Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down in the Sunshine State?
It’s been another week of ups and downs for Gov. Ron DeSantis. One inarguably big win for the governor was a judge’s creation of executive privilege in Florida law. That came in a fight over the identity of “legal conservative heavyweights” he consults before picking state Supreme Court justices. He made a splash by asking the state’s universities about services they offer to those “suffering from gender dysphoria.” He and GOP lawmakers won a gun case appeal, but a federal judge turned down his request for “mental examinations” of 12-year-olds challenging the state over prohibiting Medicaid coverage of transgender care. Hmmm. Are we winners or losers for being so infatuated with his travails?
Jane Castor -
In a boss move, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor “did something … no Tampa mayor has done for a long time: She used her veto power, sending five proposed changes to the City Charter back to City Council,” the Tampa Bay Times reported. How long? Possibly “for the first time in decades.” Adding a wee bit of insult to injury, some council members first found out about the vetoes … by reading about them in the newspaper.
Dana Galen -
We’re not sure if before now you could find a local political party chairperson’s songs on Spotify, but you can now. Dana Galen became Hillsborough County’s first black Republican chairperson this week, replacing Jim Waurishuk. The daughter of two musicians who grew up in St. Louis public housing, Galen had her own music career before eventually retiring to Florida where she jumped into politics. She joins Michael Barnett of Palm Beach County as the state’s only black GOP chairpersons.
Rocky Hanna -
Rocky Hanna, the elected superintendent of schools for Leon County, has been sticking a thumb in the DeSantis administration’s eye for some time now, starting with COVID-19 mask mandates. This week, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit against the school district that was sparked by staff talking to a teen about her gender identity without her parents’ knowledge, despite Florida's Parental Rights in Education law. Can you hear “Gonna Fly Now”?
Gary Bettman -
It’s not every day you see the NHL commissioner checked into the boards. The National Hockey League had posted a job fair on LinkedIn tied into the league’s upcoming All-Star Game in Sunrise. The post said applicants “must be 18 years of age or older … and identify as female, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and/or a person with a disability.” After Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office blasted it for being discriminatory, Bettman and the league took the original post down, and now only require applicants to be 18 and older.
Michael Grieco -
The former state representative and current Miami Beach commissioner may get his law license revoked thanks to a campaign finance scandal. A judge tasked with investigating the matter, which stems from a 2017 case in which a political committee that Grieco ran accepted $25,000 of foreign money funneled through a straw donor, recommended Grieco's license get suspended for 90 days. This is not how Grieco likely wants to make headlines with a potential Miami Beach mayoral bid in his future.
Anatoly Legkodymov -
A Russian national who is the majority owner and founder of a global cryptocurrency exchange, Anatoly Legkodymov was arrested by Miami authorities after he allegedly helped process $700 million in illicit funds. The exchange, allegedly, frequently did transactions with a dark net marketplace that was closed in 2022 after being accused of selling drugs, hacking services and personal information.
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