News: POLITICO Florida Playbook: DeSantis v. Crist: What was said and what was not

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

POLITICO Florida Playbook: DeSantis v. Crist: What was said and what was not

Oct 25, 2022

Hello and welcome to Tuesday.

The big miss — The Monday night showdown between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Democratic rival Charlie Crist went largely as expected. A clash over issues such as Covid-19, abortion and education. But it will likely be remembered just as much for the questions that were sidestepped and ducked by both candidates.

What was not said — DeSantis would not give a direct answer on whether he's going to run for president in 2024. Crist, pivoting off DeSantis' criticism of President Joe Biden, pointedly asked DeSantis whether he would serve a full second term. At first, there was silence. Then DeSantis asked about time. Then the moderator said the rules didn't allow for candidates to directly ask for questions. Then DeSantis quipped that "the only worn-out old donkey I'm looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist."

Is it hugely surprising that DeSantis dodged the question? No, not really. He's previously found ways to sidestep inquiries about his political aspirations, but it still stood out as one of the big moments of the debate.

What was not said — Neither candidate wanted to be precise about abortion regulations. DeSantis, who signed a law this year banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest, did not respond directly to a question on when abortion restrictions should take effect. Crist, who denounced the law, likewise would not make it clear if he thinks some sort of restrictions are appropriate at some point in time.

What was said — Crist called DeSantis "arrogant" and a "bully" and faulted the governor over his education policies, his feud with Disney, and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that he said was more about political considerations than science. DeSantis repeatedly hitched Crist to Biden and said if Crist and his allies had their way they would have shut down the state's economy and thrown people out of work. The governor staunchly defended his actions, including his decision to fly nearly 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha's Vineyard from Texas.

What will voters say? — With two weeks left to go, it doesn't look like the debate will create a significant change in DeSantis' momentum. Crist did for once rev up Democrats, who reveled in the direct confrontation with DeSantis. The campaign reported a surge in donations afterwards. But the governor made sure to touch again and again on his record as a reason for Floridians to stick with him for a second term. Despite his topic avoidance on a couple of occasions, DeSantis argued forcefully for his positions.

— WHERE'S RON? — Gov. DeSantis is scheduled on Tuesday evening to attend a fundraiser in Clearwater.

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

SHOWDOWN — DeSantis, in testy debate with Dem rival, sidesteps 2024 question , by POLITICO's Gary Fineout: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clashed with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist during their lone debate on Monday as the two traded barbs over key issues in the 2022 midterms, including abortion, immigration and the Republican governor's presidential ambitions. The hour-long debate in Fort Pierce, filled with supporters of both candidates, was mostly focused on DeSantis's record over the past four years, including exchanges over the governor's decision to fly almost 50 mostly-Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard or how he handled Hurricane Ian.

— " Five takeaways from the only Florida governor debate between DeSantis and Crist ," by CNN's Steve Contorno

— " DeSantis dodges questions on 2024, abortion at Florida gubernatorial debate ," by Washington Post's Hannah Knowles and Mariana Alfaro

— " DeSantis's national ambitions and three more takeaways from the Florida governor's debate ," by The New York Times' Patricia Mazzei and Maggie Astor

— " A fierce fight for Charlie Crist and Ron DeSantis in their only governor's race debate ," by Orlando Sentinel's Steven Lemongello and Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's Anthony Man

— " Will DeSantis run for president in 2024? In debate with Crist, he won't say ," by Tampa Bay Times' Emily L. Mahoney and Kirby Wilson

— " Crist to DeSantis: Will you run for president? Florida governor refuses to say in caustic debate ," by NBC News' Marc Caputo

Ron DeSantis, left, speaks during a debate with Charlie Crist, right, on stage.

Ron DeSantis, left, speaks during a debate with his Democratic opponent Charlie Crist in Fort Pierce, Fla., Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. | Crystal Vander Weit/AP Photo

TO COURT — Former Florida congressional candidate sues campaign manager over sexually explicit photos , by POLITICO's Matt Dixon: Former Republican congressional candidate Jackie Toledo is suing her ex-campaign manager, Fred Piccolo, over sexually explicit pictures he sent her during the campaign — allegations Piccolo says are tied to a dispute over her failure to pay him for work during the campaign.

Lawsuit details — Toledo, who left a Tampa-area Florida House seat to run for Congress, filed the lawsuit Monday night in Hillsborough County court. It alleges he sent her unwanted sexually explicit photos and text messages offering "advice for breast augmentation," using his own wife's breasts as a reference. At the time he allegedly sent the photos and texts in May, Piccolo was working as Toledo's campaign manager. The lawsuit includes more than 20 pages of text messages between Piccolo and Toledo, who lost her Republican congressional primary to former Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee.

