of state residents the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) wants to contract with one or more vendors to set up, operate and maintain a closed-loop referral system.
To that end, the agency published a “Request for Information” late last week seeking input from vendors or community-based organizations that have successfully implemented a cloud-based platform that is person-centered and built to be as seamless as possible for health care providers and the public.
According to the RFI, the system must, with the person’s consent: improve coordination between community-based and health care organizations; improve standardized data capture, data sharing, and data use for screenings, assessments, diagnosis, and interventions; and support Florida’s health information technology goals of improving public and population health through the efficient collection of information.
Florida seeks to make medical referrals a seamless experience.
The RFI does not mention when the agency intends to obtain the services. But vendors or community-based organizations that have questions about the RFI can send them in writing to the agency by 2 p.m. on Sept. 2.
AHCA will answer the questions submitted by the deadline no later than 2 p.m. Sept. 12.
Social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age and the conditions or factors that affect the quality of health care that they receive and the outcomes they experience.
“The impact of social determinants of health, including food insecurity, housing instability, economic instability, and interpersonal violence, on a person’s health and well-being, as well as on health care utilization and cost, is well-established. Currently, 90% of health care spending in the United States is on medical care in a hospital or doctor’s office. But research shows that up to 70% of a person’s overall health is driven by these other social and environmental factors and the behavior influenced by them,” the RFI notes. “Investing into these factors can improve health and result in a significant return on investment and health care cost savings.”
— Which projects will get the love —
There are only a few days left before Florida legislators are supposed to reveal how they will divide up the new $80 million “local support grants” program authorized in the budget.
The current state budget requires the Legislative Budget Commission to approve requests for the money no later than Sept. 15 — the same deadline that the joint House-Senate panel must annually approve a long-range three-year financial outlook.
The Legislature usually posts the agenda and all supporting materials for the Commission meeting no later than a week in advance. The House and Senate have yet to post an official notice for the next Commission meeting so the date — and the deadline to release the agenda — are still in flux but the clock is ticking.
Medical grant money — use it or lose it.
Lawmakers submitted 971 spending requests totaling nearly $844 million by the submission deadline. An earlier Florida Politics analysis of the requests found that there were 70 health-care-related requests worth nearly $39.9 million.
This is the first time that legislators have ever pushed ahead with a program where they are the ones who will distribute the money. Some of the projects that have requested funding include items that DeSantis vetoed earlier this year, raising legal questions about whether the Legislature has the authority to sidestep that veto through this new program.
Additionally, the Senate has let the House take the lead in pushing ahead with the grants, including having that chamber maintain the website to post applications and keep track of requests. But LBC items require approval from both House and Senate members to move ahead so it will require buy-in from both chambers for the local support grants program to continue.
— RULES —
The Board of Optometry is developing Rule 64B11-4.001 that didactic training may be in person or from interactive, real-time courses. More here.
The Department of Financial Services proposes amending Rule 69L-7.100 to update the maximum reimbursement allowances for various medical services. More here.
The Department of Financial Services proposes amending Rule 69L-7.501 reimbursement manual for hospitals. More here.
The Department of Veterans Affairs proposes amending Rules 55-11.003, 55-11.005, 55-11.006, 55-11.009 and 55-11.012 about the admission and residency to the Department’s Veterans’ Domiciliary Home of Florida, in Lake City. More here.
Here’s a list of health-care-related rules that will take effect in early September
64B8-8.001 Updates disciplinary rules to specifically add PIP fraud to the list of punishments. It takes effect on Sept. 12, 2022.
64B8-9.0091 Updates the physician office surgery registration; inspection or accreditation rules. It takes effect on Sept. 11, 2022.
64B5-14.002 Updates the rules on the administration of anesthesia about anesthesia in dental offices. It takes effect on Sept. 12, 2022.
64B5-14.003 Updates the rules on the administration of nitrous oxide inhalation analgesia in dental offices. It takes effect on Sept. 12, 2022.
64B5-16.006 Updates the rules on remedial tasks that can be delegated to a dental hygienist. It takes effect on Sept. 12, 2022.
— ETC —
— The Florida Department of Transportation is issuing an “Airport Site Approval Order,” for Apopka Emergency Services Facility, a private airport, in Orange County that will be owned and operated by the City of Apopka.
— Calhoun Liberty Hospital, Inc. is soliciting formal, competitive, sealed bids from contractors for the construction of a new 2-story 25-Bed critical access hospital at a new site in Blountstown. Added work for the project includes the construction of the service building/central utility plan, helipad, and site work. Construction consists of approximately 76,000 square feet. Calhoun Liberty Hospital Association, Inc. will receive sealed bids until 2 p.m. (Central time) Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, at the Calhoun County Airport-F95 located at 16701 NW Agri Park Road, Altha, Florida 32421. Bids will be opened publicly and read aloud at 2:01 p.m. Oct. 11.
Calhoun Liberty is taking the first steps toward a major expansion.
A mandatory pre-bid meeting for general contractors will be Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, at 2 p.m. (Central time) at the Calhoun County Airport-F95 located at 16701 NW Agri Park Road, Altha, Florida 32421. For more information, contact Emily Winston at ewinston@craarchitects.com
— AHCA accepted two letters of intent for the Sept. 28 hospice CON cycle from vendors that want to build hospice programs in Hernando County: Affinity Care of Hernando County LLC and Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Pasco County, LLC, dba AccentCare Hospice & Palliative Care of Pasco County.
— LOBBYING —
— Ronald Book and Kelly Mallette have registered to lobby for the Florida Pharmacy Association
Mega-lobbyist Ron Book goes to bat for pharmacists.
