| | | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Presented by Florida Education Champions | Hello and welcome to Wednesday. Leverage — So now with the 2022 elections showing that Democrats have serious problems across the nation, does that bolster the position held by Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy? Stepping up — Murphy has emerged as a leading critic of the mess in Washington, D.C., as the haggling over President Joe Biden's social spending package and infrastructure bill has dragged on for months. And she is now among a small group of moderates who is threatening to delay a vote on the social spending bill until lawmakers have a better handle on its cost. "I feel like I have an obligation to reflect the voices of districts that don't look like the majority of our caucus," she told POLITICO's Sarah Ferris. Critical of Biden's moves — Murphy also wasn't pleased that Biden went along with progressives and agreed to a delay on his infrastructure bill as the negotiations over the larger spending framework continued. "He took what would have otherwise been a historic, bipartisan win and turned it into a partisan cudgel against his own party," Murphy said. Holding out — But Murphy also maintains that Biden's agenda could help Democrats hold onto power — a much more dubious proposition given what just happened in Virginia and elsewhere — but that's why she has continued to question the $1.75 trillion social spending bill. "No amount of money can overcome bad policy. And so no amount of messaging, no money spent, can overcome messaging that is inconsistent with what constituents want." — WHERE'S RON? — Nothing official announced for Gov. DeSantis. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com | | | | A message from Florida Education Champions: Florida voters demanded their voice be heard on the issue of expanded gambling. Our amendment does just that allowing the people to vote to authorize sports and event betting at professional sports venues, pari-mutuel facilities and statewide via online sports betting platforms. The benefit is that hundreds of millions of dollars generated from tax revenues must go to supplement public school funding through Florida's Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. Learn more and sign the petition. | | |
|  | ELECTION ROUNDUP | | NOT SETTLED YET — The Democratic primary for the seat once held by the late Rep. Alcee Hastings appears all but guaranteed to head to an automatic recount. The last update posted overnight shows that Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness and separated by just 9 votes. The two candidates each had just under 24 percent of the vote late Tuesday night in a contest that attracted 11 candidates. It could be days before the election result is final. | 
A woman campaigns outside a polling place for Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo | FIGURING IT OUT — "Democratic primary for Hastings' Florida seat likely headed for recount," by POLITICO's Gary Fineout: The primary election did not receive a tremendous amount of attention, but drew a wide field, including three state legislators as well as current and former local elected officials. But the result of Tuesday's race showed that having money and name recognition helped while being a member of the Florida Legislature didn't guarantee success. Cherfilus-McCormick, who owns her own health care company and mounted an unsuccessful primary challenge to Hastings two years ago, put roughly $4 million of her own money into her campaign, allowing her ads to air before her competitors. Holness is a county commissioner and former Broward County mayor who is well-known in the county. — "Holness or Cherfilus-McCormick will replace Alcee Hastings," by Sun Sentinel's Anthony Man and Angie DiMichele THE BIG PICTURE — "5 things we learned from Republicans' big night," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard and David Siders: If Tuesday's elections were the first concrete readings of political conditions since Joe Biden became president, Democrats may be headed straight into a hurricane. A slim, come-from-behind victory in bright-blue New Jersey would qualify as good news for Democrats from this election — and that's bad news for them looking forward. Democrats' House and Senate majorities look more vulnerable than ever. And for Republicans, the results from New Jersey, Virginia and in local races elsewhere fueled their already-rosy outlook for the 2022 midterms. MOMENTUM — "Miami mayor Francis Suarez reelected in landslide victory," by Miami Herald's Joey Flechas: "Miami Mayor Francis Suarez won reelection Tuesday night, handily defeating lesser-known opponents to earn his second four-year term as the figurehead of South Florida's most populous city — and position himself to look beyond Miami's boundaries. …The mayor delivered a prepared victory speech that touched on local initiatives, such as the construction of the Underline and reducing homelessness. He also spoke about a commitment to create a local government model that can be scaled up and replicated across the U.S. — comments with undertones of a stump speech on the national campaign trail. 'Today we embark on a new chapter, a journey together to finish what we started, to create the most fair and successful city in our country,' Suarez said. HISTORY MADE — "Ken Welch is victorious in St. Petersburg mayoral race," by Tampa Bay Times' Colleen Wright: "[Ken] Welch had already declared victory earlier in the night, just 16 minutes after polls closed and before all precincts were counted. He comfortably won 60 percent of the vote against opponent and City Council member Robert Blackmon. Welch's watch party at the outdoor space of the museum quickly became a victory party. 'This election has made history in St. Petersburg,' Welch said. 'And it is my distinct honor to be the first African American mayor of my hometown.'" AVOIDS RUNOFF — "Steve Bovo rides political experience, Trump endorsement to become mayor of Hialeah," by Miami Herald's Aaron Leibowitz: "[Esteban 'Steve'] Bovo, who was previously a county commissioner and state representative with Hialeah residents among his constituents, received endorsements from the top tier of the Republican Party — including from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. At his victory party Tuesday at Hialeah Park Casino, he was flanked by local Republican leaders including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, state Sen. Rene Garcia and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose 'Pepe' Diaz." — " Lisset Hanewicz wins in District 4 race, becomes first Hispanic on Council," by Tampa Bay Times' Romy Ellenbogen — "Manatee County elections: Voters approve schools tax extension that helps back teacher pay," by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Ryan McKinnon | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | |
