First Read for Friday Jan. 6, 2023

Good morning. It’s Three Kings Day, celebrated mostly in Latin America by Catholics and marking the glorification of baby Jesus by the biblical Magi. Miami’s metro area has the highest concentration of hispanic Catholics in America outside Los Angeles.

FIRST UP

U.S. Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz nominated former President Donald Trump on the seventh (and seventh failed) ballot for speaker of the House, thus fulfilling a promise he made to supporters almost a year ago.

The vote was a nod to a conspiracy theory that a way to get Trump back in the Oval Office would be to name him speaker, who is third in the line of succession, then remove President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from office. It is a move that could technically be possible, as anyone can be elected Speaker, but needle-in-a-million haystacks improbable since Democrats control the Senate, the body that removes them.  

Despite the vote, Gaetz and Co.’s holding back support for Kevin McCarthy appears to be going gangbusters from them, as it has already forced him to make several concessions, some of which he previously said he would not give. However, they are still not appeased.

Thursday evening, Gaetz tweeted a message to suggest he and the 19 others don’t intend to step down from their standoff any time soon. “Either Kevin McCarthy withdraws from the Speaker's race, or he has to wake up every morning and put on the world's best constructive straitjacket before the beginning of every House session,” Gaetz wrote.

– Tristan Wood

FROM CITY & STATE 

* Who’s up? Who’s down? Find out in this week’s Winners & Losers.

* A University of Florida faculty leader is pushing back against a request from the DeSantis administration that colleges and universities give state leaders information about resources used for activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory.

THIS MONTH’S MAGAZINE

The Florida Women Power 100

* Who are the most influential women in Florida politics and government? City & State Florida's Women Power 100 identifies the most important government officials, high-powered lobbyists, leaders of the worlds of business, nonprofits, strategic messaging and social justice in the arena of Sunshine State politics and policy.

 ▶ Read This Month's Issue

NEW THIS MORNING

* St. Petersburg U.S. Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna is a rising conservative star amid her participation in the Speaker of the House vote standoff, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

* Sarasota U.S. Rep. Greg Steube lashed out at Republicans who have hijacked the House speaker's race, including three of his fellow Florida lawmakers, saying they are holding the nation "hostage" and aren't negotiating in good faith, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

* Florida’s emergency-management director wants lawmakers to make changes to help with disaster preparation and response, pointing to issues that have arisen as the state recovers from Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole, the News Service of Florida reports. 

* In a radical departure from current policy, the Biden administration will dramatically step up the expulsion of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans to Mexico if they cross the U.S. border illegally, the Miami Herald reports.

* Desperation about conditions in Cuba is driving the latest surge of Cuban rafters arriving in the Florida Keys, the Miami Herald reports. 

More news below …

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* Amid a national debate about immigration issues, Florida next week will try to convince a U.S. district judge that the Biden administration is violating federal laws through policies that lead to releasing undocumented immigrants, the News Service of Florida reports. 

* The State Road 7 extension lawsuit is wreaking havoc with other transportation projects in Palm Beach County, forcing several of them to be deferred to ensure that funding is available for the project once the litigation is resolved, the Palm Beach Post reports.

* Homicides in Jacksonville in 2022 increased by 26% over the previous year with 163 people being killed, the Florida Times-Union reports.

* A body found along Alligator Alley in the Everglades has been identified as Ivy Marie Bedell, a 20-year-old victim of sex trafficking from Broward County covered in the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s series on trafficking, the newspaper reports.

* Lakesha Burton, the retired assistant chief who lost a runoff election to be Jacksonville’s sheriff in November, has filed paperwork declaring her candidacy in a March 21 rematch against Sheriff T.K. Waters, the Florida Times-Union reports.

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DESANTIS WATCH 

According to his official schedule, the governor met individually with the following on Thursday: Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris, Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Strickland, Communications Director Taryn Fenske, Policy & Budget Director Chris Spencer (followed by "policy and budget briefings"), Digital Director Robbie Myers, Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Stephanie Kopelousos, Chief of Staff James Uthmeier. 

2024 ROUNDUP

* In the weeks since former President Trump launched his latest presidential campaign, few political moments have underscored his diminished standing inside the Republican Party as the ongoing stalemate over McCarthy’s bid to be House speaker, CNN’s Gabby Orr writes.

* A federal judge has ordered lawyers for Trump to give the government the names of the private investigators who searched his properties late last year for any remaining classified documents, the New York Times reports. 

* Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack where pro-Trump supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol, ransacking the building and forcing members of Congress and others inside to seek safety, Forbes reports. 

ANALYSIS & OPINION 

* Jan. 6 is a day that will not be forgotten as it was when American citizens, a large amount of them from Florida, were incited to insurrection by an American president, the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board writes. 

* Florida’s education system is vastly underperforming and is failing students as they move up grades, Billy Townsend writes in the Tampa Bay Times. 

* In the Speaker standoff, we have seen some real applications of factional leverage intended to drive some institutional change that may just get what it wants, Yuval Levin writes in the National Review.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Bryan Anderson, vice president of government relations for HCA Healthcare … to former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva … to Kyle Simon, director of government affairs and communications for the Home Care Association of Florida … to Brevard County Commissioner and former state Rep. John Tobia. 

On SATURDAY, to former University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft … to Mark Lane, metro columnist for The Daytona Beach News-Journal … to DeeDee Rasmussen, chapter president/CEO of ABC North Florida and former Leon County School Board member … to Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix columnist and professor at Florida State University. 

On SUNDAY, to former State Rep. Rene “Coach P” Plasencia of Orlando. 

ON THE MOVE: DeSantis nominated Palm Beach County Commissioner and former state Rep. Dave Kerner, a Democrat, as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, subject to approval by the Florida Cabinet on Jan. 17. Till then, Kerner will first serve as interim executive director. To replace him on the commission, the governor appointed Michael Barnett, an attorney and Chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County. 

Have a birthday, career change, birth, death or life event to announce? Email us: editor@cityandstatefl.com.  

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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KICKER

“My answer … would be no, based on what I know because … as McCarthy concedes on points, they’re moving the goalposts on what it is that they want.”

– Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, asked whether he thinks the Republican holdouts in the speaker vote are acting in good faith.