Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida politics — Week of 4.20.25

Bills are dying.

With Session scheduled to end Friday — not! — it’s time to close the deal regarding several of the biggest bills this Session.

The future of several appears up in the air. A House bill on hemp that still differs from its Senate counterpart got postponed this week. Pensacola Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman, the bill’s sponsor, says it was due to “timing issues” and the bill will be taken up Tuesday, but we’ll see whether that explanation shakes out.

Then there’s the Rural Renaissance package, arguably the top priority of Senate President Ben Albritton. The Senate passed its version weeks ago, but now the House has sliced and diced it to attach various provisions to other, far more controversial bills. Now the Senate has to decide whether to play hardball and go along with those moves or demand the House take up the stand-alone bill.

And of course there’s a newly introduced tax package that has raised alarms across the state’s Tourist Development Councils. That needs to be settled as part of the Legislature’s budget negotiations, which don’t appear to be going great.

Several other bills — including measures to pick a new state bird, lower the minimum wage for interns and apprentices, and set new anchoring limits — are also dead or dying. That’s not to mention many other bills that were dead before they started, such as legislation on financial literacy, medical marijuana users, pregnant prisoners, bump stocks and more.

Lobbyists, lawmakers and legislative staff have a long way to go before they can enjoy that first post-Session drink.

Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.

Winners

Honorable mention: Richard Lara. Lara is the newest member of the Coral Gables Commission after winning a runoff for the Group 3 seat Tuesday.

Lara nearly won the seat outright on April 8, when he secured 47.3% of the vote. But since no one earned a majority, a runoff was called for this past Tuesday.

Lara was up against lawyer Tom Wells, who placed second in the original contest with 39.2% support. Lara won the runoff by a slightly larger margin, nabbing more than 55% support. Lara will now succeed former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who ran unsuccessfully for Mayor.

Mayor Vince Lago also deserves a mention here, as he earns an ally in Lara on a Commission that has often clashed with the Mayor. That includes Menendez, who will now be replaced by a Lago-endorsed candidate in Lara.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Byron Donalds. This week saw the Senate Democratic Leader and arguably the Democrats’ best shot at winning back the Governor’s Mansion in 2026 (if they have a shot at all) resigning his position as Leader and leaving the Democratic Party entirely to become an independent.

We’ll get into Sen. Jason Pizzo’s decision more in a bit. But one obvious winner emerged from this saga: Donalds, who remains the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination in the Governor’s race.

Given the results of the last two election cycles, we’re heavily skeptical Florida will, in one cycle, immediately slingshot back to being a swing state. Several cycles down the line, anything is possible. In the early 2010s, no one would have predicted that states like Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina would be as much as 10 points bluer than Florida.

But after back-to-back wins in the low to high teens statewide, Republicans are clearly in control here. This is a red state.

That doesn’t mean a Democratic win is impossible, but it would take a miracle. You know what you don’t want? Infighting among a top-ranking state legislator with big aspirations and the rest of the party.

But that’s exactly what the Democrats got this week.

Donalds still has a GOP Primary to get through (though with the backing of President Donald Trump and plenty other GOP heavy-hitters, it remains to be seen whether that will be a serious challenge). And if you squint, if Trump’s popularity plummets and the economy bottoms out, maybe the right Democrat could come along and deliver a big upset.

This week’s drama just made that a lot harder because if Pizzo follows through and runs as an independent, Democrats’ fire is going to be split.

And that gives Donalds even more room to kick back and rely on the state’s reddening lean to secure a win in November.

Florida Democrats: The gift (to Republicans) that keeps on giving.

The biggest winner: Capitol Press Corps. This week was a whirlwind in Tallahassee. From the aforementioned Pizzo decision to more battling over a $10 million donation to the Hope Florida Foundation to a continued stalemate between chambers that will cause Session to run long.

And as each and every one of these stories unfolded — stories that could have been dramatic, top-of-the-fold stories for days in previous Sessions — reporters covering the goings on in Tallahassee were working overtime to keep the public on top of what was happening.

The Hope Florida scandal has featured the most twist and turns and political clashes. Alexandra Glorioso and Lawrence Mower of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times were instrumental this week in breaking news that a draft agreement created in February 2022 argued Centene overcharged taxpayers by just over $67 million, the precise amount later agreed to in a 2024 settlement.

That sure sounds like all of that money belonged to taxpayers to make up for Medicaid overspending, and that the $10 million directed to the Hope Florida Foundation as part of the $67 million final settlement was not just a last-minute extra “cherry on top,” as Gov. Ron DeSantis has framed it.

Arek Sarkissian of POLITICO has also been on top of this story, this week reporting on a letter from Agency for Health Care Administration General Counsel Andrew T. Sheeran that sought to argue the $10 million donation was legal. That in turn generated a huge back-and-forth between DeSantis defenders and critics like Republican Rep. Alex Andrade.

And we here at Florida Politics also dedicated plenty of coverage to the scandal, from Gabrielle Russon covering the serious and ridiculous updates alike, to Jacob Ogles delving into some of the pushback against the House probe. That’s not to mention excellent coverage from the rest of our team on other major Session stories.

As a baseline, this time of year is hectic for those in The Process and those covering it. That’s exaggerated even more when big stories like this are moving at a breakneck pace. Credit to all of those busting their tails to keep the public informed.

