Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The political committee behind a proposed abortion rights amendment said it will have submitted 1.4 million petition signatures by the end of the year.
“Floridians have shown that they want to see this initiative on the ballot,” Floridians Protecting Freedom Campaign Director Lauren Brenzel said in a news release.
“We’re doing a final push and asking everyone who has not yet signed and submitted their petition to get them into the campaign by December 22nd. The state has until Feb. 1, 2024, to validate petitions, and we’re confident we’re going to submit enough petitions to get on the ballot.”
The abortion rights referendum, if it makes the ballot and earns at least 60% support in the November 2024 election, would prohibit any law limiting the ability to obtain an abortion before fetal viability — generally between 20 and 25 weeks into a term — or if an abortion is “necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”
Florida currently has a 15-week abortion ban. The ban could be tightened to six weeks if the state Supreme Court rejects a legal challenge arguing that the 15-week ban violates the state constitution’s right to privacy clause.
To make the ballot, proposed constitutional amendments must gather 892,523 verified petition signatures — a number tied to 8% of voter turnout in the most recent presidential election. Amendments must also hit the 8% threshold in a majority of Florida’s 28 congressional districts.
Floridians Protecting Freedom has 753,762 verified petition signatures. It has crossed the threshold in eight congressional districts, according to the most recent data from the state Division of Elections, updated weekly.
The campaign raised more than $8.9 million through the end of the third quarter and poured most of the money into signature-gathering efforts. It started in October with about $118,000 in the bank.
Floridians Protecting Freedom said voters who want to submit a petition signature can mail them to Post Office Box 4068, Sarasota, FL 34230. The petition form is available on the committee’s website.
Evening Reads
—”Ron DeSantis promised to ‘drain the swamp’ in Florida. But his record on medical marijuana raises questions” via Steve Contorno, Scott Glover, Randi Kaye and Nelli Black of CNN
—“Why DeSantis and Nikki Haley attack each other more than they attack Donald Trump” via Stephen Gruber-Miller and Katie Akin of the Des Moines Register
—”DeSantis’ latest attack on Haley claims she really just wants to be Trump’s Vice President” via Hannah Demissie and Will McDuffie of ABC News
—”Feds ‘deeply alarmed’ after 360,000 Florida kids lose Medicaid, insurance coverage” via Caroline Catherman of the Orlando Sentinel
—”Florida’s complicated cost of living explained in four charts” via Teghan Simonton of the Tampa Bay Times
—”More Hispanic families are reaching the middle class” via Tim Henderson of Stateline
—”Tales of Central Florida’s Lake X: Secrecy, man camp, beauty queen, outboard motors and more” via Kevin Spear of the Orlando Sentinel
—”Canada is promoting child care for $10 a day. Could it work in the U.S.?” via Rachel M. Cohen of Vox
—”The humanities have sown the seeds of their own destruction” via Tyler Austin Harper of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“Make no mistake: We will put abortion on the ballot in 2024, and we will take back the rights they stole.”
— Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, on FPF’s announcement.
Put It on the Tab
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes are included in case the Cocktail Codex falls into the well.
Betting markets now give DeSantis lower odds to win in 2024 than VP Kamala Harris. However, anyone willing to put their money behind either candidate would do better spending it on a One Percenter.
Order three Nature Boys and one Nature Girl for DeSantis and the Cabinet for approving a new conservation easement covering more than 1,500 acres at 4L’s Ranch in Southwest Florida.
We would like to remain ignorant about what “sewage garlic” is, so please buy U.S. Sen. Rick Scott a Seal’d Lips so he stops talking about it.
The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for a broad swath of North Florida, but there’s a silver lining: Floridians finally have an excuse to enjoy some hot cocktails!
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Gators tip with Wolverines
The Florida Gators aim for their fourth straight win as they travel north to face Michigan tonight (7 p.m., ESPN).
Florida (7-3) has lost games to Virginia, 13th-ranked Baylor and Wake Forest, none of them bad losses. As close as they have come to a signature win was beating Pittsburgh, topping Michigan would be a more substantial result for Todd Golden’s team.
Michigan is 6-5 this season, but the Wolverines have a more challenging schedule than Florida. They have also played without head coach Juwan Howard on the bench for most of the season. Howard had heart surgery in September and returned to the sidelines in time for a win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
Florida looks like a team that can improve and contend in the SEC as the season progresses. Walter Clayton Jr. leads the Gators in scoring and Riley Kugel is the most dynamic. Clayton is coming off a 22-point performance in Florida’s win over East Carolina.
Kugel struggled against the Pirates, making just one field goal. Peaks and valleys have marked Kugel’s season. He has scored more than 20 points three times but has also had four games in single digits. Kugel’s development toward better consistency will be one of the keys to Florida’s improvement and could be the key to the Gators’ chances to contend.
ALSO TONIGHT
7 p.m. — St. Louis Blues @ Tampa Bay Lightning
7 p.m. — NCAAM: Stetson Hatters @ Florida International Panthers
7 p.m. — NCAAM: North Florida Ospreys @ Florida State Seminoles
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
One comment
Heather
December 19, 2023 at 8:15 pm
The Florida Democratic Party is down to $276,627.63 before debts that are owed. Their payroll alone going to staff in October was $37,063. This does NOT include payroll taxes etc JUST the pay to employees. If they fundraised nothing and also spent nothing on anything other than paying employees’ they will be out of money within 7 months. At this rate, with taxes they owe, etc, they will be out of money WAY before then. FEC records should be reported on by Florida Politics. Nikki Fried is more worried about selling herself as a politician than getting people engaged and registered to vote.
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