Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down in the Sunshine State?
Reporter Atyia Collins of Jacksonville’s First Coast News has no doubt learned to always check the mic, lest it be hot. A live microphone picked up her comments before Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tort reform announcement in Jacksonville. She was caught saying she wanted to ask the governor a question to make him “uncomfortable.” She did in fact ask about banning school books, but DeSantis brushed it off. And, no surprise, Collins became “journactivist” grist for Christina Pushaw’s Twitter feed. Irony alert: This was the same week DeSantis also pushed for lowering legal standards to sue journalists. Ouch.
Richard Corcoran -
The former House speaker and state education commissioner just waltzed into a massive – albeit temporary – payday. As interim president of New College of Florida, Richard Corcoran’s annual salary is going to be almost $700,000, double that of the last president. Aside from the salary, he is also getting $104,850 annually in retirement compensation, $84,000 for housing and $12,000 for his car allowance. It’s gotta be impossible to beat a substitute gig like this.
Matt Gaetz -
As you no doubt know by now, the feds decided not to charge the Panhandle congressman in a long-standing sex trafficking investigation. Matt Gaetz told Glenn Greenwald that he wasn’t surprised, but we did expect him to quote Raymond Donovan, the Reagan-era labor secretary who was acquitted of fraud charges: “Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?”
Chip LaMarca -
During a special session filled with controversial legislation, state Rep. Chip LaMarca carried a bill that everyone agreed on. It tweaks the state’s name, image and likeness law, got unanimous support in both chambers of the state Legislature, and was promptly signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. College athletes in the state will now be able to receive recommendations about endorsements from coaches, schools and support organizations, but pay-for-play agreements will still be banned under NCAA rules.
Pete Filiberto -
It’s a lede that journalists dream about writing: “Palm Bay City Council Member Pete Filiberto was arrested … on charges of riding his motorcycle while impaired and carrying 10 grams of cocaine in his shoe.” It’s peak 1980s throwback, like stumbling across a “Miami Vice” rerun on late night TV. Of course, he’s innocent until proven guilty. But still: “Chopper Sock Coke”? Just brainstorming for the book title.
Anna Paulina Luna -
The recent Washington Post story about U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has its troubles, including an awkward correction. But there are things that don’t add up. Like Luna claiming she had Jewish heritage and was “raised as a Messianic Jew by her father.” But family members said “her father was Catholic, and that they were not aware of him practicing any form of Judaism while Luna was growing up.” And she had a grandfather who served in the armed forces of Nazi Germany?
Vincent Viola -
The billionaire owner of the Florida Panthers hockey team has been accused – in a civil lawsuit, to be clear – of using “his control of a large publicly traded financial services company to improperly divert hundreds of millions of dollars to himself, his family and his cronies.” Getting past the fact that we at first confused Vincent Viola for a character from a Quentin Tarantino movie, we’re sure that a guy with a net worth of $3.4 billion will get this all worked out.
NEXT STORY: Florida’s political power couples