OUT FRONT — " Rubio has 7-point lead over Demings among Florida Hispanics in new poll ," by NBC 6: "With two weeks to go before Floridians will cast their votes for the midterm election, a new poll shows Hispanic voters in the state favor Republican incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio by seven points over Democratic challenger Val Demings. Rubio leads Demings 49% to 42% among Hispanic voters in the state, with another 7% undecided and 2% supporting a third candidate, according to the Telemundo/LX News poll released Tuesday. Hispanic voters in central Florida support Demings 48% to 41%, but Rubio leads in southeast Florida 47% to 44%, and in the Tampa area by 56% to 38%, the poll found."

TRYING TO HOLD THE LINE — Senate Democrats mount last stand as GOP eyes supermajority status , by POLITICO's Matt Dixon: Florida Senate Republicans have a very real chance during the 2022 midterms to achieve supermajority status, in the process icing Democrats out of nearly every decision made in the chamber. It would be the continuation of stunning reversal of fortunes for Democrats, who as recently as 2018 had their eye on achieving a 20-20 split in the state Senate.

'A critical time' — The issue was a main topic of conversation Monday as Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book (D-Plantation) announced her caucus was kicking off a bus tour to try and drum up excitement and votes for the party's five top tier Florida Senate candidates, most of whom face significant cash disparities and are trailing in public polls. "This is a critical time because if Republicans get to a super majority, there are so many things in the rules and procedurally in the Legislature that do not allow us to engage," said state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Miami Democrat who was on a conference call with reporters announcing the tour.

ONE OF THE SENATE RACES TO WATCH — " Janet Cruz heads for tight Senate race against governor-endorsed Jay Collins ," by Tampa Bay Times' Romy Ellenbogen: "When Democrat Janet Cruz took on a Republican incumbent in the race for Florida's Senate in 2018, the victory margin was thin enough to warrant a manual recount. She eventually won by just 411 votes. Now as the Tampa seat's incumbent, Cruz herself is readying to fend off a challenger — Republican Jay Collins, a Green Beret veteran who entered the race with Gov. Ron DeSantis' endorsement. In a seat that has flipped before, and in a midterm year where the party of the president tends to do worse, Republicans see Cruz as vulnerable."

BATTLEGROUND — " In Florida's most Hispanic district, Latina politicians spar over immigration and socialism ," by Miami Herald's Bianca Padró Ocasio : "The battle for Florida's Congressional District 27 – where now 73% of the voting age population is Hispanic, the highest in the state — is pitting two Latinas against each other in what has become a nationally-watched race and an indicator of where Hispanic voters stand on immigration and democratic systems at home and abroad. While Salazar, a former TV journalist, has made speaking against communist regimes in Latin America her political brand, Taddeo has tried to cast Salazar as a Republican extremist akin to deniers of the 2020 election results as proof Salazar does not defend democracy in the U.S."

BY THE NUMBERS — More than 1.16 million people have voted by mail ahead of the Nov. 8 election, according to the latest information on the state Division of Elections website. Of those, 491,708 have come from Democrats and 444,954 have come from registered Republicans. Overall, there are more than 3.08 million mail ballots that have been requested but not yet returned. Of those, more than 1.36 million are held by Democrats and nearly 956,000 are with Republicans.

— " Democrats hit Corey Simon for community no-shows, defend controversial mailer ," by Florida Politics' Renzo Downey

... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...

SMH — " Tom Brady and Ron DeSantis are said to be on texting terms ," by The New York Times' Reid J. Epstein: "But according to Tim Michels, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor, Mr. [Tom] Brady is now on texting terms with another Republican seen as a White House contender: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Mr. DeSantis attended a Green Bay Packers football game last month and spent part of the game texting with Mr. Brady, according to Mr. Michels, who hosted the Florida governor in Green Bay and told supporters in Wisconsin last week about their time together."

— " Former President Donald Trump backs Florida in tech law fight ," by News Service of Florida's Jim Saunders

JOIN WOMEN RULE THURSDAY FOR A TALK WITH DEPARTING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: A historic wave of retirements is hitting Congress, including several prominent Democratic women such as Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, House Democrats' former campaign chief. What is driving their departures? Join POLITICO on Oct. 27 for "The Exit Interview," a virtual event that will feature a conversation with departing members where they'll explain why they decided to leave office and what challenges face their parties ahead. REGISTER HERE .

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

SHIELDED — " Florida judge blocks subpoenas in migrant records flight ," by News Service of Florida's Jim Saunders: "A Leon County circuit judge has rejected subpoenas that sought to force two top aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis to testify in a public-records lawsuit stemming from controversial flights of migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Judge J. Lee Marsh issued a two-page decision Sunday that quashed subpoenas the Florida Center for Government Accountability had issued to DeSantis Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and Larry Keefe, a public-safety adviser to the governor. Marsh also shielded Chris DeLorenz, a records custodian in the governor's office, from testifying."

Men and women line up next to an airplane with its door open.

A photo released from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office shows migrants lined up appearing to be preparing to board a flight. | Florida governor's office.

TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP

AS THE PAGES TURN — " Prosecutors pressure Trump aides to testify in documents case ," by The New York Times' Michael S. Schmidt, Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer: "Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trump's handling of national security documents he took with him from the White House have ratcheted up their pressure in recent weeks on key witnesses in the hopes of gaining their testimony, according to two people briefed on the matter. The effort by the Justice Department shows how the investigation is entering a new phase as prosecutors seek to push recalcitrant witnesses to cooperate with them. A key focus for prosecutors is Walt Nauta, a little-known figure who worked in the White House as a military valet and cook when Mr. Trump was president and later for him personally at Mar-a-Lago, the former president's private club and residence in Florida."

...HURRICANE HOLE...

BIG QUESTION — " Did Lee County's 'Just-in-Time' evacuation protocol for Hurricane Ian cost lives? " by Florida Center for Government Accountability News' Patricia Borns and WINK's Peter Fleischer: "As Hurricane Ian barreled over Western Cuba toward the Gulf of Mexico, counties on the Southwest coast of Florida had their emergency management plans at the ready — plans that every Florida county must prepare and regularly update. But a close look at Lee County's plan reveals that its evacuation orders, issued just one day before the Category 4 storm made landfall, emphasized efficiency and cost rather than caution. To avoid what it called 'over-evacuation,' Lee County in 2010 switched from a Just-in-Case protocol — which always assumes a hurricane one category higher than forecasted — to a Just-in-Time method, an only-as-needed approach based on wind and surge forecasts."

'WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE' — " Renters without rentals: Some residents face an uncertain future post-Hurricane Ian ," by Fort Myers News-Press' Kate Cimini: "Jake Lincoln drove home, shaking. His girlfriend had called to say his landlord and property manager were inspecting the house after Hurricane Ian crashed into it, and refused to speak to her since she wasn't on the lease. Two days after spending all night mopping up water, making emergency repairs to windows, walls and a roof that kept the home Lincoln had rented for about five years standing, he had learned that father-daughter owners Milan Ponjevic and Jelena Ciancetta did not want to renew his lease. 'She said, 'We don't want you here,' Lincoln recalled."

— " Lee County officials announce they have collected 1 million cubic yards of Hurricane Ian debris ," by Fort Myers News-Press' Samantha Neely

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

FALLOUT — " Student scores are down due to COVID, but Florida schools see silver lining ," by Tampa Bay Times' Marlene Sokol and Jeffrey S. Solochek: "While educators across the U.S. lamented students' historically poor performance on the first national tests since the pandemic, Florida officials found a silver lining — even as the state's reading and math scores declined. They noted that Florida students outpaced their peers in other states on average scores reported Monday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as 'the nation's report card.'"

PENINSULA AND BEYOND

TAKE IT OUTSIDE — University of Florida bans indoor protesters from upcoming Sasse vote , by POLITICO's Andrew Atterbury: University of Florida officials on Monday warned students that the school will enforce a decades-old rule banning protesters inside campus buildings when the board of trustees meets next week to consider appointing Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) as president. While this policy has not been applied in recent years, outgoing president Kent Fuchs told students that the flagship university could discipline demonstrators for protesting like they did two weeks ago, when the Nebraska senator made his first visit to the Gainesville campus. Then, hundreds of protesters flooded the building where Sasse was speaking, "chanting loudly, banging their fists on windows, walls and furniture" while prompting UF to shorten the engagement, Fuchs said.

ASSAULTED — " Man wearing Rubio shirt and DeSantis hat 'brutally attacked' in Hialeah, senator says ," by Miami Herald's Bianca Padró Ocasio, Michelle Marchante, Charles Rabin and El Nuevo Herald's Verónica Egui Brito: "Police have arrested a man accused in a vicious attack Sunday night in Hialeah, an incident first publicized by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who shared pictures online of a bloodied man in a Rubio t-shirt and alleged that the assault was politically motivated. The man arrested in the incident, 25-year-old Javier Jesus Lopez, is accused of aggravated battery and causing great bodily harm, a second degree felony. An arrest report, however, does not reference politics or suggest that the victim was attacked because of his political beliefs."

Former candidate — "The man attacked is Christopher Monzon, the Miami New Times reported, a former candidate for Hialeah City Council who has deep ties in local Republican circles. Monzon is a former member of the Florida League of the South chapter, a white nationalist organization. He was canvassing for the Republican Party of Florida, not Rubio's reelection campaign, a spokesperson for the senator's campaign said."

— " Hialeah police: 'No indication' of political motive in attack on Rubio canvasser ," by WPLG's Bridgette Matter and Chris Gothner

— " LGBT+ Center Orlando cancels drag queen story hour after Nazi threats, director says ," by Orlando Sentinel's Monivette Cordeiro

— " Florida gas prices dip slightly; spike possible as state gas tax holiday ends ," by Tallahassee Democrat's Karl Etters

— " As Broward superintendent's job is in jeopardy, top lawyer's fate is also uncertain ," by South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Scott Travis

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

BIRTHDAYS: Gaston Cantens, former state representative and vice president for corporate relations for Florida Crystals

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