| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | |  New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP | Good morning and welcome to Monday. Gov. RON DESANTIS had to ask RICHARD CORCORAN three times to be his education commissioner before he said yes. That’s according to Corcoran’s new book coming out Tuesday, called “Storming the Ivory Tower,” of which Playbook obtained an early copy. Much of the book focuses on pushing back against what Corcoran calls “media disinformation” about the New College of Florida — the DeSantis-overhauled public liberal arts college where Corcoran is now the president — but Corcoran also devotes a couple of chapters to how he and DeSantis started working together. When DeSantis told Corcoran he wanted to tap him as education commissioner, a role overseeing the state’s K-12 education system, Corcoran instead recommended former Florida Senate President DON GAETZ. But Rep. MATT GAETZ told Corcoran the job “probably was not going to work out logistically” for his father. When DeSantis pressed a second time, Corcoran recommended then-state Rep. MIKE BILECA, who’d chaired the House Education Committee. After a third push, Corcoran talked to his wife and agreed. He’d been concerned about spending his days “trying to cut through bureaucracy and fighting to make even basic commonsense reforms” but ultimately said yes because he figured that DeSantis planned to “make systemic changes.” He eventually learned that DeSantis “had a big list for transforming education … and he wanted someone who would not back down from a fight.” Corcoran, a former speaker of the Florida House who ultimately served in the education post until mid-2022, had planned to be DeSantis’ rival in the 2018 race for governor but ultimately pulled the plug on his own run before it officially got off the ground. He supported then-GOP Agriculture Commissioner ADAM PUTNAM in the race instead of the future governor, something he now concludes was “the wrong decision” because DeSantis had an “ability to fight for conservative principles.” (At the time, the DeSantis campaign referred to the pair as “swamp dwellers.”) Corcoran wrote that he was stunned when DeSantis called him to co-chair his transition alongside Matt Gaetz. Before accepting, he asked DeSantis whether he’d heard what he’d said about him in the green room after his debate with Putnam. Corcoran was acting as a Putnam spokesperson and playfully jockeyed for media attention against Matt Gaetz, who was a spokesperson for DeSantis. “Ron has a bulldog mouth and a chihuahua’s ass,” Cocoran told a reporter at the time. “He might have talked tough, but he just rattled off talking points. He doesn’t know Florida.” Apparently, the comment didn’t bother DeSantis, who laughed heartily and said he’d heard about it. “My biggest regret is that I wasn’t in the green room,” DeSantis said. “I’d love to watch you and Gaetz go at it.” Another part of the book gives a behind-the-scenes look into the planning that went into school reopenings during Covid in the fall of 2020 — a decision for which DeSantis took significant backlash at the time under accusations of being too early, but ironically was later attacked by the 2024 Trump campaign for the fact that Florida closed schools at all. Cocoran wrote that as education commissioner he was essentially cornered into the decision to do K-12 virtual learning by the Board of Governors, who oversee the state university system and decided in mid-March to have Florida’s public universities switch to remote learning for the last six weeks of the semester. At the time, he writes, he thought the decision was a “colossal overreaction” and said it would make it harder to keep K-12 schools open while ordering college students to isolate because it would confuse and scare parents. “My ensuing anger was driven by the fact that I knew this decision was dictated much less by actual health concerns,” he wrote, “and much more by the political and cultural influences of the large percentage of liberal leaders on the college campuses.” He and DeSantis then spent three weeks reading Covid research from other countries, he writes, with DeSantis calling him early many mornings to flag new studies. They decided on reopening in the fall so they could release a plan while also providing a virtual option for parents who didn’t want to send their students back. But DeSantis had wanted in-person learning with a virtual option even sooner — “asap” — because they concluded the virus was “not seriously affecting school-age children.” — Gary Fineout and Andrew Atterbury contributed reporting. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
| | | | The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | BACK IN TOWN — A one-day organizational session for the Legislature officially kicks off Tuesday in Tallahassee to swear in new members, elect leaders and dole out committee assignments, as well as to vote on new rules to govern legislative business. House Democrats are expected to confirm Rep. FENTRICE DRISKELL as Florida House minority leader tonight, per Florida Politics’ Jesse Scheckner. This is the first time since 1992 that a Florida leader has received a consecutive term.
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Sen. Don Gaetz (left) hugs his son, Rep. Matt Gaetz, after he was sworn in as the newest member of the House in Tallahassee, Florida, April 15, 2010 | Steve Cannon/AP | PAPA GAETZ WEIGHS IN — “Just about everyone was surprised when Donald Trump picked Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general. You can add Gaetz’s 76-year-old, politically connected and influential father to that list,” reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout . “Don Gaetz, a Florida powerbroker who himself was just elected to a state Senate seat, said Thursday that he and Matt’s mother — Vicky Gaetz — ‘really had no prior warning until Matt called us and said that the president just offered me the attorney generalship. I think it’s fair to say Matt was not seeking the job.’” — Predictions on how it’ll turn out: “Don Gaetz expressed confidence that his son will be able to withstand a bitter confirmation battle that could be coming once Trump takes office.”
| | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | | BEST COLLEGES — “A star president’s resignation was a mystery. Was it all about rankings?” by The New York Times’ Stephanie Saul . “Before [Ben] Sasse took over the school, the University of Florida had been proudly ranked among the country’s top five public universities. Just months into Sasse’s tenure, though, the school fell to No. 6, prompting the removal of the No. 5 banners that had hung from lampposts throughout campus. Sasse didn’t have much respect for the U.S. News & World Report rankings, but the university’s politically connected board of trustees very much did.” LEAVING FLORIDA? — “It appears likely that a historic deal to build a new $1.3 billion stadium at the [Tampa Bay Rays’] Tropicana Field site is all but dead,” reports John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times . “And, consequently, baseball’s future in Tampa Bay is at greater risk than ever before. The Pinellas County Commission has already postponed one vote on bonds that would go toward the financing of the ballpark and appears poised to delay it again Tuesday. The setback has already disrupted a series of deadlines that have halted construction plans and would likely cause a significant increase in the cost of the project.”
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | | 
President-elect Donald Trump points to former first lady Melania Trump as Lara Trump watches, at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024. | Evan Vucci/AP | WINK WINK, NUDGE NUDGE — LARA TRUMP, Republican National Committee co-chair and daughter-in-law to President-elect DONALD TRUMP, was on “Fox and Friends” Saturday reiterating that it would be her “honor” to serve in the Senate if Gov. RON DESANTIS selected her to replace Sen. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.), per Florida Politics A.G. Gancarski. “There have been crazier things that Trumps have done in the past, that’s for sure … I think it would be great to have another young mom alongside KATIE BRITT there in the United States Senate,” she said. “I have not been asked yet, but I certainly would strongly consider it if it is presented to me.” — Lara Trump’s brother-in-law, DONALD TRUMP JR., also weighed in on Fox New Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures”: “I think it’d be great,” he said, per Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski. “I think she understands our base, she understands the movement. You see what’s going on in Florida. I mean, it is a solid red state.” NOT A SACRIFICIAL LAMB — “The president-elect has made clear that he views [former Rep. Matt] Gaetz as the most important member of the Cabinet he is quickly assembling, sources with knowledge of Trump’s thinking told CNN, and he considers the nomination of the former Florida congressman an urgent priority for the incoming GOP majority in the Senate. Trump wants Gaetz confirmed ‘100 percent,’ a source told CNN. ‘He is not going to back off. He’s all in.’” — More insight into why: Trump has “grown enamored with the idea of having a political arsonist like Gaetz overseeing his promises to dismantle the Justice Department. He also believes Gaetz is uniquely positioned to defend the Trump administration on television, an attribute prioritized by the president-elect.” — The question over whether to release the House Ethics Committee report into Gaetz still looms. House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON said over the weekend that the report shouldn’t be released, reports POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy and Olivia Beavers . On Sunday, the speaker said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he had “not once” discussed it with Trump. ANOTHER POSSIBLE FLORIDA CONNECTION — Trump is considering Stanford physician and economist JAY BHATTACHARYA to lead the National Institutes of Health, reports The Washington Post’s Dan Diamond . Bhattacharya was among the experts who gave DeSantis advice when navigating the Covid pandemic. PARTY TIME — The Republican Party of Florida will be descending on Washington for Trump’s inauguration. According to Florida Politics’ Jesse Scheckner: “There’s a lot to celebrate, from the party winning majorities in all three branches of federal government to its growing domination in the Sunshine State. RPOF Chair Evan Power told Florida Politics the exhilaration is palpable. ‘We are excited to welcome our grassroots leaders to the capital as Florida becomes the center of the political universe,’” he said.
| | | | Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | | | | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | JUMPING IN — Republican JOHN FRANKMAN has announced his run for District 1, the seat Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) resigned from last week, reports Amber Jo Cooper of Florida’s Voice. Frankman was pushed out of the military after he refused to get a Covid shot. — Another person considering running for the seat “among other options” is JAMES UTHMEIER, the governor’s chief of staff, a Tallahassee insider, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics, told Playbook. — Gaetz and his father, incoming state Sen DON GAETZ, won’t be endorsing in the primary for District 1, reports Florida Politics’ A.G. Gncarski. LOCAL ENDORSEMENT — Trump over the weekend endorsed NICOLE REINOSO for Doral City Council via Truth Social. — There might be a reason for the shout out, reports Verónica Egui Brito of the Miami Herald. The election result “could have significant implications for the approval of his development project in the city … Trump’s latest South Florida real estate project, Doral International Towers, calls for a 1,429-unit condominium complex, along with 141,000 square feet of retail space, on the southeastern corner of the Trump National Doral resort.” A final city council vote on the project is expected in 2025. TURNING TIDE? — MARJORIE DANNENFELSER , the founder of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told Semafor’s David Weigel that she believes the backlash against striking down Roe v. Wade “has ceased or abated,” citing examples like the failure of Florida’s abortion amendment. “When governors actually take on and own the issues, own the law, that makes all the difference. In the states where governors said nothing, we lost,” she said. “In Florida, where DeSantis led the campaign, we won. And that stoppage of the hemorrhaging was really important.” BIRTHDAY: State Sen. Geraldine Thompson. | | | | 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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