| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | |  Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign event before launching a 75 stop tour across Florida, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Miami. | Lynne Sladky/AP Photo | Good morning and welcome back from the Labor Day break. This is typically the time of year that campaigns kick into high gear as voters begin tuning into politics more. And with only 62 days left until the election, the campaign for Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has a new memo out about how it sees the race against Republican Sen. Rick Scott. The memo, written by campaign manager Ben Waldon and provided exclusively to Playbook, describes the Senate race in Florida as having “grassroots momentum” and being “increasingly competitive” ahead of Mucarsel-Powell doing any significant spending on ads. It lays out an optimistic outlook and roadmap for the former House member in a state where Republicans have expanded their voter registration advantage. The memo makes clear that Mucarsel-Powell plans to keep calling Scott out over his 2022 policy plan from when he led the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The document called for Congress to re-approve federal programs every five years — wording that led Democrats to accuse Scott of wanting to end Social Security and Medicare. (Scott later revised the plan to explicitly exclude the programs, saying they were never intended to be in the regular review.) The memo also shows that the campaign will keep hammering Scott over the $1.7 billion Medicare fraud fine faced by his former hospital chain, Columbia/HCA. A few days ago Mucarsel-Powell launched a 75-stop tour meant to spotlight every time Scott pled the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination — though that happened during a 2000 deposition in a civil case unrelated to the fraud case. Scott was never charged with a crime, and though he said he took responsibility during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, he shifted his messaging this year to say he’d been the target of political attacks. Here are some other nuggets from the memo: — The Mucarsel-Powell campaign asserts it’s “well within striking distance” of Scott, pointing to polling showing low single-digit leads for Scott, including from Florida Atlantic University, as well as Scott’s relatively low approval ratings. “Medicare fraudster Rick Scott is a thief who has spent his last 14 years in office robbing Floridians of their freedom, their economic security, and opportunities — and polls are showing voters have had enough,” Waldon wrote. — More than 12,300 first-time donors have given to the Mucarsel-Powell campaign since the Aug. 20 primary. The campaign says that since the primary, people from every congressional district in Florida have donated. — The Mucarsel-Powell campaign expects the ballots on abortion and cannabis to generate “a highly motivated and energized Democratic electorate in Florida.” This morning, Mucarsel-Powell will be at a reproductive rights kickoff event in Palm Beach for the Harris campaign. Scott has said he’ll oppose legalizing cannabis for recreational use, citing his late brother’s drug dependency, and that he’ll vote against the amendment to enshrine abortion rights into the Florida Constitution. Asked to respond, the Scott campaign pointed to other polling, including one from the Florida Chamber that found Scott ahead by seven points and another that found him ahead in Mucarsel-Powell’s home county of Miami-Dade, where he also got more votes during the August primary. Scott, who is planning to run for GOP leader if he wins reelection, will be campaigning with former President Donald Trump in Braselton, Georgia, this evening, though he has already campaigned in Florida’s 67 counties. “We’re not going to comment on the ramblings of a candidate who got booted out of her congressional seat after one term and is losing her home county yet again, except to say that if this memo is any indication, she has a great career ahead as a science fiction writer,” said senior advisor Chris Hartline. “We wish her luck in that future endeavor.” Scott has never lost an election, though only won by narrow margins before, when Florida was a swingier state than it is today. Scott, the wealthiest member of the Senate, also has the advantage of being able to dip into his own millions to help fund his campaign, just as he has done in all of his races including this one. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget in the campaign reporting that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
|  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | END OF AN ERA — “New Florida budget outlook contains warning signs,” reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. “The days of big budget surpluses for Florida legislators are coming to an end, according to a new three-year forecast. State economists late Thursday released new projections that show Florida’s budget will swing into a deficit in the next two years unless lawmakers change course from recent years when they signed off on tax cuts and expensive initiatives aimed at affordable housing, health care workers and the environment.” WHAT’S NEXT — “How indictment changes Carolina Amesty’s future,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Annie Martin and Skyler Swisher. “Even before Rep. Carolina Amesty was indicted this week, the Windermere-area Republican was in for a tough re-election battle in a swing district that Democrats are pushing to flip this year. Now, it’s gotten tougher. Running for office while facing four felony charges is a difficult prospect, both because legal battles are time-consuming and because the situation undermines the criminal suspect’s political support while bolstering their opponent.” WEEKEND HATE — “Women remove racist 'garbage' after Patriot Front walks through downtown Tallahassee,” reports USA Today Network — Florida’s Ana Goñi-Lessan. “On Saturday, members of the Texas-based white supremacist and neo-fascist hate group Patriot Front were spotted in Florida's capital city. The 20-or-so men were dressed in khakis and wearing white balaclavas covering their faces while toting their hate group's flag and the Confederate flag.”
