Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Florida’s Attorney General is heading to the U.S. Senate.
On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Ashley Moody as his pick to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, whose confirmation as Secretary of State is imminent.
“I pledge to you as United States Senator supporting the REINS Act, supporting any effort to rein back in our out-of-control federal agencies, make sure politics have pushed out of it, make sure we bring down spending. I am all for that, and I got the backs of the American people, DOGE and President Trump,” Moody said in a news conference.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation, fueled partly by the Governor — DeSantis had signaled the pick would be a surprise and that onlookers were barking up the wrong tree but ended up sticking with one of the top names on the odds sheet.
DeSantis said U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack and Cory Mills, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and state Sen. Jay Collins, a Tampa Republican, were also considered.
Moody will take office after Rubio vacates his seat, which could happen as soon as Monday — the same day as Trump’s inauguration. DeSantis, who plans to attend the inauguration, hopes to see Moody sworn into the Senate on the same day.
Moody’s exit means another shuffle in the state Cabinet, but DeSantis isn’t drawing out the suspense — his Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier, will be appointed Attorney General.
“I think he’s got big shoes to fill, but I think he’ll do a good job doing that. So you can anticipate that. I’m not going to make any appointment before it’s available, but I think that’s something that will happen,” DeSantis said.
Should he choose to, Uthmeier could run for election in 2026 and re-election in 2030, holding onto the post for as long as a decade.
Evening Reads
—“Mood on Ashley Moody: GOP leaders welcome ‘conservative warrior’ to Senate” via Jay Waagmeester of the Florida Phoenix
—“‘Gov. Ron DeSantis has chosen wisely’: Florida reacts to Moody U.S. Senate appointment” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics
—“Stephen Miller, channeling Donald Trump, has built more power than ever” via Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, David A. Fahrenthold and Charlie Savage of The New York Times
—“Joe Biden’s dark valedictory” via Rick Wilson’s Substack
—“The warning Biden issued in his farewell, explained.” via Amber Phillips of The Washington Post
—”Trump allies eye last-ditch effort to save TikTok” via Alex Leary, Georgia Wells and Raffaele Huang of The Wall Street Journal
—”Florida’s ‘radioactive road’ could prove to be a good thing. Here’s why” via Graham Brink of the Tampa Bay Times
—“America just kinda, sorta banned cigarettes” via Nicholas Florko of The Atlantic
—”The public’s fixation on celebrity wildfire victims has an unexpected benefit” via Aja Romano of Vox
—”David Lynch, visionary ‘Blue Velvet’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ director, dead at 78” via Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone
Quote of the Day
“I wanted somebody with a demonstrated record of delivering results. Talk is cheap.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, introducing Ashley Moody as his U.S. Senate pick.
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.
The Attorney General gets a Moving Day for making the jump to Washington. And save the recipe — we’re not sure, but she may need another one in a couple of years.
Assuming there’s no rug pull, order Uthmeier a Prosecutor to celebrate his new gig as Florida’s top cop.
DeSantis has a lot to say about Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and none of it good … perhaps a Flash Flood will remind him of when he abandoned his turf during a disaster.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Can the Gators bounce back?
After knocking off previously unbeaten and #1 ranked Tennessee and winning at Arkansas, the Florida Gators were upset on Tuesday in a home loss to Missouri. Florida tries to bounce back as the Gators host Texas on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Florida (15-2, 2-2 SEC) rose to #5 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week before the one-point loss to Missouri. Walter Clayton Jr. scored 28 points but made just three of nine three-pointers in the game as Florida’s 16-game homecourt winning streak was snapped.
Florida’s losses this season, to Missouri and Kentucky, have come in conference play after the team started the season 13-0 in nonconference games. The loss to Missouri dropped the Gators two games behind conference-leading Auburn and Ole Miss.
Clayton leads the Gators in scoring this season, averaging 17.8 points per game. He is one of four Gators averaging double figures. Alijah Martin (15.8 ppg), Will Richard (13.2), and Alex Condon (10.8) help to lead an offense averaging 86 points per game, tied for 11th best in the nation. Notably, the Southeastern Conference has four of the top 12 scoring teams in the country, with Alabama leading all teams at 89.5 points per game, just ahead of Kentucky (88.7 ppg) and Auburn (86.6).
Texas (12-5, 1-3) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-73 win at Oklahoma on Wednesday. The Longhorns’ three conference losses all came to ranked teams, then-#13 Texas A&M, #2 Auburn and #1 Tennessee.
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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.
