Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
It has only been a couple of months since Donald Trump was viewed as a narrow favorite to retake the White House, but his stock plummeted after Republicans disappointed in the Midterm Election.
A “red wave” did hit Florida, propelling Gov. Ron DeSantis into a second term and providing the GOP with supermajorities in the state House and Senate.
However, Democrats managed to hang on to the U.S. Senate and are expected to lose the U.S. House by a hair — currently, 217 seats have been called for Republicans; 218 seats are required for a majority.
Bookmakers.com says the GOP’s middling performance can be viewed as a referendum on Trump, especially since many of the candidates he supported underperformed compared to non-Trump-backed Republicans.
As a result, oddsmakers now say President Joe Biden is more likely to win re-election than Trump is to win a potential rematch. But Biden doesn’t have the best odds.
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis … is now seen as the GOP front-runner for 2024, should he choose to take up that mantle,” Bookmakers.com spokesperson Darren Hughes said.
The bookmaker says DeSantis is sitting in No. 1 with +200 odds to win the presidency in two years, which equates to a one-in-three chance. Biden follows at +350 (22% implied odds) while Trump’s at +450 (18% implied odds).
Evening Reads
—“Why Ron DeSantis is a major threat to Donald Trump’s re-election” via Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight
—“Where Trump and DeSantis actually disagree” via Dylan Scott of Vox
—“DeSantis wants to ‘chill out’ 2024 speculation” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“The Republican reaction to Trump: A few endorsements, and a lot of crickets.” via Maggie Astor of The New York Times
—“So, is Trump really toast, or what?” via Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate
—“In text messages, coordinators of DeSantis migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard reveled in plotting surprise political stunt” via Samantha J. Gross of The Boston Globe
—“Rick Scott fails in attempted ouster of Mitch McConnell” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
—“As medical marijuana industry grows, Gov. DeSantis changes leadership in state marijuana office” via Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics
—“911 dispatchers overlooked, miss out on $1K bonuses from Gov. DeSantis” via Katie Delk of Fresh Take Florida
—“South Florida Democrats call for rethinking strategy” via Anne Geggis of Florida Politics
—“After election loss, Janet Cruz says she’s running for Lynn Hurtak’s Tampa City Council seat” via Ray Roa of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
—“Dave Chappelle was right” via Yair Rosenberg of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“We just finished this election. People just need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, on 2024 chatter.
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