News: POLITICO Florida Playbook: The Florida GOP suddenly has a fight on its hands

Friday, March 25, 2022

POLITICO Florida Playbook: The Florida GOP suddenly has a fight on its hands

Mar 25, 2022

Good Friday morning.

Fast As You — Well, apparently having millions of dollars stashed in campaign bank accounts and an endorsement from former President Donald Trump aren't enough to clear a path for Senate President Wilton Simpson.

Little Ways — In a move sure to churn tales of palace intrigue, U.S. Army veteran Chuck Nadd — whose homecoming to Winter Park from a tour in Afghanistan was captured in a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial — on Thursday all but said he's running for agriculture commissioner as a Republican.

Ain't That Lonely Yet — Yes, there are two other GOP candidates in the race, but Nadd's expected entry in April is likely to bring a lot more attention. Mere mention of Nadd's candidacy was already getting some shoutouts on social media from some conservative Republicans.

This Time — Nadd himself gave POLITICO a statement where he made it clear he plans to hit Simpson from the right. The 32-year-old former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who went to Harvard ripped into to him over guns and immigration and called him a "shill" for the sugar industry. He also contended that Simpson hasn't been a strong enough supporter of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose — Simpson did not respond last night to the news directly. But his campaign is already out with a digital ad that prominently mentions both his endorsement from Trump as well as the National Rifle Association and, oh, Simpson driving in his truck. (The ad also has a couple of whoa nelly exaggerations, like saying Simpson stopped "limousine liberals" from pushing a state income tax. Um, what? When did that happen? It takes a constitutional amendment by the way because there's already a ban on an income tax.)

I Hear You Knockin' — It will take time to see how far Nadd's campaign will go, but he's already got some experienced campaign types ready to work with him once he makes it official. And then there's the question of the governor. DeSantis just wrapped up a really successful legislative session thanks to the help of both Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls. But he and his staff also got crosswise a couple of times with Simpson this year and the governor isn't happy about the congressional map legislators drew up.

You're the One — There are those in the DeSantis' orbit that say the governor had nothing to do with Nadd's pending candidacy, but it isn't stopping the chatter — and it's leading to lots of speculation about what could happen in a potential redistricting special session. But what is clear is that there is going to be some drama on the Republican side in the months ahead.

— WHERE'S RON? — Nothing officially announced for Gov. DeSantis.

THE COUNT: It's been 21 days since the Florida Legislature approved a new congressional map but it still hasn't been sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has promised to veto the map.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com

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CAMPAIGN MODE

BRING ON FLORIDA MAN — "Biden: I would be 'very fortunate' to run against Trump in 2024," by POLITICO's Myah Ward: President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would be "very fortunate" if he were to face off against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Addressing reporters at a press conference in Brussels — where the president is meeting with NATO, G-7 and European allies for emergency talks aimed at ending Russia's war on Ukraine — Biden broke with the longstanding norm that presidents don't talk about domestic politics while abroad. "In the next election, I'd be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me," Biden said.

PRIMARY FIGHT — "Florida Army veteran and star of Bud commercial poised to challenge Simpson," by POLITICO's Gary Fineout: The race for a spot on Florida's Cabinet appears headed to a bruising Republican primary, pitting Senate President Wilton Simpson against Chuck Nadd, a former Black Hawk pilot and an Afghanistan veteran whose homecoming was detailed in a well-known Budweiser Super Bowl commercial. Rumblings about Nadd's possible entry into the race for agriculture commissioner have been building for weeks. Nadd, in a statement to POLITICO on Thursday, acknowledged he is strongly considering jumping into the contest and accused Simpson of failing to show enough support for Gov. Ron DeSantis.

April 1, 2021

Senate President Wilton Simpson talking to reporters inside the Senate chambers. | Gary Fineout/POLITICO

JUST STOPPING BY — "Mike Pompeo sounds like presidential candidate in Sarasota speech that slams 'woke left,'" by Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Zac Anderson: "Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo checked all the boxes for a Republican presidential candidate in the Trump era, going after the 'woke left' and the media while wading into gender politics Thursday during a Sarasota appearance that included a warning about Americans moving away from 'Judeo-Christian' values. Pompeo is widely believed to be considering a presidential run in 2024, and referenced the election in his speech to the Sarasota County GOP, saying some in the crowd suggested 'there ought to be something I do in 2024.' Pompeo didn't reveal his 2024 plans, but said the left 'will stay in the fight, we have to stay in it, too. This is a long-term struggle,' he added. 'They are determined, we have to be more determined.'"

