Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida politics — Week of 7.9.23

With Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign continuing to struggle, a New York Times report says Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch is beginning to question whether the Florida Governor is the man to take down Donald Trump.

We forecasted that such a shift could happen in March, when DeSantis’ waffling on the war in Ukraine earned rebukes from Murdoch’s media empire.

“DeSantis could be risking large support from the Murdoch media empire — which his team has almost surely courted behind the scenes for months as his Fox News appearances have surged — just to roll the dice that he’s aligned himself with the more passionate wing of the GOP on this issue,” we wrote at the time.

That surely isn’t the only reason that Fox News has been less enthusiastic about his candidacy in recent months. But the point of that analysis was that a) DeSantis is relying on Murdoch’s support to topple Trump and b) political miscalculations could lead to that alliance, cultivated by DeSantis’ team, eventually weakening.

Well, as DeSantis has continued to struggle in the polls of the 2024 contest, The New York Times reported Murdoch is hoping Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin enters the contest, lest he be stuck with Trump as the GOP nominee.

Other reporting from The Hill also explained the GOP strategists have begun to look elsewhere for a Trump alternative.

This is not the end for DeSantis. We haven’t even had a single Primary debate yet. But it shows that his insurgent bid to wrest the GOP base from Trump’s grasp is on increasingly shaky ground.

Voting doesn’t begin until January, but DeSantis will need to grab some momentum back well before then. Can a campaign that has seemingly had wrong-headed impulses from the get-go figure out a way to right the ship? Or will DeSantis go the way of Jeb Bush and Scott Walker before him?

Now, it’s on to our weekly game of winners and losers.

Winners

Honorable mention: State Farm. Florida’s home insurance market is continuing to deal with massive shake-ups (more on that later). But rather than depart the state or pull back coverage, State Farm is recommitting to offering plans to Florida residents.

“State Farm plans to continue our substantial presence in the Florida insurance marketplace. Our current plans include a commitment to responsible growth so that we can maintain the financial strength to deliver on our promises to our customers,” State Farm spokesperson Roszell Gadson said in a written statement.

“We are encouraged by the recent insurance reforms and efforts to curb legal system abuse and we will continue to work constructively with the Florida Legislature and the Office of Insurance Regulation to improve the marketplace on behalf of our Florida customers.”

The news comes as proposals offered by Republican lawmakers in recent years have failed to stabilize the market, with another major provider, Farmers, announcing they are leaving Florida.

That move comes just weeks after Farmers and AIG announced they would scale back on coverage. And with hurricane season well underway, Florida appears to be left with one option: to knock on wood that none of those storms hit.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Erika Booth. Booth got another boost to her bid to succeed former Rep. Fred Hawkins in House District 35, as former congressional candidate Demetries Grimes dropped out of the GOP Primary and announced he was endorsing Booth.

“While it’s difficult to leave the race, I am convinced that, at this moment, my efforts and experience can be best applied in these other crucial areas,” he said, while announcing he would move to lobby Congress to fund research on cancer rates among military aviators.

Grimes also called Booth “the strongest candidate remaining that can keep FL 35 from flipping to Blue.”

Booth already secured support from future House Speaker Daniel Perez and the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee. Earning strong institutional support is usually a huge leg up in open Primaries such as these, and it appears at least one of her GOP Primary opponents has taken note.

The race for the GOP nomination still includes former congressional candidate Scotty Moore and flight attendant Ken Davenport. But this newest update just confirms the contest is Booth’s to lose.

The biggest winner: Bob Iger. The Walt Disney Co. extended Iger’s contract through 2026, adding two years to the CEO’s tenure after he returned to help the company following former CEO Bob Chapek’s departure.

The move keeps a steady hand atop Disney as the company continues doing battle with the state of Florida.

Just this past Friday, Disney moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state-run governing board, which argued Disney subverted the will of lawmakers by having the formerly Disney-controlled board pass last-minute agreements sapping power from the new board.

Disney now argues that suit is moot, as the state passed a law voiding those agreements. But Disney still has a federal lawsuit ongoing as well, where they challenge the underlying actions of state lawmakers and Gov. DeSantis.

But there are plenty of other issues ahead that Disney will have to deal with outside of its feud with Florida. In a revealing interview this week, Iger said the company would evaluate whether to sell ABC and other networks and said demands being made by striking writers — and now actors — weren’t “realistic.”