— Michael Kesti registered to lobby for the National Bio+Green Sciences LLC
— Lisa Rawlins withdrew from lobbying for Centralis Health
— ROSTER —
Chuck Hall, HCA Healthcare Inc.’s National Group president, will retire at the end of the year after nearly 36 years with the organization. Currently, Hall handles HCA Healthcare’s operations at 96 hospitals across 13 states. Before assuming that role Hall was president of several HCA Healthcare divisions, including North Florida, East Florida, South Florida and Southwest Florida
Rogerio C. Lilenbaum, M.D., FACP, FASCO has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Junior Medical Center. Dr. Lilenbaum previously held executive roles at Yale Cancer Center, Yale New Haven Health, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Banner Health, and Cleveland Clinic.
Congratulations to Dr. Rogerio C. Lilenbaum.
DeSantis reappointed David Hidalgo, a certified registered nurse anesthetist for Envision Services and former Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology board member, to the Lake-Sumter State College District.
— ICYMI —
In case you missed them, here is a recap of other critical health care policy stories covered in Florida Politics this past week.
— After touching two patients’ breasts state moves to revoke license, levy $10K fine: A state administrative judge is recommending a Live Oak physician be fined $10,000 and have his license revoked after finding that he inappropriately touched two of his female patients’ breasts.
— Workers’ comp rates could be reduced by 8.4% in 2023: Here’s a bit of good news for Florida business owners. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) this week submitted a filing to the state insurance department that recommends an 8.4% reduction on new and renewed policies effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Soon, this will cost Florida businesses a little less.
— Enrollment in Medicaid is expected to grow but economists predict a $1.25 billion surplus: Florida’s Medicaid program continues to grow as more residents are expected to turn to the safety net program for health coverage. But despite a projected rise in enrollment, state economists say the growth will not cause a major budget disruption for state legislators this year.
— Ten named to the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame: The Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame Class of 2022 inductees has been set. Florida Department of Veterans Affairs Executive Director James S. Hartsell told the Cabinet Tuesday 40 applications were submitted to the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame Council for consideration this year. The Council vetted the applications and sent to Hartsell the names of 10 veterans selected for induction into the hall this year.
— UCF researchers secure $4.5 million in funding to prepare for next health crisis: The University of Central Florida (UCF) is launching a $4.5 million research project that educators believe will help the next time a pandemic strikes. Dubbed the Infectious Disease and Travel Health Initiative, the goal of the program is to create an advance warning system for small to medium-sized businesses in tourist areas. The research is a collaboration of faculty members from UCF’s medical school and hospitality and engineering colleges.
— FOR YOUR RADAR —
Aside from coverage by Florida Politics, these stories are worthy of your time.
“Florida’s transgender debate affecting treatment, surgeries” via Christopher O’Donnell of the Tampa Bay Times — While Florida considers banning hormone therapy and surgeries for transgender youth, the current political debate about treatment for gender dysphoria is already having a chilling effect on those seeking care. A surgery scheduled for a St. Petersburg transgender boy at Tampa General Hospital was canceled in June after both the hospital and the unaffiliated surgeon expressed concerns about performing the procedure over fears of future sanctions, according to the boy’s mother. More patients are traveling out of state to get treatment, according to some surgeons.
“Judge clears way for trial between UM, med school exec over firing. He is seeking millions” via Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald — Almost a decade ago, University of Miami President Donna Shalala fired a top executive at UM’s medical school, saying in a recent deposition that “his leadership was destructive to UHealth,” he “mishandled” layoffs during difficult financial times and he “destroyed morale” among the faculty. Jonathan “Jack” Lord, the former medical school’s chief operating and compliance officer, claims in a lawsuit against the university that Shalala retaliated against him after he repeatedly informed her of his efforts to probe $10 million in excessive Medicare billing by an organ testing lab for UM’s transplant program at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Jack Lord gets the all-clear to sue UM for millions.
“Are Florida’s public universities prepared for monkeypox?” via Cindy Krischer Goodman and Caroline Catherman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Florida college students are back on campus just as monkeypox is spreading quickly in the state, including among young adults. But while universities are posting information and offering flyers about the disease, few are prepared for a campus outbreak. They have yet to announce how they plan to isolate students with the virus and help them keep up with classes, and few have acquired the Jynneos vaccine being used for people at elevated risk of monkeypox.
“Florida Blue, BayCare spar over health care coverage” via Christopher O’Donnell of the Tampa Bay Times — Tens of thousands of Tampa Bay residents may have to find new doctors by October as two of the region’s major health care players are publicly sparring over a new insurance contract. BayCare Health System this week sent 215,000 letters to patients insured through Florida Blue, warning that BayCare’s hospitals, doctors and lab services would be out of the insurer’s network by Oct. 1 if the two cannot agree on new health care rates.
“Planned Parenthood warns of ‘fake abortion clinics’ popping up in Gainesville” via Javon L. Harris of the Gainesville Sun — Fake abortion clinics appear to be popping up in an effort to trick women seeking assistance into facilities before trying to indoctrinate them with religious, pro-life propaganda. Pro-choice advocates say it’s a growing issue that has now affected Gainesville. Planned Parenthood says Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) in Gainesville are touting themselves as abortion clinics, luring unsuspecting women into their waiting rooms only to spread disinformation.
— PENCIL IT IN —
Tuesday
Happy birthday Rep. Lauren Melo.
Happy birthday to Lauren Melo.
Thursday
Happy birthday, Rep. Emily Slosberg.
Friday
Happy birthday, Rep. Spencer Roach.
Sunday
Happy birthday Rep. Evan Jenne.
The post Diagnosis for 8.29.22: Checking the pulse of Florida health care news and policy appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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