Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida politics — Week of 7.7.24

One of the weirdest ongoing storylines this Florida election cycle may be getting some clarity, with a hearing now scheduled between House District 106 candidates Joe Saunders and Maureen Saunders Scott.

Our own Jesse Scheckner has some excellent reporting on this entire saga. But to briefly catch you up: Scott is Joe Saunders’ estranged aunt who is attempting to run under the name “Moe Saunders” in a spoiler bid as Joe Saunders seeks to oust Republican Rep. Fabián Basabe.

It brings back memories of 2020, when a ghost candidate named Alex Rodriguez garnered more than 6,000 votes as incumbent Democratic Sen. José Javier Rodríguez lost his re-election bid by just 34 votes to now-Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican.

This time, “Moe Saunders” has just one letter different from the Democratic candidate’s name. But to be clear, there’s no evidence yet of a behind the scenes effort to prop up her effort, as there was in 2020.

Still, Joe Saunders is suing, arguing that Scott is violating state law by appearing under the name “Moe Saunders.”

The Florida Department of State thus far has failed to offer any clarity on why Scott’s name change was approved. Scott herself also failed to offer much substance in an interview with Florida Politics, which she declined to even hold over the phone.

She mostly answered questions about her policy proposals in platitudes and seemed to confirm reported bad blood between herself and Joe Saunders, which she says stems from him and other family members covering up sexual abuse she suffered from someone else in the family.

That history, however tragic, still doesn’t make Scott’s name switch valid. Perhaps this Aug. 1 hearing can clear some things up.

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

Winners

Honorable mention: Amy Mercado. Mercado is staying on as Orange County Property Appraiser after an opponent who planned on challenging her dropped out.

Mercado is a former House member who was first elected as Orange County Property Appraiser in 2020. This cycle, she was readying to take on real estate broker Kevin Pribell, who qualified to run against her in the Aug. 20 Primary. Pribell had previously sued Mercado over a dispute over her valuation of one of his properties.

But Pribell filed papers to withdraw from the contest on Jul 8, allowing Mercado to secure re-election by default.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to continue serving the people of Orange County,” Mercado said in a statement.

“My main priority is still the same, and that is the production of fair, equitable, and transparent valuations of the over 450,000 parcels we have. We are a small yet mighty team.”

One of the greatest feelings in politics is celebrating a big win on Election Night. An even better feeling is finding out that you won without even having to run a contested campaign in the first place.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Campaign consultants. Election season is, obviously, always a boon for political consultants. But this year in Florida is set to be especially bountiful.

A report from AdImpact estimates that political spending in Florida will eclipse $464 million this cycle. That’s a massive increase of nearly $69 million in the group’s latest revised estimates for this cycle.

But unlike some other states experiencing an increase in projected spending, Florida isn’t as likely to see a competitive contest in its presidential or Senate contest.

So what gives? Well, according to a summary of the AdImpact study by The Center Square, it’s the high-profile referendums in Florida this November that are driving the surge in spending.

That’s little surprise, with ballot initiatives that would protect abortion rights and legalize marijuana gaining plenty of attention in the Sunshine State. Democrats are hoping that turnout in favor of those proposed amendments — particularly the one on abortion — could help them compete in parts of the state where support has slipped over the years.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been drumming up support to oppose those amendments, while the backers of those respective initiatives are trying to bring in big bucks to convince at least 60% of voters to approve them and amend Florida’s Constitution.

With that will come plenty of ads and other outreach, sure to enrich those working on either side of these campaigns.

Turns out Florida as a red state still has plenty of high-stakes contests to keep the state’s consultants swimming in cash.

The biggest winner: Florida GOPers. Florida’s Republican heavy hitters will be well represented at the Republican National Convention, with several power players securing significant slots at the event.

After some reports that DeSantis was denied a speaking spot at the convention, reports emerged that he would indeed speak at the event, where Donald Trump is set to be formally nominated as the GOP standard-bearer.

Things, of course, got nasty between DeSantis and Trump during the 2024 GOP Primary, where DeSantis launched what Trump viewed as a disloyal challenge to his bid to be the Republican presidential nominee for the third straight cycle.

Despite Trump’s vicious and at times emasculating attacks against DeSantis, the Governor recognized the writing on the wall and endorsed Trump as soon as his own campaign fizzled out. And it appears that calculus — which DeSantis is surely using to keep his future political career alive — is working.

But while DeSantis’ RNC status gained the most attention, many other Republican leaders will be in the spotlight in Milwaukee.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also reportedly snagged a speaking slot at the convention. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis will hold a kickoff event Monday evening in Milwaukee. Other Cabinet members, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, will be in Milwaukee as well, with Simpson hosting a “Sunshine State Shindig” to welcome Florida’s delegation.

