Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Sen. Corey Simon and Democratic challenger Daryl Parks squared off in their one and only debate ahead of the Senate District 3 election, and a prominent libertarian-conservative group says there was a clear winner.
Shortly after the head-to-head, moderated by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout and hosted by the Capital Tiger Bay Club, Americans for Prosperity-Florida said Parks didn’t have a “real plan” to address instability in the property insurance marketplace.
AFP-FL also gave the GOP incumbent props for standing “side-by-side with North Florida as we repair and recover from multiple storms and will continue to provide information on resources for those in need.”
Meanwhile, the pro-free market group — which largely, but not exclusively, supports Republican state legislative candidates — painted Parks as a candidate of “partisan politics and dividing us” as opposed to Simon, who “has worked across the aisle with Democrats and fellow Republicans to pass a balanced state budget that provides tax relief for all Floridians.”
“Today, Sen. Simon demonstrated his proven record of representing the needs of Tallahassee in the Legislature. He is a stronger choice with a clear vision for Florida, unlike Daryl Parks, who does not offer serious solutions to our greatest challenges,” said Skylar Zander, a senior adviser to AFP-FL.
“Sen. Simon has the experience needed to continue to reform our insurance market, keep our economy growing, and usher in restoration after a difficult storm season. We need Sen. Simon in office to continue defending North Florida values and we celebrate his debate victory today.”
The Simon vs. Parks race is arguably the most competitive state legislative contest this cycle and offers Democrats their most realistic “flipportunity” in the upper chamber this year. And although a victory in the Tallahassee-based seat wouldn’t break the GOP’s supermajority heading into the 2025-26 term, it would put the party in a far better position ahead of the more competitive lineup of seats up for grabs in 2026.
In 2022, Simon narrowly won election over then-incumbent Sen. Loranne Ausley in what was considered a huge upset — Senate District 3 had been under Democratic control since 2012 and Democrats had been averaging 65% of the vote over that 10-year stint.
A confluence of factors was in play two years ago. Ausley ran a so-so campaign, and the lack of enthusiasm for the Democrats’ nominee at the top of the ticket did her no favors. Simon’s status as an FSU legend — a standout on the Noles’ 1999 title team — and the moderate air he exuded on the campaign trail were enough to get him the W two Novembers ago.
Although Parks doesn’t have a Natty ring to his name, he’s far from an unknown. He’s a small-business owner, father, and a graduate of FAMU, where he served as SGA President, all while working in fast food to pay his tuition.
Parks also has close ties with Ben Crump, a nationally recognized civil rights lawyer often called the “Attorney General of Black America.” Parks is a lawyer in practice, having earned his JD from FSU, and is known for representing the Martin family following the infamous slaying of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford in 2012.
Evening Reads
—”How Hurricanes Helene and Milton could affect the 2024 Election” via Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight
—“Donald Trump breaks down onstage” via David A. Graham of The Atlantic
—”With Trump facing threats, security and politics intersect as never before” via Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Julian E. Barnes, Eileen Sullivan, Kate Kelly and Devlin Barrett of The New York Times
—”The 34 zaniest lines from Trump’s interview with Maria Bartiromo” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—”Suddenly, the Electoral College Is posing a problem for Trump” via Mark Joseph Stern of SLATE
—”Are Democrats really ‘losing’ Latino voters?” via Christian Paz of Vox
—”In a Michigan city, Kamala Harris has failed to catch fire with Black men” via Michael Brice-Saddler of The Washington Post
—”Harris fights to counter Trump’s appeal with Black men” via Tarini Parti, Ken Thomas and Vivian Salama of The Wall Street Journal
—”Harris needs weird voters” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—”My brother, Eddie Van Halen: Alex Van Halen tells all” via Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone
Quote of the Day
“I’m proud to announce that the authorities have identified the dog’s former owners and State Attorney Suzy Lopez is now pursuing animal cruelty charges against the individual, so we said you’d be held accountable, and you will be held accountable.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, breaking the news every animal lover in the state has been waiting to hear.
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 included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Innocent until proven guilty and all, but we would love the opportunity to snag State Attorney Suzy Lopez a Crime and Punish-Mint after she wraps up what (fingers crossed) we expect to be a slam-dunk case.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state and subsidiary agencies have upheld their commitment to punish the ne’er-do-wells who are exploiting the tragedy of Hurricane Milton. Give a cheeky thank you to your local lawmen and women by ordering them a Daylight Robbery … once they’re off duty, of course.
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for (well, at least some of us have been waiting for): Stone crab season is here! There are few things as tasty as a chilled claw with the traditional mustard sauce, but The Citrus Infused Stone Crab Martini is a close No. 2.
We don’t want to jinx it, but pencil in Memorial Day 2025 as the day Orlando’s theme park scene will get its biggest expansion in decades. So big, in fact, it calls for two drinks — an Epic and a Universe.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Lightning finally host home opener
The Tampa Bay Lightning host the Vancouver Canucks tonight in an early-season matchup (7 p.m. ET, Bally Sports Sun).
The Lightning have played just one regular season game, a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Saturday’s home game against Carolina was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. The win came courtesy of a third-period hat trick by Nikita Kucherov, who scored a pair of power-play goals and an empty netter to put the game away.
The Lightning left Florida for Raleigh, North Carolina, last Monday and stayed on the road until after Friday’s win.
Vancouver has opened the season with consecutive losses. First, the Canucks fell to the Calgary Flames 6-5 in overtime, then they lost a 3-2 shootout against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Last season, the Lightning and Canucks split a pair of games with Tampa Bay winning 4-3 at home and losing 4-1 on the road.
Last season, Tampa Bay earned a playoff spot but were eliminated in the first round by their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers. The Panthers went on to win the Stanley Cup championship.
The offseason was busy for the Lightning as they saw Steven Stamkos, 34, the team captain and face of the franchise, sign with the Nashville Predators. To replace Stamkos, the Lightning traded for forward Jake Guentzel from the Hurricanes and signed him to a seven-year $63 million contract.
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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.
