Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Democrats nationwide have had a week to evaluate their decisions and lackluster performance in last week’s election.
Did the party veer too far right or too far left? Did the campaign distance itself from Joe Biden enough or too much? The internal division has begun as people are forced to look inward.
The City Commission races in Tallahassee are a microcosm of those and other questions Democrats are mulling nationwide, and the Tallahassee Institute for Politics is taking a deeper look into how those contests played out.
TIP released its first “White Paper” this week covering the Seat 1 and Seat 2 races for the Tallahassee City Commission. Among the four candidates, all were Democrats. The report is full of finger-pointing and accusations of favoritism by some organized groups.
An example: Seat 1 candidate Rev. Rudy Fergusen filed a complaint with the Florida Democratic Party, accusing the county party of taking sides in the race. TIP’s report found dozens of social media posts endorsing or favoring one Democratic nominee over another, with one post stating, “When we endorse a candidate, we mean it.”
The Leon County Democratic Party, whose Chairman is Ryan Ray, also supposedly coordinated with a private political action committee, One Tallahassee, to recruit volunteer workers for their preferred candidates. Incumbent Commissioner Curtis Richardson claimed he was “very disappointed” with all the infighting and division.
The full report is available here.
Evening Reads
—“Marco Rubio officially tapped as Secretary of State” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—”How Donald Trump went from deriding ‘Little Marco’ to nominating Rubio for Secretary of State” via Zac Anderson and Antonio Fins of USA TODAY
—”Trump picks Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General” via Sadie Gurman and C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal
—”On Midterms’ hints, down-ballot Republicans and the race for the House” via Nate Cohn of The New York Times
—”‘MAGA is pissed’: Trump faithfuls out for blood after Rick Scott loses Senate Majority vote” via Josh Fiallo of The Daily Beast
—”GOP Sens. bristle at Trump’s Pentagon pick: ‘Makes no sense’” via Tim Dickinson, Asawin Suebsaeng and Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone
—”What Trump can (and probably can’t) do with his trifecta” via Russell Berman of The Atlantic
—”Could Trump actually get rid of the Department of Education?” via Ellen Ioanes of Vox
—“‘People are begging’: Trump admin wannabes vie for jobs in White House” via Natalie Allison and Olivia Beavers of POLITICO
—”How one woman became the scapegoat for America’s reading crisis” via Helen Lewis of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“If we find out you didn’t vote Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader, we will absolutely Primary the s – t out of you.”
— Conservative activist Joey Mannarino, following the Senate Majority Leader vote.
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.
Now that it’s official, you’ve got the go-ahead to order U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio an SOS.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz will enjoy an Attorney Privilege once he takes over the top job at the Department of Justice.
There’s no “better luck next time” cocktail, so Florida’s junior Senator will have to settle for a Better Luck Tomorrow now that his second bid for Senate Majority Leader fell short.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Magic try to stay unbeaten at home
The Orlando Magic will try to remain perfect at home as they host the Indiana Pacers (7 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network – Florida).
Orlando (6-6) has won all five games played at the Kia Center this season, including wins over New Orleans, Washington, and Charlotte over the past week. However, Orlando will again be without leading scorer Paolo Banchero, who has a torn oblique muscle and is expected to miss at least another month.
The Pacers (5-5) are coming off a win over the New York Knicks in a game that saw Bennedict Mathurin and Tyrese Haliburton combine to score 73 points. Mathurin made a career-high seven three-pointers as he set a personal record with 38 points in the win.
This is a top defensive team matchup against a potent scoring team. Orlando leads the league in defense, allowing just 104.8 points per game. They are the only team in the NBA to surrender fewer than 105 points per contest. The Pacers are eighth in the league, scoring 116.2 points per game.
The game is the fourth straight at home for the Magic, who will host the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday before heading west for a game in Phoenix against the Suns and two in Los Angeles against the Clippers and Lakers.
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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.