Sen. Joe Gruters, a longtime Trump ally, will chair the RNC Convention Credentials Committee. VP short listers U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds will also be at the convention. And U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, whom Trump attempted to Primary earlier this year, is also scheduled to attend after Trump backed down and endorsed her for re-election.

The convention will begin Monday, so keep an eye out for Florida’s leaders as you tune in. They will be hard to miss.

Losers

Dishonorable mention: The Colliers? Did the wealthy family trick the state into buying a toxic patch on conservation land?

That’s the allegation from whistleblower Sonja Eddings Brown, who formerly worked with Parker Collier before being fired.

The Colliers deny the accusation. But a stunning report from the Fort Myers News-Press and Naples Daily News details Brown’s claim that part of a $30 million area of land sold to the state is toxic.

The area used to house the C.J. Jones Lumber Co., a steam milling operation, which closed nearly 70 years ago. The state ordered the Colliers to clean the land. But that didn’t happen, according to a lawsuit filed by Brown against the family citing harm to her income and reputation following her firing.

“Mrs. Collier falsely told Brown that the creosote contamination, which she said had happened a long time ago, had been cleaned up. And despite knowing that Brown would be interacting with President Donald Trump and senior White House and campaign staff, as well as Governor Ron DeSantis and his senior team, regarding the acquisition, she told Brown not to discuss the creosote during her meetings,” according to the report’s summary of lawsuit documents.

Brown also cites analysis from a physician she says is an expert in water contamination, who said some water from the land “will produce adverse health effects for those using that water.”

But Ernie Cox, a lobbyist who helped close the sale, joined the Colliers in denying the suit’s allegations.

Time will tell whether this is a spurned employee lobbing unsubstantiated allegations, or whether the state just got fleeced. But the claims here are serious enough to give a detailed look at them and make sure this land is what the Colliers say it is.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Department of Health. DOH recently dealt with a cyberattack targeting its Office of Vital Statistics, and now information stolen in the ransomware attack has reportedly been published online.

The hack affected the agency’s ability to provide birth and death certificates, and stolen information reportedly included dates of birth, social security numbers and even patient health data.

This is the second time a state agency has been targeted by hackers this year, with the Department of Juvenile Justice facing an attack that started in late March.

But several other high-profile attacks have targeted Florida in recent years. A hack of the Oldsmar water treatment system in 2021 generated headlines. And in 2019, news broke that Russians hacked two Florida voting systems during the 2016 election.

Gone are the days of masked men barging into banks. Today’s criminals out for a buck are carrying out these sorts of digital attacks, often taking hold of systems in demand for ransom money, hence the “ransomware” moniker.

Florida agencies appear to be behind the times and dropping the ball when it comes to protecting residents’ data.

The biggest loser: Anna Paulina Luna. Luna’s push to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt failed as she pushed to punish Garland for failing to turn over audio tapes of President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

Those interviews took place as Hur looked into Biden’s possession of classified documents, for which Hur declined to charge Biden. But the report contained references to Biden’s faulty memory, prompting House Republicans to pounce for more information.

Garland and the executive branch turned over written transcripts of those interviews. When Republicans demanded more, the White House claimed executive privilege. That prompted Garland to decline the GOP’s request, arguing that the written transcripts contained a full report of Biden’s remarks, and that Republicans only wanted audio for the purpose of waging attacks against the President in an election year.

Some Republicans argue that the proper recourse is to take Garland to court for defying a subpoena. But Luna and other hard-liners argued — correctly, to be fair — that the legal process would likely stall out and go nowhere, especially given the executive privilege claim.

So she turned to the “inherent contempt” process, which had not been used by Congress in nearly 90 years. That would allow Congress to fine, or even jail, an individual defying their requests.

Realizing she had no shot at garnering enough support to jail the sitting Attorney General, Luna opted to push for a daily fine of $10,000 for each day Garland failed to comply. But even that went too far for some of her Republican colleagues, as four of them joined Democrats in shooting down the effort.

Republicans can talk all they want about worrying about Biden’s ability to operate the government. But this was a political ploy, plain and simple.

And it’s not as if there aren’t plenty of signs of Biden’s decline out there (we all watched that debate). He’s been stumbling and bumbling for years now. Going so far as to threaten the Attorney General with stunningly steep fines just to add a few more audio clips to the Biden oppo file is a bit cartoonish.

The only thing more cartoonish is trying to do so and failing.