This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

After a tumultuous time with her job floating in the air, Vickie Cartwright will get to keep her job as Broward schools superintendent – at least for now. While the conversation around whether to remove her may come up again, the county school board’s decision this week runs in contrast with the decision to fire her, one of the final actions taken by the previous DeSantis appointee-controlled board. The reversal likely has her sighing with relief.

Pardon the Eurythmics-Aretha Franklin reference, but “sisters are doin' it for themselves” in South Florida. Former Miami-Dade School Board member Christi Fraga was elected the first woman mayor of Doral (pop. roughly 76,000) and only the third mayor of the city since its incorporation almost 20 years ago. Fraga no doubt wanted the job based on her prodigious fundraising, garnering nearly half a million dollars since filing for the race in January, as Florida Politics reported.

The aide to Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow was elected Leon County Democratic Party chair, a development that marks a steep increase in his political profile virtually overnight. It also marks a solid win for the county’s progressive wing. Ray will be tasked with making Democrats more competitive in pivotal battles in coming years, like challenging Republican state Sen. Corey Simon. 

It’s never a good look for a politician when some of your supporters belong to what’s described as a “far-right, white nationalist and exclusively male organization.” Broward School Board member Brenda Fam, only recently elected, said she welcomes political support from everyone – including the Proud Boys. That got her blasted by civil rights groups and even some other members of the board, the Sun Sentinel reported.

If having her whistleblower complaints publicly debunked and then losing by double digits this election cycle weren’t enough, Rebekah Jones agreed to admit guilt to what is essentially a hacking charge. She entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors to end the case. Yet again, she is not, as they say, telling the whole truth about the deal, perhaps in an attempt to save face with funders, probably the only folks who still believe her when she cries wolf.

The Republican mayor of Miami was being touted as a potential 2024 presidential candidate and a cryptocurrency wiz. Now, with the failure of MiamiCoin and the city’s awkward relationship with belly-up crypto exchange FTX, national media is clowning on Francis Suarez. He’s doubled down on his infatuation with Big Tech, though, tweeting to Elon Musk to bring Twitter’s HQ to Miami. Does Elon like that much sun anyway?