Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Joe Biden’s odds of winning Florida’s 29 electoral votes are surging, according to the oddsmakers at BoyleSports.
The outfit said Thursday that the former Democratic Vice President now has 8/11 odds of winning the Sunshine State, up from 5/6 odds the day prior.
As far as the election itself, BoyleSports says Biden has a two-thirds chance of beating Republican President Donald Trump, whose odds have slipped to 13/8 overall and even in Florida.
The Trump-Mike Pence ticket started the week at 11/10 nationwide.
In Ohio — arguably the second-most consequential swing state on the map — Biden and Trump both have 10/11 odds of netting its 18 electoral votes.
Trump rebuffed the idea of an online debate Thursday, insisting the format change would benefit Biden, and his campaign has already moved on with plans to hold a rally when the Oct. 15 debate would have been held.
BoyleSports says the gambit isn’t likely to pay off and could even cause his chances of a rebound to diminish further.
“The second TV debate is up in the air but from the trends we’re seeing, Trump’s opposition to a virtual duel is doing him no favors,” BoyleSports spox Lawrence Lyons said.
“His odds are gradually on the slide and Biden is coming in for his strongest support to date as the 1/2 front-runner from 5/6 this week.”
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There won’t be a presidential debate in Miami next week, and Trump says a virtual debate won’t cut it.
Instead, the President said his campaign will hold a rally. If he wants to hold an event in Miami-Dade, however, he has a hurdle to clear.
A complaint filed by attorney Daniel Uhlfelder in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit is asking the court to block any such event — or debate, for that matter — because Trump has COVID-19 and he has downplayed the virus’ danger throughout the pandemic.
“His attendance at the town-hall debate while infected with the deadly virus, accompanied by a huge entourage of infected and/or exposed individuals, along with the likely huge mass of unmasked exposed and infected individuals emboldened by his disregard for safety precautions at the debate represents an extreme danger to the Miami-Dade community and Plaintiffs,” the complaint reads.
Uhlfelder is representing a half-dozen Miami-Dade residents who live and work near the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where next week’s debate would have been held, and some of whom have had friends and family contract the virus.
The lawsuit also names the Arsht Center and the Commission on Presidential Debates as defendants.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 717,148 FL residents (+3,246 since Wednesday)
— 8,865 Non-FL residents (+60 since Wednesday)
Origin:
— 6,092 Travel related
— 265,465 Contact with a confirmed case
— 6,455 Both
— 439,136 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 45,259 in FL
Deaths:
— 15,254 in FL
Evening Reads
“The vice presidential debate was boring. Good. We need more of that.” via Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post
“Where Kamala Harris succeeded and Mike Pence failed” via James Fallows of The Atlantic
“An exclusive interview with the fly from the debate” via Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post
“Donald Trump says he won’t participate in virtual presidential debate” via Eliza Collins and Michael C. Bender of The Wall Street Journal
“Federal judge weighs Florida’s voter registration deadline” via Bobby Caina Calvan of The Associated Press
“Antibody treatment Trump touts relied on testing with cells derived from fetal tissue” via Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post
“How the White House flouted basic coronavirus rules” via Lauren Leatherby, Amy Schoenfeld Walker, Larry Buchanan and John Keefe of The New York Times
“An exclusive interview with the fly from the debate” via Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post
“Trump doesn’t know why crime rises or falls. neither does Biden. Or any other politician.” via Maggie Koerth and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux of FiveThirtyEight
“Florida adds 3,306 coronavirus cases, 170 deaths” via Natalie Weber of the Tampa Bay Times
“Democrats propose plan to improve Florida’s unemployment benefits, process” via Lawrence Mower of the Miami Herald
“13 charged in plots against Michigan government, Gretchen Whitmer” via Dave Eggert and Ed White of The Associated Press
“Donald Trump Jr’s ‘Fighters against Socialism’ bus tour is back on” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Jobless claims up as layoffs continue” via News Service of Florida
“Pinellas County Schools report record COVID-19 numbers” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics
Quote of the Day
“Are you seriously taking the position that if it shut down for hours, and 50,000 or 60,000 people don’t get to register, that’s a minor thing? For the life of me, I don’t understand that argument.” — U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, on the state’s argument regarding the voter registration website collapse.
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