Last Call for 12.9.24 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

State Rep. Susan Valdés is switching political parties, dumping Democrats in favor of the GOP.

Valdés announced her switch in a post on X. The move came less than a week after Valdés lost a bid to chair the Hillsborough County Democratic Party. Members instead voted for Vanessa Lester, despite Valdés having major backing from local elected officials and unions. Lester was seen as the more progressive choice to lead the party through a period of rebuilding.

Now, Valdés said she “will not waste” her final two years in office — this is her final term before term limits bar her from running for re-election. In a lengthy statement, Valdés lamented that the Democratic caucus’ “leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community” and claimed that she had been ignored.

Her party change is effective immediately.

Valdés continued that she was “tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress.”

“I know that I won’t agree with my fellow Republican House members on every issue, but I know that in their caucus, I will be welcomed and treated with respect,” she said.

The party swap is well-timed for Valdés since she cannot run for re-election to her current House seat. Valdés represents House District 64, which covers West Tampa, Town ’n’ Country and surrounding areas. The district has a significant voter registration advantage for Democrats, with more than 32,000 voters registered to the Democratic Party compared to just under 25,000 for Republicans. More than 25,000 are registered without party affiliation, but Valdés won the district this year with more than 52% of the vote against a GOP challenger.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—”The 34 must-see lines from Donald Trump’s ‘Meet the Press’ interview” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—“The bizarre normalcy of Trump 2.0” via Jonathan Chait of The Atlantic

—”LGBTQ+ Americans stockpile meds and make plans to move after Trump’s win” via Maham Javaid and Casey Parks of The Washington Post

—”How old is too old to be President? Democrats still don’t want to say.” via Katie GlueckReid J. Epstein and Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times

—”The failed rebrand of Kamala Harris” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin

—“Randy Fine-filed bill would repeal waiver allowing undocumented immigrants in-state tuition” via Jay Waagmeester of the Florida Phoenix

—”Joel Rudman files open carry bill before departing to run for Congress” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics

—”State Attorney Andrew Bain refuses to help Democratic successor’s transition” via Skyler Swisher and Silas Morgan of the Orlando Sentinel

—”Too many people are killed by supersized cars. This new rule could help.” via Marin Cogan of Vox

—”How an app selling secondhand clothes went from near collapse to worth $5 billion” via Trefor Moss of The Wall Street Journal

Quote of the Day

“I will not waste my final two years in the Florida Legislature being ignored in a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community.”

— Rep. Susan Valdés, switching parties from Democrat to Republican.

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.

Pour now-Republican Rep. Susan Valdés a Red Team Margarita for flipping sides for her final term.

Exiting State Attorney Andrew Bain gets a Sore Loser for refusing to help Monique Worrell transition back into her duly elected office.

Rep. Joel Rudman gets a sip of Ammunition on his way out of the door for filing an open carry bill in the House.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

College football transfer portal is open

No Florida teams are in action this evening, but college football staff are hard at work as the NCAA winter transfer portal opened today and will remain open through Dec. 28.

During the nearly three-week stretch, players can change schools as they wish. 

Florida will lose at least a dozen players to the portal, including freshman wide receiver Andy Jean and edge rusher Justus Boone. Jean caught six passes for 97 yards in the 2023 season but played only one snap in 2024. Boone recorded 10 tackles and half a sack this season. 

Florida State will lose at least six players to the portal, including senior defensive back Omarion Cooper and senior wide receiver Deuce Spann. Cooper had three interceptions in his first two seasons but none in the last two. Spann caught two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman but only two receptions in the past two seasons. Both have one year of eligibility left.

Miami reserve junior quarterback Reese Poffenbarger has entered the transfer portal. In September, Poffenbarger played in the Hurricanes’ 56-9 win over FAMU, completing six of seven passes for 20 yards. He transferred from Albany to Miami after two seasons as the starter for the Great Danes, throwing 60 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 26 games.

Players who enter the portal can still return to their previous schools, although it is rather rare.

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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.