Last Call for 9.30.20 — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics

Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

Ed. Note — After the contentious presidential debate Tuesday evening, Sunburn is taking a short break (to catch our collective breaths and figure out what the heck happened). Sunburn will return to your mailboxes Friday morning. Thanks again for your readership and continued support.

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The hot take following last night’s debate may be that America lost, but gamblers see an opportunity to win big.

As is true of most debates, the first head-to-head between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden probably didn’t change any minds.

But it did change the betting lines.

Following the nearly two-hour ordeal, BoyleSports issued an update on the state of the race in the eyes of bettors. Their read: Bet on Biden.

The former VP now has 8/13 odds to win the election. That’s a dip from the 5/6 odds he enjoyed heading into the debate, but he’s still faring better than Trump, who now finds himself underwater in another measure.

The oddsmaker said Biden’s reactions to Trump’s frequent interruptions — including calling the President a “clown” and telling him to “shut up”— helped bolster his standing among bettors.

“Following their shouting match in Ohio, punters were more impressed with Biden which has resulted in Donald Trump being eased out to 11/8 from even money,” BoyleSports spokeswoman Sarah Kinsella said.

“We have been here before however and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Trump secure another four years, but he will have to start winning over some support.”

Coronavirus Numbers

Positive cases:

— 698,051 FL residents (+1,880 since Tuesday)

— 8,465 Non-FL residents (+68 since Tuesday)

Origin:

— 5,784 Travel related

— 254,989 Contact with a confirmed case

— 6,081 Both

— 431,197 Under investigation

Hospitalizations:

— 44,108 in FL

Deaths:

— 14,486 in FL

Evening Reads

“Commission to make changes in wake of 1st debate” via The Associated Press

“An epic moment of national shame: The debate was an embarrassment for the ages” via John F. Harris of POLITICO

“Why Donald Trump resorted to torching the debate” via Ryan Lizza of POLITICO

“How Trump’s evidence-free attacks on elections damage the Republican Party” via Benjamin Ginsberg of The Washington Post

“NBC News to hold town hall with Joe Biden in Miami” via Dareh Gregorian via NBC News

“Early surge of Democratic mail voting sparks worry inside GOP” via Amy Gardner and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post 

“‘Biden’s gonna show up.’ Chaotic first debate won’t nix Miami meeting with Trump” via David Smiley of the Miami Herald

“Republicans plead with Trump to hit white supremacists harder” via POLITICO

“Brad Parscale’s 2020 campaign spending was under scrutiny and he was falling out of favor with his boss in the months leading up to his Sunday meltdown” via Tim LoBianco and Elvina Nawaguna of Business Insider

“In 2020 election, Florida felon voting limits could sway state outcome” via Coulter Jones and Jon Kamp of The Wall Street Journal

“State reports 174 new COVID-19 deaths, including 11 in Northeast Florida” via the staff of The Florida Times-Union

“‘Super healthy’ college student dies of rare COVID-19 complications” via Shawn Hubler of The New York Times

“New laws on license plates, veterans, shark fins the books” via Jim Turner of The News Service of Florida

“Can LeBron James use Pat Riley’s own blueprint against him?” via Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer

Quote of the Day

“We’ve had Disney parks open since July. We allowed them to do it earlier, they just wanted that time. They’re still not allowed to operate in California. I mean, after all this time, even though as they opened in Florida, infections have gone down tremendously, they’re still not able to operate in California.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, comparing his reopening plan to California’s

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