PONTE VEDRA BEACH DISPATCH— "House GOP returns to the state where Cheney fell — in a brighter mood this time ," by POLITICO's Olivia Beavers and Sarah Ferris: "And longtime Republicans would rather focus on another way the conference has changed in the last few years — including a more high-profile focus on the conference's increasingly diverse ranks. For instance, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) held what she called the group's first-ever bilingual press conference focused on engaging Hispanic voters. It included new members, like Florida Reps. María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, as well as senior lawmakers like Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, who spoke about the inroads that the GOP has made in Hispanic communities."

— "GOP sets aside obstruction mentality, pivoting to 'Save America' agenda," by POLITICO's Sarah Ferris and Olivia Beavers

DIGITAL MOMENT — " New DeSantis ad highlights fed-up New Yorkers who've fled to Florida," by New York Post's Selim Algar: "It's a Tallahassee takedown. A new ad from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis highlights the stampede of Northeastern emigres into the Sunshine State — and features former New Yorkers to drive home the point. Filmed over spring break in New Smyrna Beach, the spot encourages viewers to 'Vote Free, Be Free,' while flashing an animated image of the polarizing governor in a pair of aviator sunglasses. 'I'm a New Yorker,' declares one woman. 'And now I'm living in Florida.'"

— " Miami judge rules on disclosing dark-money donors in 'ghost candidate' case," by Miami Herald's David Ovalle

— " Representative Demings, Democratic party leaders share how they plan to fight for Rubio's Senate seat," by WINK-TV's Sydney Persing and Matthew Seaver

— "Christian Ulvert leaves Annette Taddeo's gubernatorial candidate ," by Florida Politics' Jesse Schneckner

— "Vice-chair of Charlotte County Airport Authority arrested on election charges," by WINK-TV

DATELINE D.C.

SUPPORT — "Florida law professors endorse Jackson for Supreme Court, urge Senate to keep politics out of it ," by Orlando Sentinel's Jeffrey Schweers: "Seventy-one Florida law professors and legal scholars, more than half of them from state-run universities, have sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's historic nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. They touted her experience and Florida upbringing in the two-page letter, while at the same time urging senators to not let the confirmation process "devolve into a polarized partisan affair, as it regrettably has in the past."

— "Jackson's hearings are over: Meet the 9 potential Senate swing votes," by POLITICO's Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn in during the first day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2022.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn in during the first day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2022. | Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO | Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO

REQUEST — "Rubio seeks answers from SBA on PPP forgiveness after Herald series on unforgiven loans," by McClatchy D.C.'s Ben Wieder: "Following a series of stories by the Miami Herald addressing the backlog of unforgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans and the disproportionate impact of this backlog on minority communities, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has called on the director of the U.S. Small Business Administration to speed up the forgiveness process and disclose how the agency is working with minority and low-income communities to ensure eligible PPP loans are forgiven."

— " PPP loans were made to be forgiven. In heavily Black areas like South Florida, they aren't," by McClatchy D.C.'s Ben Wieder

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TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP

COMING TO A FLA COURTROOM? — "Donald Trump sues Hillary Clinton and allies over Russia claims, " by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney: Former President Donald Trump is suing 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a sprawling case that accuses her of conspiring with dozens of other actors — frequent targets of Trump's conspiracy theories and rage — to topple his presidency. The new lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Fort Pierce, Fla., accuses Clinton, her campaign, various campaign aides, former FBI Director James Comey, the Democratic National Committee and others of racketeering conspiracy for allegedly joining in "an unthinkable plot" to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

QUESTION — "Did Marco Rubio's former intern storm the Capitol on January 6?" by Miami New Times' Alex Deluca: "In a Twitter thread posted last week, @ne0ndistraction shared older photos of [Barbara 'Barby'] Balmaseda and images of #PinkGaiterPBG side-by-side, pointing out similarities in appearance, mannerisms, and accessories, including a distinctive ring Balmaseda wore at previous rallies and that #PinkGaiterPBG appears to have worn at the Capitol on January 6."

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

PITCHING IN — "Central Florida salon gets military drone, body armor for Ukraine soldiers," by Orlando Sentinel's Ryan Gillespie: " A thermal imaging drone used by Ukrainian forces trying to expel invading Russian troops from their borders was purchased by the clients of a salon in a small Lake County city just outside of The Villages. Soon, nine sets of body armor will be purchased for troops there as well, with money collected at the Mia Bella Salon & Spa in Fruitland Park, population 8,000 or so."

