Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
It’s official. Former Sen. Blaise Ingoglia has been sworn in as the state’s new Chief Financial Officer.
Florida Supreme Court Justice John Couriel gave the oath. Ingoglia’s wife, Julie, held the Bible during the ceremony in the Florida Capitol’s Cabinet Room.
Gov. Ron DeSantis turned to a trusted longtime ally to fill the Cabinet position left vacant after Jimmy Patronis resigned to run for Congress.
For MAGA supporters, it was a controversial choice. President Donald Trump had endorsed former Republican Party of Florida Chair Joe Gruters for the position.
DeSantis pushed back with strong words, saying Gruters had a “linguini spine.”
“If George Washington rose from the dead and came back and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Will you appoint Joe Gruters CFO?’ my response would be, ‘No, I can’t do that without betraying the voters that elected me,’” DeSantis said at a press conference last week.
On Monday, DeSantis continued to defend his CFO pick, praising Ingoglia for his willingness to fight and his strong conservative track record on issues such as parental rights, the Second Amendment, and other key concerns.
Calling Ingoglia one of Florida’s most fiscally conservative lawmakers, DeSantis said his new CFO will be utilizing his enhanced powers to audit local government spending.
Read more on Florida Politics.
Evening Reads
—”This is the presidency John Roberts has built” via Peter M. Shane of The Atlantic
—”How Donald Trump killed cancer research” via Elisa Muyl and Anthony Lydgate of WIRED
—”Democrats’ 2024 autopsy is described as avoiding the likeliest cause of death” via Reid J. Epstein and Shane Goldmacher of The New York Times
—”What we know about Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein” via Andrew Prokop of Vox
—“Why Stephen Colbert got canceled” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—”In 1965, the government tried replacing migrant workers with high-schoolers. It was a disaster.” via Petula Dvorak of The Washington Post
—”A Florida county fought a homeowner’s Trump flags on a beach house. The flags won” via Richard Fausset of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
—”Florida told school libraries to yank ‘pornographic’ books — most had never been checked out” via Steven Walker of the Orlando Sentinel
—”UF hires 20 new faculty for civic education school at Gainesville campus” via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics
—”Conservationists push to ‘finish the job’ of protecting Okefenokee from mining” via Leon Stafford of the Florida Phoenix
Quote of the Day
“You are not going to see anyone fight harder for the taxpayer, for the consumer, than I will, and I’m planning on hitting the ground running.”
— CFO Blaise Ingoglia, at his swearing-in.
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 he’s officially CFO, Blaise Ingoglia can trade the Gin & Tonic for a Gin & Cabinet.
With all the new professors on campus, UF is going to need another copy of The Faculty Lounge: A Cocktail Guide for Academics.
Florida farmers are getting $675M in hurricane relief cash from the feds — hopefully that’s enough to handle the job and buy a few Harvest Times.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Marlins try to stay hot at home
The Miami Marlins open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres tonight at loanDepot Park as Miami tries to stay within striking distance of the National League wild card race (6:40 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network Florida).
Miami (46-52) sits seven and a half games out of the final wild card spot after taking two of three from the Kansas City Royals to open the second half of the season. Over a longer stretch, the Marlins have won 15 of the last 22 games dating to June 22.
All-star Kyle Stowers leads Miami with a .295 batting average, 21 home runs and 59 runs batted in.
Eury Perez is scheduled to start tonight. The 6-foot-8 right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.18 earned run average. He has won his last three starts behind an average of nearly 10 runs per game. In the three starts, Perez has surrendered one earned run.
San Diego (54-45) occupies the final wild card spot entering play tonight. The Padres have won six of the last 10 games, including taking two of three in Washington against the Nationals following the All-Star Break.
If the Marlins are to climb into the wild card race, they will do so mainly on the road. After the home series against San Diego, Miami will play the next six games away from South Florida, with road trips to Milwaukee and St. Louis scheduled.
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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.