| | DATELINE D.C. | | WARNING — "Stephanie Murphy's defiant long game to keep Dems in power," by POLITICO's Sarah Ferris : Rep. Stephanie Murphy wasn't always the kind of centrist Democrat willing to publicly take on the leaders of her own party. That's changed in the narrowest House majority in decades. Murphy has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of President Joe Biden's chaotic attempts to clear both his infrastructure and social spending plans through Congress, embracing a blunt manner that's made her a spokesperson of sorts for her party's small but feisty moderate wing. SMART PLAY? — "Dems vow to plow forward on Biden agenda, even after election faceplants," by POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago, Laura Barrón-López: Joe Biden suffered his first major political lashing as president Tuesday. But even as Democrats were processing a battering in the Virginia governor's race and the uncomfortably close gubernatorial election in New Jersey, the White House and officials across the party pledged to forge ahead with the twin pillars of the president's domestic agenda. Several made the case that Tuesday's results only added to the pressure for them to do so. | | TOP TALKERS | | CONFRONTATION — "University of Florida professors vow to resist school's order in voting rights case," by POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury: Three professors blocked by the University of Florida from providing expert testimony in legal challenges to the state's controversial GOP-backed voting bill are fighting back. University of Florida professors Daniel Smith, Sharon Austin and Michael McDonald said Tuesday in a statement that they won't comply with the school's order barring them from giving testimony. Their statement comes after the university softened its initial stance and said that the professors can provide expert testimony as long as they do it pro bono and on their own time. GATOR NATION — "UF restricted five other professors' participation in legal cases against the state," by Miami Herald's Ana Ceballos and Mary Ellen Klas: "Last year, four University of Florida law professors who wanted to sign a 'friend of the court' brief in a lawsuit challenging a new felons voting law were told that they could not identify themselves as university faculty members in the filing because it involved 'an action against the state.' In August, university officials told a UF professor of pediatrics that he couldn't work on two cases challenging the state's ban on mask mandates because participating in lawsuits against Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration would 'create a conflict' for the university." WEIGHING IN — "'Muzzling' of faculty puts UF outside academic mainstream, Democrats say," by Tampa Bay Times' Divya Kumar: "In continued fallout over the University of Florida's attempt to prohibit three professors from testifying in a case about voting rights, Democrats from the state's congressional delegation expressed their 'profound disappointment' with the school in a letter Tuesday to UF president Kent Fuchs. The letter said UF had tried to 'muzzle professors' in a way that positions it 'firmly outside the mainstream of elite academic institutions.' Allowing the professors to testify, the letter said, would not be harmful to the university's interests as the professors had been told." — "UF, seeking status in academia, is blasted by its own faculty leaders," by Tampa Bay Times' Divya Kumar | | | | A message from Florida Education Champions:   | | |
| | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | ON THE WAY — "Chair: Florida House redistricting maps coming 'soon,'" by POLITICO's Matt Dixon: Florida House Redistricting Chair Tom Leek (R-Ormond Beach) said that the first draft of his chamber's new political maps will be available "soon," but said he has no set time frame for their initial release. After a Tuesday meeting of his committee, he said new draft congressional and legislative maps will be made public in "the near future" but did not provide more specific dates. Leek noted a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis for the week of Nov. 15 could impact the map timelines. RIFT — " Senate Democrats reopen feud with rules rewrite allowing expulsions," by POLITICO's Bruce Ritchie: State Senate Democrats on Tuesday voted to rewrite their caucus rules to allow the expulsion of members for "violating a caucus position or impugning the integrity of the caucus." The rule rewrite reopened a feud between state Sen. Lauren Book (D-Plantation), the caucus leader, and state Sen. Gary Farmer (D-Fort Lauderdale), who was removed as Democratic leader last April. But Book and state Sen. Lori Berman (D-Lantana), the caucus rule chair, said on Tuesday a rules overhaul was overdue. BY THE NUMBERS — "Sprowls' new $200M home book program draws 30K students," by POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury: A massive $200 million reading program created by Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls to mail out possibly millions of books every year has enrolled some 30,000 students since getting off the ground last month. With the first book deliveries set to go out in December, the New Worlds Reading