|  Protestors against development at Florida's state parks gather for a rally at the entrance to Honeymoon Island State Park Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Dunedin, Fla. | Chris O'Meara/AP | BIG NAMES BEHIND PARKS PLAN — “Ron DeSantis is in hot water for a plan involving Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus to put golf courses in a state park,” reports Matt Dixon of NBC News. “A proposal to put golf courses in a Florida state park — which has landed Gov. Ron DeSantis in hot water politically — involved two of the biggest names in professional golf history: Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. The proposal to build courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Southeast Florida is now put on hold after bipartisan pushback and protests across the state. But had the idea received state approval, and both Woods and Nicklaus would have been involved in course-design work.” WAPO LAWSUIT LATEST — “FDLE official casts doubt on Florida's reason for concealing DeSantis' travel records,” reports Douglas Soule of USA Today Network — Florida. “A Florida Department of Law Enforcement official Friday said that disclosing the cost of Gov. Ron DeSantis' travel from two years ago doesn't jeopardize his safety. That's significant, because it comes after FDLE has repeatedly denied public records requests for DeSantis' travel expenses, citing safety and security exemptions. And the statement came from Darrick Waller, who oversees protective operations for the department, which is being sued by The Washington Post for alleged public records violations.” FIRST AMENDMENT LAWSUIT — “The country’s largest publishers sue Florida over school book bans,” reports the Washington Post’s Maham Javaid. “A group of major publishers, authors and parents have sued Florida education officials over a law that allows parents and local residents to limit what books are available in school libraries if they depict or describe ‘sexual conduct.’ The lawsuit filed by Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins and others alleges that the state law, enacted last year, brought about hundreds of book removals and is violating First Amendment rights to free speech.” LABOR COLLAPSE — “More than 63,000 Florida workers have lost union representation due to new law,” reports WLRN’s Daniel Rivero. “A total of 54 public sector unions have been legally terminated explicitly because they do not meet requirements of the new law, according to state filings. The staggering blow to labor in Florida has quietly impacted workers’ ability to collectively bargain in every corner of the state. Everyone from municipal employees of the small city of Defuniak Springs in the Florida Panhandle to custodial staff and adjunct professors at large state universities and Orlando airport workers have lost their union representation.” — “Is it too early for a flu shot? Do you really need a COVID booster? What Floridians need to know about fall vaccines,” by Cindy Krischer Goodman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | ELECTION BACKLASH — “Federal authorities seize plane regularly used by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro,” reports the Miami Herald’s Syra Ortiz Blanes and Jay Weaver. “Federal authorities seized a plane in South Florida Monday morning that is regularly used by Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, in an enforcement action stemming from U.S. sanctions against his government. The plane, used by Maduro for personal and professional reasons, was flown from the Dominican Republic, where it had been detained, to the executive airport in Fort Lauderdale, authorities said. The seizure was a joint operation among the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Commerce, among other federal agencies. Homeland Security Investigations was in charge of bringing the plane to the United States.” SAGA GETS WORSE — “UF senior staffers spent hundreds of thousands in travel costs after Sasse let them work remotely,” reports Vivienne Serret of Fresh Take Florida. “The new figures add to mounting questions about unusually high expenditures of public money by the university president’s office until Sasse’s unexpected resignation last month. More than half of the $211,824 itemized expenses attributed to six of his senior UF hires working remotely over 17 months was for airfare or train tickets, plus nearly $50,000 more for hotels.” PUSHING BACK — “Broward schools to sue drug companies over insulin prices,” reports Scott Travis of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Broward schools plan to file a lawsuit against several drug