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

HMM — "How safe are Floridians from COVID? State overcounts vaccinations by 600,000 people," by Palm Beach Post's Chris Persaud: "Florida has overstated how many residents are vaccinated against COVID-19 by more than half a million people, a Palm Beach Post analysis shows. Health officials and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who were alerted last year about impossibly high inoculation rates across the state, say they have no plan to fix or investigate this statistical flaw, driven by out-of-staters. At the same time, Florida does not reveal to the public the number of nonresidents infected in the state. That means Floridians don't know the true picture of how safe they are from the deadly disease."

ON YOUR RADAR — "The new omicron BA.2 variant in Florida: What you need to know to stay safe," by Sun Sentinel's Cindy Krischer Goodman: "The new omicron subvariant, BA.2, is causing COVID cases to rise in several European countries, and many experts believe the United States — and Florida — will see a rise in cases in the coming weeks. As of Wednesday, BA.2 accounts for one in three cases in the U.S. and about one in four in the Southeast, which includes Florida. Europe typically is a month ahead of the U.S. in its COVID outbreaks.

PENINSULA AND BEYOND

THE SYSTEM — "'The problem is poverty': Florida removing more kids from poor families over alleged 'neglect,'" by USA Today's Suzanne Hirt: "Families like [Tiffany] Clark's are increasingly in the crosshairs of a child welfare agency that shifted its focus eight years ago from family preservation to protecting kids at all costs. The move, sparked by news headlines about children who died when DCF left them in abusive homes, was supposed to rescue more kids from abuse. Instead, it triggered a flurry of removals for reasons that the department classifies as neglect but experts say are often just symptoms of poverty."

CHANGES — " No state had a bigger gap last year between deaths and births, but migration kept Florida's population growing," by Florida Politics' Scott Powers: "Florida deaths outnumbered births during the height of the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic by more than 45,000 people, slowing the Sunshine State's otherwise impressive population growth, according to new estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall, from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021 — the snapshot period used for the Census Bureau's new estimates released Thursday — Florida's population grew by 211,196 people. That's an increase of just under 1% over those 12 months. It could have been more, as Florida's net migration was higher than in any other state. Florida saw 259,480 more people move into the state than move out during that 12-month period."

MEANWHILE — "Fed up with so many Northerners moving to Florida? All that frustration is shown in a new study," by Sun Sentinel's Amber Randall: "Many Floridians have scoffed in disbelief at all the homebuying competition posed by out-of-state newcomers, and a new study shows just how eager they are to remove the welcome mat. Over 73% of Floridians polled believe that too many people have moved in from out of state, according to a survey from Mphasis Digital Risk, a tech company for residential real estate lending."

TO THE MOON — " NASA sticks with SpaceX while opening future moon landings to competition," by Orlando Sentinel's Richard Tribou: "Several members of Congress cried foul when NASA chose just SpaceX as its lone contractor for the lunar lander planned to be used on the Artemis III mission to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. Ahead of that April 2021 decision, NASA had requested funds to support two but ended up going with just SpaceX based on what was in the available budget. When President Joe Biden puts out his fiscal year 2023 budget request next week, it will include funding requests to open up a new competition for a second U.S. company to build a lunar lander for missions beyond Artemis III, according to a NASA announcement Wednesday."

— "Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to travel to Israel," by Tampa Bay Times' Charlie Frago

— "' We're back at square one.' Spring break curfew evokes Miami Beach history on Black visitors," by Miami Herald's C. Isaiah Smalls II

— "Tampa is No. 3 on list of U.S. cities where people want to move ," by Tampa Bay Times' Bernadette Berdychowski

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

— "Florida man who took Pelosi's lectern in Capitol riot is hosting 'going to prison' party," by Bradenton Herald's Jessica De Leon: "Before surrendering to serve 75 days in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol, including taking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern, Adam Johnson is hosting a 'going to prison' party. 'Come help me celebrate my last Friday of freedom before I go to prison for the lamest charge in history,' the Facebook event states. The event is scheduled for April 1 at Caddy's Bradenton. Johnson, 38 of Parrish, pleaded guilty in November to one count of entering or remaining in any restricted building as part of a plea agreement."

BIRTHDAYS: Palm Beach County Commissioner and former state senator Maria Sachs … former State Rep. John Cortes … (Saturday) Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee … Scott Dudley with the Florida League of Cities ... Sam Miller, former executive vice president with the Florida Insurance Council … (Sunday) Alberto Martinez, executive vice president at Targeted Victory … Alexandra Glorioso of Barred Owl Press ... Joni James, director of system communications at BayCare Health ... Alisa LaPolt, policy and advocacy director NAMI Tennessee