Initiative is sitting at about 5 percent capacity among the estimated 545,000 students eligible in kindergarten through fifth grade, University of Florida officials told House lawmakers on Tuesday. OBJECTION — "Fried asks DEP, Interior to oppose oil drilling," by POLITICO's Bruce Ritchie: Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday asked the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to reject a proposed oil drilling permit in Collier County. Fried sent a letter Tuesday to state DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton and Shawn Benge, deputy director of operations at the National Park Service, asking them to block the state permit application by Trend Exploration LLC. "For decades, it has been clear that oil drilling, fossil fuel exploration, hydraulic fracturing, and related processes are highly detrimental to their surrounding environments," Fried wrote. SPOTTED — Dozens of friends and coworkers and others in the process gathered on Tuesday evening on the five-floor balcony of the Tallahassee offices of Ballard Partners to celebrate the life of Greg Turbeville, a mainstay of the firm and former top aide to then-Gov. Jeb Bush who died in June 2020. Former Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Brian Ballard , former Florida State University President and former House Speaker John Thrasher, FSU professor and former chief of staff for Gov. Rick Scott Steve MacNamara were among those who gave remarks. Others on hand included: Florida Supreme Court Justice Carlos Muñiz, State Sen. Jason Brodeur and Christy Daly Brodeur, former House Speakers Tom Feeney and Steve Crisafulli as well as many members of the Ballard firm including Carol Bracy, Ana Cruz and Jan Gorrie. | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | |
| | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | The daily rundown — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 2,000 Covid-19 infections on Monday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 1,901 hospital beds were being used in the state for Covid-19 patients. VOICES CARRY — "Sides battle over former Florida surgeon general's testimony," by News Service of Florida's Jim Saunders: "A Leon County circuit judge is weighing whether former Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees should be required to testify in a public-records case that seeks COVID-19 data from the state Department of Health. The Department of Health is seeking to block an attempt by plaintiffs' attorneys to question Rivkees during a deposition or potentially during a hearing scheduled to start next week." KEEPING SCORE? — "Fried says DeSantis' call for session to block vaccine mandates is 'political stunt,'" by USA Today Network-Florida's John Kennedy: "Saying his call for a special session to block vaccine mandates is a 'fabricated political stunt,' Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis for summoning lawmakers to the Capitol this month to defy President Joe Biden. DeSantis wants lawmakers to meet beginning Nov. 15 to prohibit an expected federal vaccine requirement from affecting Florida employers. Fried, however, accused the Republican governor of calling the session primarily to appeal to a conservative voting base hostile to the Democratic White House." — "Florida Democrats criticize special session on vaccination mandates," by News Service of Florida's Jim Turner | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | OUTSPOKEN — "Lake Elections Supervisor Alan Hays to GOP election-fraud claims: PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!'" by Orlando Sentinel's Stephen Hudak: "Irritated by Lake County Republican leaders who want a forensic audit of the 2020 vote and who allege the 'entire election system is fraught with flaws,' Elections Supervisor Alan Hays — a long-time member of the GOP — posted a rebuttal on his official website Tuesday, demanding they 'PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!' 'As an election professional, I find it disturbing that some of our citizenry continue to promote a narrative that is unsubstantiated in fact or example,' he wrote. 'It begins with the unrelenting desire to believe that an election was 'stolen,' and that 'the vast majority of us witnessed (this) on election night 2020.'" END OF THE LINE — "Florida firefighter pleads guilty for role in Capitol riot," by The Associated Press: "A Florida firefighter who was photographed inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot by loyalists of former President Donald Trump pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge on Tuesday. Andrew Williams changed his plea in Washington federal court, according to court documents. He faces up to six months in prison at a Jan. 27 hearing. A plea agreement requires Williams to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation of the attempted insurrection." | | | | A message from Florida Education Champions: Monopoly.
It's not just a board game, but a bad business practice that flies in the face of free market principles and competition.
When one entity owns and controls the market on any business, Floridians lose. And who else loses? In this case, Florida public education.
Florida Education Champions' amendment authorizes hundreds of millions of dollars generated by its passage and implementation to go directly to supplement Florida's Educational Enhancement Trust Fund – without raising taxes.
By signing the Florida Education Champions petition, you can demand the ballot question be asked to allow Floridians, 21 and older, to use their favorite online sports betting platforms and ensure any new revenue MUST go to increase education funding in Florida.
Competition. Free Market. More Options. Education Funding.
That's what will be on the November 2022 Florida ballot, with your help. | | |
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | BIRTHDAYS: State Rep. Susan Valdes … University of Florida President Kent Fuchs … former state Rep. Delores D. Hogan Johnson … former state Sen. Jack Latvala
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