companies and pharmacy managers, alleging they have colluded to jack up the prices of insulin, leaving the district with exorbitant health insurance costs. The district is self-insured, meaning it pays out of its own budget for most of the actual health care expenses of its employees. The district has spent about $26 million on insulin to help employees manage diabetes during the past seven years, General Counsel Marylin Batista told the School Board at a recent meeting. The cost should have been a fraction of that, attorneys for several injury law firms told the board.” AMENDMENT TEST — “Jacksonville state attorney seeks $130K from activist who lost records lawsuit, citing a rarely-used legal provision,” reports Bea Lunardini of the Tributary. “A Jacksonville public-records activist who sued the Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office could now face a six-figure bill in a case that may redefine the landscape of open-records litigation in the Sunshine State. Curtis Lee, 67, sued the State Attorney’s Office in 2020 for alleged violations of public records laws. Not only did he lose his case, but he now faces the prospect of paying the agency’s legal bills, a sum the state says exceeds $130,000.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | | | 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo | TODAY — The Harris campaign is launching a reproductive rights bus tour that will begin in Palm Beach. Neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are attending, but the event will feature campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, and Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel Powell. Former President Donald Trump is campaigning in Braselton, Georgia, with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). GETTING INVOLVED — “Trump signals support for Florida marijuana legalization,” reports POLITICO’s Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing and Arek Sarkissian. “In a lengthy post on the Trump-owned social network Truth Social Saturday morning, the former president stopped short of formally endorsing the measure but asserted that — ‘whether people like it or not’ — marijuana legalization ‘will happen.’ He also expressed support for the prohibition of marijuana use in public spaces.” OCT. 1 DEADLINE AHEAD — “Homeless camp next to Chase Stadium? One guy running for mayor thinks it’s the best spot,” reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Susannah Bryan. “Fort Lauderdale might have the perfect spot for a homeless camp right under its nose, says mayoral candidate Jim Lewis. Lewis suggests the city set up a homeless encampment on a small portion of the 20-acre lot just south of Chase Stadium, where Inter Miami and soccer superstar Lionel Messi play. The land, slated for a park that Inter Miami’s owners promised to build, is now being used for overflow parking on game days.” — “Voters in Orlando have a chance to loosen the tourism industry's grip on taxpayer money,” reports Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents.
| | DATELINE D.C. | | NEW BILL — “Anna Paulina Luna, Jared Moskowitz file bipartisan bill to cap student loan interest rates,” reports Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics. “Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz are teaming up to improve student loan affordability. The pair just filed legislation to establish a 3 percent limit on the interest rate of federal student loans. It’s called the Student Loan Interest Cap Act.”
| | TRANSITION TIME | | — Marc Chaaban is now deputy comms director for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s Florida Senate campaign. He most recently was minority press secretary for the House Budget Committee.
| | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | | MORE TRUMP PROPERTY — “Florida woman bequeathed Donald Trump condo in senior community,” per Forbes’ Zach Everson. “A Florida woman with no apparent personal connection to Donald Trump bequeathed the former president a condo in a community for the 55-and-up crowd. Trump, who famously cashed a check for 13 cents that Spy Magazine sent him, accepted the condo in 2023 and dutifully reported it on his personal financial disclosure, which he filed earlier this month.” — “SS United States could be sunk off Florida coastline as part of artificial reef, sources say,” by CBS News Philadelphia’s Joe Holden. BIRTHDAYS: Former State Rep. Everett Rice … Christina Pushaw of the governor’s office … (Was Monday) Rep. John Rutherford … State Rep. Spencer Roach. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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