Losers

Dishonorable mention: Nikki Fried. Yet another elected Democrat is leaving the party, and Fried is pointing fingers at everyone except herself.

Pizzo’s decision was unexpected and significant, given his not-so-secret desire to run for Governor. Dropping the party label altogether is a risky move that will either isolate Pizzo and restrict his ceiling of support, or allow him to make a case that attracts disaffected voters of both parties.

Pizzo explained his rationale during a surprise speech on the Senate floor.

“Here’s the issue: The Democratic Party in Florida is dead, but there are good people that can resuscitate it. But they don’t want it to be me,” Pizzo said, alluding to friction from fellow members regarding Pizzo’s stances on legislation this Session.

But he had more to say, arguing ridding himself of the Democratic Party label in Florida would be freeing.

“I am not in this position because of Democrats. I got elected because of NPAs, the 3.7 million people who have no party, who have no representation,” he said. “Stripping myself of a title of a party designation allows me to run free and clear, clean and transparent and help many, many more.”

Pizzo had plenty of criticisms of Republicans too, as he had during his tenure leading Senate Democrats. Certainly there is some political maneuvering here. No politician makes a decision wholly divorced from a political calculus. But Pizzo seemed to express genuine frustration with the political system and Florida Democrats’ own priorities that have found them in a massive deficit unseen in modern history.

That led to this remarkably petty statement from Fried.

“Jason Pizzo is one of the most ineffective and unpopular Democratic leaders in recent memory, and his resignation is one of the best things to happen to the party in years,” Fried said. “His legacy as leader includes continually disparaging the party base, starting fights with other members, and chasing his own personal ambitions at the expense of Democratic values.

“Jason’s failure to build support within our party for a gubernatorial run has led to this final embarrassing temper tantrum. I’d be lying if I said I’m sad to see him go, but I wish him the best of luck in the political wilderness he’s created for himself. The Florida Democratic Party is more united without him.”

Two things here that we think are important to highlight.

First, this was put out within minutes of Pizzo’s remarks. That means no reflection on what he said and why; and no self-reflection on why one of the top Democrats in the state is leaving the party irrespective of his stated reasoning. The Florida Democratic Party just immediately went into political attack mode because they’re worried a Pizzo independent run might sap Democratic support in 2026. It’s unsurprising, but did Fried consider the possibility that she’s proving the point about Democrats not having the right priorities?

You’ve gotten shellacked for two election cycles — one of which Fried led — so much so that the national Democratic Party is ignoring the state entirely. Maybe you want to put aside the partisan bickering and get your operation off life support.

Second, given Fried’s dismal performance last cycle outside of a few off-cycle races despite promise after promise that Democrats would surprise people, our first thought was this: If someone put out the same statement but replaced her name with Pizzo’s, where’s the lie?

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Stalled DeSantis nominees. Bills are dying. And so are appointments by the Governor.

The Legislature has repeatedly exercised its independence this year, from crafting its own immigration enforcement bill during Special Session, to overriding several of the Governor’s vetoes from last year, to the scrutiny surrounding Hope Florida.

Add to that list rejecting DeSantis’ nominees at a rate we have not seen his entire tenure.

It was confirmed this week that three — three! — of the Governor’s appointments to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees failed. Two of them — Scott Yenor and Gates Garcia — withdrew from the process entirely once they saw the writing on the wall. A third, Adam Kissel, went forward and got shot down in committee.

He can be reappointed, but will then face the same process again next Session. And a second failure means DeSantis has to pick a new nominee.

In fact, that was the case with two more of DeSantis’ nominees, this time to the Commission on Ethics. The Senate declined to take up the nominations of Moms for Liberty founder Tina Descovich and Figgers Communications CEO Freddie Figgers for a second straight Session. DeSantis renominated both after last year’s failure. But now, they must both resign by the end of Session, and DeSantis has to select someone different.

That’s in addition to the Senate refusing to confirm Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris or Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch. DeSantis may reappoint both. But former Republican Rep. Joel Rudman, another DeSantis ally, withdrew his name as a Pensacola State College Trustee after hitting a similar roadblock.

It appears in the Free State of Florida, the Senate is again free to tell the Governor to buzz off regarding these appointments. How far the mighty have fallen.

The biggest loser: The Process. In case we haven’t made it crystal clear, all hell broke loose this week in Tallahassee.

A Senator quitting as Leader, lawmakers arguing a Governor-backed charity committed a crime, the budget at a complete standstill forcing an extended Session.

What happened to the good ol’ days of the legislative and executive branches just working in lockstep and everything moving smoothly?

We are kidding, of course. We’ve repeatedly welcomed independence regarding disputes within parties and between branches. And politics needs more of that.

But the pendulum this Session has swung aggressively in the opposite direction, leading to a lot of upheaval in the Capitol.

Take the budget talks. Until this week, Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez had mostly appeared to be simpatico when it came to exercising a bit more independence.

But even they seemed at odds after Albritton announced that budget disagreements between the chambers would lead Session to run long.

Perez took offense to the public negotiating, saying that he would have preferred budget negotiations remained private. Albritton in his remarks defended the Senate position. Perez responded by saying the Senate plan included “pathological overspending.”

What will happen at the tail end of Session is anyone’s guess. But we imagine most members of The Process are ready to get off this wild ride.