Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped by Ulele Restaurant and Brewery today, but he wasn’t there for an early lunch.
The Tampa restaurant served as the stage for a pair of big-time General Election endorsements for the Governor’s re-election campaign.
The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association was the first course, with FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover lauding the incumbent Republican for “keeping hotels and restaurants safely open and operating when other states shut down.”
“Gov. DeSantis’ leadership saved countless jobs and businesses across our state and has enabled our industry to thrive once again. He understands the critical role that hospitality and tourism play in our state’s economic vitality, and we are confident he will continue to do so in his second term as Governor,” she said.
DeSantis responded, “Our restaurants and hotels have done better than anyone expected just a couple years ago. By keeping the state open, Florida has experienced record-setting tourism, our labor force growth outpaces the nation, and we have achieved record levels of unemployment and job creation. Florida continues to prove that the Freedom Agenda works.”
The Florida Retail Federation also chimed in with an endorsement.
“Florida retailers are grateful for the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Governor has remained committed to keeping Florida open for business and has enabled the retail industry to overcome these challenging times and prosper. We are proud to provide our endorsement of his campaign,” said Scott Shalley, FRF’s President and CEO.
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Florida Politics’ comprehensive post-Primary Winners & Losers column went up last night. But, as always, you should consider it a living document.
We’ve added a bundle of late additions to the pile. Here’s a sample — and if you want the full course, be sure to click through here.
WINNERS
Americans for Prosperity — Their grassroots army may as well be led by Stormin’ Norman with the number of easy wins it racked up, but Brian Thiele is a good substitute. U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack and Maria Salazar cruised — as expected — but they also deployed to CD 15 and pounded the pavement for Laurel Lee, who made two sitting lawmakers with cash in the bank look like a couple of tomato cans.
Duval Schools — Superintendent Diana Greene, Board Chair Darryl D. Willie, and the rest of the members of the Duval School Board deserve a shoutout for helping get another school tax referendum across the finish line. Getting one through is an accomplishment — they did that in 2020 — but it was a tougher sell this year. In the end, it got an OK with 53% of the vote.
Eric Johnson, Brendan Olsen — This duo is going to need a bigger trophy case. They had a hand in races up and down the ticket in South Florida, landing assists on the winning campaigns for Jared Moskowitz in CD 23, Hillary Cassel in HD 101 and Kelly Skidmore in HD 92. Johnson racked up a couple more via Michelle McGovern’s PBC Commission bid and Jordan Leonard in HD 106, while Olsen also snagged a W on Lori Alhadeff’s Broward School Board re-election bid.
LOSERS
Matt Van Name — He was on Team Crist in 2014 and stuck around for a bit afterward before throwing a hissy fit after he didn’t get the Chief of Staff job. Then he had the bright idea to hop on board Team Fried this cycle. That ship sunk, and there’s no sign of land, Captain.
Michael Ahearn — As the saying goes, “Those who can, do, those who can’t, teach.” Well, swap out teach for consult and that sums up Ahearn’s bid for Broward County Judge. After dumping a lot of cash into his candidacy, this longtime judicial campaign consultant only managed to get 20% of the vote in a three-way race.
Amy Rose — Hopefully, the checks Sharief wrote her cleared, because her reputation as a campaign consultant took a beating last week. Chances are, big-name campaigns won’t be signing her on anytime soon, either, because being a top-level staffer on the losing side of a nasty Primary race isn’t exactly a resume builder.
Evening Reads
—“Ron DeSantis’ first voter fraud bust is quickly imploding” via Mark Joseph Stern of Slate
—“North Florida is the latest front in DeSantis’ war on voter fraud” via Tristan Wood of City & State Florida
—“Trump family dunks on DeSantis: You’re ‘stealing’ our bit!” via Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone
—”Review of possibly privileged Donald Trump papers already over” via Eric Tucker of The Associated Press
—”The rising cost of Republicans’ investment in Trump” via David Frum of The Atlantic
—“DeSantis looking to oust Sheriff Gregory Tony? He gets to replace him if he waits til after Sept. 5” via Dan Christensen of Florida Bulldog
—“Aftermath of FL Primary: One candidate narrowly wins after recounts; another won’t accept defeat” via Issac Morgan of the Florida Phoenix
—“Voter registration numbers suggest six congressional districts could be in play” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics
—“Florida residents set to pay for insurance failures throughout 2023” via Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics
—”Orlando Sentinel sues agency for evidence in ‘ghost’ candidate probe” Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel
—“Serena Williams’s unimpeachable serve” via Amy Lundy of FiveThirtyEight
Quote of the Day
“The concerning thing to me is that a private citizen has to put their name out there, but the people that are getting paid to do their job, they did next to nothing. The people who were getting paid to protect us and safeguard the voter rolls and the databases were totally asleep at the wheel.”
— Mark Glaeser, on the recent voter fraud crackdown.
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