First Read for Monday, Jan. 23, 2023
The must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government.
Good morning. It’s National Pie Day. The official Florida state pie is the key lime pie. Supporters of the signature dessert protested on its behalf last legislative session, when strawberry shortcake was named the state dessert.
FIRST UP
Gov. Ron DeSantis heads to the City of Brotherly Love this week to get a gold medal. The Union League of Philadelphia, “founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support the Union and the policies of President Abraham Lincoln,” plans to award DeSantis on Tuesday evening with its highest honor. Its gold medal is “to be conferred on men … regarded as deserving well of their country.”
The award ceremony, however, is happening “despite protests from more than 100 members who want to cancel the event,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week. According to the Inquirer’s Chris Brennan, in October there were “107 members who signed a five-page letter to (then-club president Craig) Mills, saying the DeSantis event ‘poses outsized immediate and long-term reputational risk to the Union League’ and ‘appears to confer an endorsement’ for DeSantis’ presidential ambitions.”
The event at the private club, “with tickets going for $160, is sold out,” Brennan added. The hubbub may stem from the dissenting members’ worry that the event makes the League seem too partisan and even in the tank for DeSantis – still considered a leading GOP contender for the 2024 presidential race.
“The members noted in their letter the Union League has experienced ‘significant economic/financial challenges’ but rebounded in recent years, attracting new members by ‘being more inclusive,’ ” Brennan wrote. DeSantis, by the way, has a Bronze Star Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, among others, from his service as a Navy JAG officer.
– Jim Rosica
FROM CITY & STATE
* EDITOR’S NOTE: City & State’s Jim Rosica introduces this month’s print magazine, including taking notice of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s interest in UFOs and a welcome for columnist Bill Cotterell.
* RUBIO RISES: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio coasted to reelection last year. City & State’s Tristan Wood explores what’s next for the lawmaker, whose foreign policy chops could make him a credible secretary of state candidate – but who still has plenty of time to consider another presidential bid.
* POWER LIST: South Florida is home to the state’s senior U.S. senator, its lieutenant governor and plenty of movers and shakers in business, law and beyond. See how they stack up against each othe rin City & State’s inaugural South Florida Power 100.
THIS MONTH’S MAGAZINE
The South Florida Power 100
* South Florida is home to the state’s senior U.S. senator, its lieutenant governor and plenty of movers and shakers in business, law and beyond. See how they stack up against each othe rin City & State’s inaugural South Florida Power 100.
NEW THIS MORNING
* Vice President Kamala Harris said in Tallahassee Sunday that President Joe Biden will sign a memorandum protecting access to abortion pills and continue to push for legislation restoring abortion rights on the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, USA TODAY Network-Florida reports.
* While finding that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren violated the law, a federal judge grudgingly ruled that he lacked the power to reinstate the twice-elected Democrat, the News Service of Florida reports.
* New Florida laws threaten pharmacists and doctors by treating abortion pills like contraband and penalizing their use outside strict limits, which conflicts with federal guidance, the Florida Bulldog reports.
* Florida rejected an Advanced Placement African American studies course because it contains critical race theory and state leaders objected to several of its lessons according to the Florida Department of Education, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.
* The White House criticized the move to block the Advanced Placement African American studies course, calling the move “incomprehensible” and noting it didn’t block AP European history and other courses, the USA TODAY Network reports.
More news below …
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* A controversial immigration plan announced by the Biden administration Jan. 5 is prompting Palm Beach County Haitian-American U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, to urge her colleagues on Capitol Hill to pursue more action, the Palm Beach Post reports.
* Sarasota U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, who was seriously injured in a tree-trimming accident at his Sarasota home, said he has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home, the Associated Press reports.
* A dispute between a North Miami cafe owner and Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell incited a deluge of online harassment and prompted the cafe to shut down operations until next month, the Miami Herald reports.
* Tampa Mayor Jane Castor didn’t draw a well-financed, high-profile challenger in the March 7 election, but her chief City Council critic, Bill Carlson, did, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
* Buildworld UK identified the most maligned buildings in the world, judging by the language that people use about them on Twitter, finding the Florida State Capitol the 10th ugliest structure in the U.S., its blog reports.
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DESANTIS WATCH
DeSantis had a packed schedule on Friday, meeting with Director of Policy & Budget Chris Spencer, General Counsel Ryan Newman, Assistant General Counsel Daniel Whitehead, Director of Digital Media Robbie Myers, Director of the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at FIU Carlos Díaz-Rosillo and Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Kelly. He ended the day with an interview with conservative commentator Dan Bongino.
On Saturday, DeSantis was in Kansas City to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars’ NFL playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs won 27-20.
2024 ROUNDUP
* Advisers to Donald Trump have blanketed South Carolina Republican officials with pleading phone calls in recent weeks in an effort to drum up endorsements and attendees for the former president’s first campaign swing of the 2024 cycle next week, the Washington Post reports.
* Strong majorities of Americans believe that both President Joe Biden and Trump acted inappropriately when it came to their handling of classified documents, but in weighing their severity, a plurality of the public believes Trump's actions were more serious, ABC News reports.
* Trump spoke at the memorial service of Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway, half of the conservative duo “Diamond and Silk,” who died suddenly this month, the New York Post reports.
* With DeSantis expected in coming months to formally launch his bid for president, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is emerging as a central player in the governor’s outreach to vaccine skeptics and opponents who form part of the GOP’s voter base, USA TODAY Network-Florida reports.
ANALYSIS & OPINION
* No two governors seem to exemplify nationwide partisan divide more than Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida … especially when you see them side by side, Politico reports.
* Two Miami-Dade city mayors are in hot water, and their offenses may not necessarily be crimes but are disrespectful to their constituents, the Miami Herald editorial board writes.
* Six months after its creation, the Office of Election Crimes and Security has no permanent director, and most of the 15 full-time jobs that the Legislature funded are unfilled - Like so much in DeSantis World, the reality can’t live up to the hype, the Orlando Sentinel’s Steve Bousquet writes.
* Florida legislators have made our state a needlessly dangerous place by encouraging people to buy, carry and use guns more carelessly than even in the Wild West, where the laws in towns like Abilene, Dodge City and Tombstone required visiting cowboys to disarm, the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board writes.
* The reaction to the antisemitic and hateful actions occurring in Jacksonville lately can't be superficial and fleeting, like a projection on a wall, the Florida Times-Union’s Mark Woods writes.
* Biden consenting to a search for more classified documents wasn’t a gesture to show innocence, but a decision to avoid the political damage that Trump received, the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy writes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond … to former Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner … to campaign consultant Jacob Perry … to Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera.
ON THE MOVE: The governor promoted Meredith Ivey to serve as acting secretary of the Department of Economic Opportunity, replacing Dane Eagle; appointed Adrienne Johnston as president and CEO of CareerSource Florida, replacing Michelle Dennard … and named the DEO’s Mike DeNapoli as executive director of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, succeeding Trey Price.
Valerie Wickboldt, the Assistant Vice President of Strategic Communications for HCA Healthcare's North Florida Division in Tallahassee, also has been named to the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend.
CONGRATULATIONS: Cissy Proctor, managing partner at LSN Partners’ Tallahassee office, marks four years at the firm.
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
“Can we truly be free if so-called leaders claim to be, I quote, ‘on the vanguard of freedom,’ while they dare to restrict the rights of the American people and attack the very foundation of freedom?”
– Vice President Kamala Harris, via USA TODAY Network-Florida, during her Tallahassee speech on the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
NEXT STORY: First Read for Friday, Jan. 20, 2023