Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Special Elections beget Special Elections.
Florida law requires state lawmakers to resign their current posts as they run for newly opened congressional seats. In the case of members of the Legislature, those seats must also be filled via Special Elections.
Special Elections have already been called in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz quit for a since-aborted nomination for Attorney General, and in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz will soon vacate his seat to be White House National Security Adviser.
In both seats, party Primaries will be held on Jan. 28, with a Special General Election set for April 1.
As of now, it looks like there will be at least two specials: While Rep. Michelle Salzman nixed her campaign for CD 1, fellow Panhandle Republican Rep. Joel Rudman, who represents HD 3, is forging ahead. Meanwhile, Brevard County Sen. Randy Fine is leaving his seat — which he has held for only a matter of weeks — to mount a campaign in CD 6.
Dates for the state legislative specials haven’t been set yet, but Secretary of State Cord Byrd has confirmed they won’t be held concurrently with the Congressional elections.
“They will not be on the same timeline,” Byrd told Florida Politics. “The Governor will have to issue EOs (executive orders) for those races. Once he does, we can then work out the timelines, which will be similar to what has been issued for CD 1 and 6.”
Evening Reads
—“Donald Trump tied migrant entries and fentanyl to tariffs. Here are the facts.” via Justine McDaniel and Nick Miroff of The Washington Post
—“Dems call on Joe Biden to limit weed prosecutions before Trump takes over” via Nikki McCann Ramirez and Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone
—“Elon Musk wants $2 trillion of spending cuts. Here’s why that’s hard.” via Justin Lahart and Rosie Ettenheim of The Wall Street Journal
—“Can Trump impose tariffs without Congress? His proposals, explained.” via Justine McDaniel and Nick Miroff of The Washington Post
—“Trump’s tariff plan is an inflation plan” via Ellen Ioanes of Vox
—“Trump won about 2.5M more votes this year than he did in 2020. This is where he did it” via Thomas Beaumont, Maya Sweedler, Parker Kaufmann And Humera Lodhi
—“Pam Bondi charmed her way from Tampa’s courthouse to the White House” via Dan Sullivan of the Tampa Bay Times
—“Anthony Sabatini says Trump ‘barely knows what’s going on’ when endorsing candidates” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
—“Thanksgiving should be in October” via Ellen Cushing of The Atlantic
—“How to think about Thanksgiving like a food historian” via Lila Thulin of Berkeley News
Quote of the Day
“Although we need better people in Congress … with 63 days until the Primary, I don’t have enough time to run due to my current trial calendar & County Commission schedule.”
— Anthony Sabatini, declining a run for the CD 6 Special Election, giving Florida yet another reason to be thankful.
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.
Mix up a Capitol for Sen. Randy Fine, who is ditching the state Senate seat he just won to run in Florida’s 6th Congressional District.
The three candidates who rethought their CD 1 runs after Jimmy Patronis jumped into the race get a Wise Men (change that to a Wise Woman for Rep. Michelle Salzman).
Catching crooks with a pocket full of doubloons doesn’t happen every day, so help the top-tier gumshoes at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission celebrate their recent bust with a Dragnet.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Heat in spotlight in NBA Cup
The Miami Heat plays at home in the Emirates NBA Cup, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
The competition is in its second year after debuting last season. Tonight’s game marks the start of group play, in which three groups of five teams in each conference play to advance to the single-elimination knockout round.
Miami (1-1 in Cup play) is in East Group B along with the Bucks and Detroit Pistons, both 2-0, and the 0-2 Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers. If Milwaukee beats the Heat tonight, Toronto would be eliminated from contention.
On the other hand, a Heat win would keep every team in the group alive for now.
Miami sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings after splitting 14 regular season games. The Heat have won their last two games, including a 123-119 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Tyler Herro has been the most effective player for the Heat so far this season. Herro averages 23.8 points and 5.1 assists per game, both team highs.
After fighting some injuries this season, Jimmy Butler returned to the lineup, scoring 30 points or more in wins over the Philadelphia 76ers and leading the team with 33 in the victory over the Mavericks.
___
Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
