First Read for Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

Good morning. It’s National Carver Day, honoring Dr. George Washington Carver, who created more than 300 products from peanuts. Florida is ranked 3rd in peanut production in the country, growing over 561 million pounds a year.

FIRST UP

Florida’s Byron Donalds, the Naples Republican just elected to his second term in Congress, suddenly emerged this week as a contender to be the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The chamber was leaderless as of Wednesday night, however, with no candidate – including expected favorite Kevin McCarthy of California – capturing the requisite 218 votes after two days and six rounds of voting. 

At last tally, the staunchly conservative Donalds had received 20 votes. That was after the House Freedom Caucus put his name into play, and after Donalds voted for McCarthy.  “We want to see a process where power is actually devolved back to the (individual) members of Congress,” Donalds later said on Fox News’ America Reports. Regarding the speakership vote, he said, “It may be me, it may not be me.”

Despite the possibility of the nation having the first Black U.S. House speaker, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, who also is Black, took a shot at Donalds on Twitter, calling him “a prop … He supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress – it’s pathetic.” 

Despite that and other criticism, Donalds wasn’t backing down: “Leadership challenges are a good thing for our party, and they're actually a good thing for America,” he said. “The days of power by acclimation … are over. It needs to be earned.” The House finally adjourned for the night after 8 p.m. Eastern time, with more voting expected today. 

– Jim Rosica 

FROM CITY & STATE 

* A state appeals court dealt a setback to the parents of a victim of the Parkland school shooting who have weighed filing a lawsuit against gun maker Smith & Wesson and a store that sold a semi-automatic rifle used in the 2018 attack.

* Congress is moving forward with plans to spend $45 million on a new program that will help communities build paths or connect existing trails for cyclists and pedestrians.

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

* Far-right Republican incoming members of the U.S. House, partly led by several Florida lawmakers, continue to resist the nomination of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House, the Palm Beach Post reports.

* Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is asking state colleges and universities for information about resources they are putting into activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory, the News Service of Florida reports.

* With the inauguration now behind him, the governor starts his second term needing to fill top spots in key agencies, Florida Politics reports.

* A review of the scorecard DeSantis unveiled in his inauguration speech shows Florida can lay claim to the No. 1 spot in three areas cited, but could face a challenge from Texas in one other, and may fall short of the top spot in four others, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. 

* Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo may have violated research integrity rules when he discouraged young men from receiving coronavirus vaccines, according to a report from a University of Florida medical school faculty task force, the Washington Post reports. 

More news below …

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* DeSantis and other Republicans are declaring war on aspects of corporate America for being too “woke,” USA Today reports.

* Broward County commissioners will take the first step next week to break away from the Sheriff’s Office as the operator for 911 services in the region, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. 

* A resort community near Disney World has turned into a rallying spot for supporters of former right-wing Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, a politician dubbed the “Trump of the tropics,” the Orlando Sentinel reports.

* Wildlife officials say more than six dozen threatened manatees are currently in rehabilitation centers in Florida and elsewhere amid a chronic starvation problem caused by water pollution, the Associated Press reports. 

* Plaintiffs in the redistricting case against the City of Jacksonville argued the city has not made a convincing case to suspend a federal court’s ruling and instead allow the use of its own map in the upcoming March election, the Florida Times-Union reports. 

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DESANTIS WATCH 

The governor had a call with Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and meetings with Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris, Communications Director Taryn Fenske, Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie and General Counsel Ryan Newman, according to his official schedule for Wednesday. 

2024 ROUNDUP

* While Democrats fared better than expected in the midterm elections, the party will face tremendous headwinds in maintaining their razor-thin Senate majority come 2024, having to defend 23 of the 34 Senate seats up for grabs, Fox News reports. 

* Donald Trump’s intervention in the speaker of the U.S. House standoff failed to flip a single vote, showing that it’s not 2016 anymore, the National Review’s Charles Cooke writes.

* A Trump campaign insider said his recent comments about abortion as a political issue show the former president has lost his ability to read Republican voters, the Guardian reports.

ANALYSIS & OPINION 

* DeSantis’ second inaugural address was aimed at a faraway national audience of Republican presidential primary voters and peddled Florida as being the freest state, the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board writes.

* The flood-prone, working-class “streets of Hialeah” don’t owe its “freedom” to DeSantis. Neither does the rest of Florida, the Miami Herald’s Fabiola Santiago writes. 

* It’s been a year since her family left New York for Florida, and they intend to stay under the leadership of Gov. DeSantis, Karol Markowicz writes for Fox News. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Christie Mason, Florida-based director of government affairs at Lumen Technologies … to former state Rep. Ronald “Doc” Renuart of Ponte Vedra Beach … to Mark Schlueb, director of strategic communications for the University of Central Florida.

ON THE MOVE: Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced the appointment of Rick “Lee” Adams Jr. to be the new director of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Agriculture Law Enforcement. He will replace James Wiggins, according to a press release.

CareerSource Florida President and CEO Michelle Dennard this week turned in her resignation, effective Jan. 31, to “pursue new opportunities.” The organization is the statewide workforce policy and investment board. Dennard, who was on the City & State Florida Women Power 100 list, has been with CareerSource since 2017. 

After stepping down last month as secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Dane Eagle has joined the Ballard Partners lobbying firm. Eagle, a Republican from Lee County, had led the department since 2020, after serving eight years in the Florida House, including a stint as House Republican leader.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott announced the promotions of Clare Lattanze to deputy communications director and Madeline Holzmann to press secretary, and the hirings of Hannah Payne as digital director and Juan Arias as speechwriter. Rosa Perez and McKinley Lewis will continue in their roles as Hispanic press secretary and communications director respectively, according to a press release from Scott’s office.

DeSantis named former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva to the State University System Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s 12 public universities. Oliva replaces Jacksonville businessman Kent Stermon, who died last month. 

Elder law and elections law attorney Max Jordan Solomon announced he had been made partner at his Tallahassee law firm, now renamed Heuler, Wakeman, Solomon Law Group, which marks its 10th anniversary this year. 

With the departure of Simone Marstiller from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, Jason Weida has become interim secretary of the agency, according to the AHCA website. Weida, an attorney, most recently worked as the agency’s chief of staff after serving as an assistant deputy secretary. 

The News Service of Florida contributed to this section. 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

"Man, I'm 6'2", 275, I'm not worried about that."

– U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, via ABC News’ Evan McMurry, responding to a reporter asking whether he was concerned about “retribution” for opposing Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House.