This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

The Volusia County state representative squeaked past fellow Florida House member Elizabeth Fetterhoff to scure for the Republican nomination for his seat, tallying a mere 30 more votes than her during a recount decided this week. Their race was the only Florida Legislature race that pitted two incumbents against each other, thanks to redistricting, and in a Republican-leaning district, Barnaby likely punched his ticket back to Tallahassee.

The president of the United Teachers of Dade has been thrust into state-wide political prominence after being selected by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist to be his running mate. While the selection is significantly raise the political profile of Hernández-Mats, she has been attacked daily by Republicans for her link with to a former union member convicted of sexual battery against minors. She and Crist also face an uphill battle as they seek to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis, so while she’s a winner this week, that profile could slide during this election season.

This ousted former Jacksonville sheriff is getting thrown a law enforcement career lifeline from the state, as many observers now expect him to be appointed to lead the FDLE’s Jacksonville operations center. An early honoree on our losers list two months ago, Williams is now in position to begin the climb back into political relevance after receiving a hand from fellow Republicans in the DeSantis administration.

They evoke the memory of Will Smith in “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” flummoxed when his character was caught in a bad situation: “See, what had happened was….” Before the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search, Trump lawyer Bobb told the feds all the documents they were looking for had already been returned – and, along with fellow Trump attorney Corcoran, insists they were cooperating all along. The cache of documents retrieved, however, included pages and pages of “classified material,” CNN reported. So much for a “diligent search!” 

Harris and Kurlander, both Florida residents, pleaded guilty to taking the diary of Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, and selling it before the 2020 election, the New York Times reported. Ashley Biden had been staying in a Delray Beach house and left the diary there, where it was later found by Harris, the next tenant. Not only a good reason to NEVER keep a diary, but also an object lesson in how low people will go for a buck. 

This Miami-Dade commissioner surrendered this week to law enforcement to face two criminal charges amid accusations he accepted $15,000 in exchange for sponsoring a law more than five years ago. Martinez, who claimed before he was arrested that the charges were politically motivated, could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of both charges – and could be the latest local Florida politician to get removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.