He also argued Gov. DeSantis has “encouraged “intolerance” and “hate,” but that Disney wants to stay out of the culture wars.

That’s plenty on Disney’s plate, and Iger is likely the best person to lead them forward.

Losers

Dishonorable mention: Homeowners. Yes, homeowners can appreciate the fact that State Farm isn’t bailing on Florida. But this week saw two significant negative news items regarding the state’s crumbling insurance market.

First, and most important, the aforementioned departure of Farmers. The company will stop offering home, auto and umbrella policies. That move will reportedly affect around 100,000 customers in the state.

“This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure,” read a statement from the company.

The move prompted some foot-stomping from Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, as well as a laughable attempt to rope in the issue of “wokeness” when discussing the company’s decision. But those remarks came off more as signaling to Floridians that state officials are mad and hoping to take action, without actually promising any changes that would help alleviate the situation.

We’ve noted in recent months when lawmakers have given big wins to the state’s insurance companies in order to hopefully entice those companies to stay and help provide stability to a market that has seen rates skyrocket. But that hasn’t stopped companies from pushing for rate increases and leaving Florida.

Well, both happened this week. In addition to Farmers leaving, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed insurer of last resort, requested a 13.3% rate increase. That’s down from the 14.2% increase Citizens floated three months back, but such a hike could still spell trouble for policyholders.

Republican lawmakers have argued it could take as long as two years to see some of the benefits from legislation they’ve passed recently. But Florida residents need help now. This is a far more important issue than whatever “woke” culture war item Republican influencers are chirping about on any given day. Hopefully, Republican lawmakers will treat it as such in the next Legislative Session.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Citrus farmers. Florida’s citrus season was its worst performing in nearly 90 years, with a combination of greening and the impact of Hurricane Ian decimating production.

That’s the takeaway from the final U.S. Department of Agriculture orange production forecast of the season. That report pegged this year’s orange production at about 15.9 million boxes, a far cry from just 25 years ago, when Florida farmers produced 244 million boxes.

Back then, Florida’s citrus farms had about double the acreage they do now, but that alone doesn’t explain the drop, which had been steady for years. The dual threat of citrus greening and the hurricane hurt those already declining numbers even more.

Still, Matt Joyner, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, argued there are reasons to be hopeful going forward.

“We continue to see advancements in breeding towards HLB tolerant and resistant trees, and the new treatment methods to combat citrus greening are proving effective,” Joyner said.

“The state invested significantly this year to support continued research, development of new varieties and citrus marketing. Legislation to provide citrus growers with hurricane relief is moving through Congress with the help of Florida’s congressional delegation. Florida growers are optimistic about the future of Florida’s signature crop.”

Whether that optimism will play out remains to be seen. But Florida’s citrus industry this year was a shadow of what it once was. And lawmakers need to strongly consider stepping in and doing more if they want to see a strong citrus industry return to the Sunshine State.

The biggest loser: Chris Dorworth. In April, Dorworth made a decision to sue Joel Greenberg in an attempt to reclaim his reputation. Dorworth argues the Greenberg sex crime charges ruined his career as well, as Greenberg made allegations connecting Dorworth to sexual activity with a then-underage girl.

He has denied any such allegations and is now filing suit against the parties involved in putting those allegations forward.

The problem, for Dorworth, is that in that lawsuit, he included as defendants the underage girl herself, as well as several of Greenberg’s businesses and Greenberg’s wife. Now, because he listed the young girl in question as a defendant, she has filed a response that directly alleges that Dorworth statutorily raped her.

As the Daily Beast referenced, Dorworth is exemplifying the Streisand effect. In suing to quash these allegations and attempt to rehabilitate his reputation, this lawsuit is now serving to bring these allegations to light.

Essentially, A.B. (whose initials are being used in court proceedings since she was underage at the time referenced in the allegations) and her legal team are arguing Dorworth does not have legal grounds to target her in the lawsuit because, they say, he did sleep with her while she was underage.

Her response also seems to confirm that her legal team did reach out last winter in an attempt to settle with Dorworth in an exchange for silence. Dorworth rejected such an agreement then, and continues to do so now while denying there’s any truth to her or Greenberg’s claims.

But if Dorworth’s goal is to get his good name back after resigning his position at Ballard Partners following the scandal, it appears he’s going to have to battle through months more of rehashing as this case moves forward.