Good morning and happy Friday.
Charcuterie. Crackers. Champagne. Trump wine.
Last night’s event to honor grassroots Florida Republicans had all the markings of a run-of-the-mill Mar-a-Lago shindig, with an estimated 250 guests basking in the open air to songs from a Trump rally soundtrack, clustered around the club’s famous pool.
But what made the evening different was what former President Donald Trump did leading up to it. In New York, he’d been the subject of a civil fraud trail. But here in Florida, he’d outmaneuvered and outshined his primary opponents by holding a well-attended rally on the same night as the Miami debate — and worked to gain endorsements from state leaders. After declaring Florida “Trump Country” over the last two weeks, he made it clear to his guests last night that he considered the 2024 GOP nomination to be over.
“It was a capstone event not focused on the primary,” said U.S. congressional candidate and Trump supporter Anthony Sabatini, who was one of eight guests Playbook spoke with before and after the event.
Officially, the event was billed as a way for Trump to show appreciation to Florida Republican county leaders. It was part meet and greet, part Trump rally and — as one guest put it — a way to allow grassroots Republicans to experience the “mystique” of Mar-a-Lago.
Republican Party of Florida Chairman Christian Ziegler welcomed attendees early in the evening and state Sen. Joe Gruters introduced Trump. The Republican Party of Florida has repeatedly stressed it will stay neutral in the presidential race, but told its members they should feel free to attend all events for Republican candidates they’d like.
Trump was about 45 minutes late getting onstage as several guests took turns joining him backstage to pose for photos. He then spoke for about 45 minutes, first praising numerous guests in attendance who endorsed him and then hit all his favorite themes including railing against President Joe Biden’s Iran deal and the indictments against him — and how the world would be more safe if he was still president. Three guests told Playbook that Trump mentioned Gov. Ron DeSantis only in passing.
Trump also expressed gratitude for most of the guests in the room, the many volunteers who help organize the Republican Party in Florida. Two guests who are undecided in the 2024 contest, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Playbook it meant a lot to them. State Rep. Randy Fine, who recently shifted his support from DeSantis to Trump, said the former president made it clear to the crowd that he would be relying on their hard work in the state to help him win the general election.
OTHER GUESTS SPOTTED LAST NIGHT: U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds, Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Greg Steube, Mike Waltz and Dan Webster. State Reps. Webster Barnaby and Paula Stark, state Sen. Debbie Mayfield; and former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. Trump also had dinner with a handful of state legislators and U.S. House members.
— WHERE’S RON? Gov. DeSantis will speak at a Veterans for DeSantis Meet and Greet event in Ames, Iowa, at 7:30 p.m. EST. He’ll be with the PAC supporting his presidency, Never Back Down, in Iowa on Saturday.
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PASSIDOMO’S SESSION — Senate President Kathleen Passidomo will prioritize nurse and doctor shortages, reports POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian. The Senate Committee on Health Policy will hold a workshop Tuesday to discuss ways to fill chronic staffing shortages in the health care industry. Passidomo wrote in a memo to senators on Thursday that shortages of doctors, nurses and other medical specialists will only worsen as the state’s population continues to grow. She also wants to increase access to health care and incentivize innovation.
PROPOSAL — DeSantis administration wants to swap sociology for history as core university course, reports POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. The change was sparked by a far-reaching higher education law passed by Florida Republicans earlier this year that created a prohibition on spending tied to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, and launched a statewide review of college courses and programs.
PAUSED — Pro-Palestinian groups targeted by DeSantis still allowed at Florida universities, reports POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. The DeSantis administration is attempting to disband pro-Palestinian groups on Florida’s college campuses but so far, the state has been unable take any action.
Students for Justice in Palestine groups at two universities are facing intense scrutiny from DeSantis yet have not been “deactivated,” as requested by the state’s top university official, in large part because of lingering legal concerns. As a result, the state is now asking the organizations to make certain affirmations to remain active, such as rejecting violence and any ties to Hamas as tensions swirl on colleges around the Israel-Hamas war.
STILL NO STUDIES — Lawmakers aren’t requiring data collection about how much the new home hardening grants help lower people’s insurance costs, reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Lawrence Mower, which to critics was “another sign of the Legislature’s apparent unwillingness to study the state’s insurance crisis, which lawmakers in both parties say has become their top constituent issue.”
— State Supreme Court sides with Duke, PSC on $7.2M customer charge, reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie
AGING IN PLACE — “Florida Department of Elder Affairs seeks $10 million to keep elderly in their homes,” reports Florida Phoenix’s Jackie Llanos. “The new program would fund home improvement projects such as correcting code violations, making the home energy-efficient, and fixing health and safety problems, Curtis Barker, chief financial officer for the department, said during a House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee meeting.”
HB 395 — “New legislation would let DeSantis remove local officials who take down Confederate monuments,” reports Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski. “Legislation filed in the House would protect monuments honoring soldiers, including those who fought for the Confederate States of America against the federal government, and would give the state a wide variety of enforcement powers against local officials who subverted the legislative will.”
‘SHAM CONVICTION’ — “Oren Miller been exonerated,” reports Ryan Grim of The Intercept. “On Thursday, a Florida appeals court overturned the conviction of the 73-year-old retiree turned former Sumter County commissioner, who was removed from office by DeSantis in 2021 amid a battle with the Florida governor’s high-dollar donors. The court took the unusual step of not just vacating the previous conviction, but also instructing the lower court to insert a new verdict of ‘not guilty.’”
CASE CLOSED — A second investigation into claims of impropriety against Miami Beach Rep. Fabián Basabe ended similarly as the first, with a finding of “no evidence” of wrongdoing by the freshman lawmaker, reports Florida Politics’ Jesse Scheckner.
NEW COLLEGE — State officials approved an accountability plan for the school that reduces past goals, reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar. “It lowers four-year graduation rate goals for first-time-in-college students to 50% for students who entered New College from fall 2020 through fall 2023. The previous plan — authored last year by the school’s former leaders — set a goal of 62% for students entering in 2020, rising to 67% for the class starting in 2022.”
‘TURNAROUND SCHOOL’ — Richard Corcoran gets final blessing to take over New College of Florida, reports POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. The former Republican House speaker and state education commissioner could earn more than $1 million annually as president in a contract that scored its final blessing by the Board of Governors over the state university system, which approved Corcoran during a meeting in Orlando on Thursday. One board member — another former Republican House speaker, José Oliva — voted against Corcoran.
— “Some Airbnb guests are unwittingly renting homes in Florida from an unusual owner: one of the world’s largest private-equity firms,” reports Fortune’s Steve Mollman
ABORTION RIGHTS BALLOT — “Abortion rights are winning in red states. Florida may be the exception.” The problem with the current abortion rights initiative, per POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian, is that while Florida Democrats want to protect access to abortion, they’re struggling to fund the initiative and gather enough signatures by Feb. 1 to qualify to get it on the ballot.
This is key: Floridians Protecting Freedom, the main group organizing the initiative, has raised almost $9 million as of the end of September, though the group says it’s taken in at least $12 million. But the group’s leaders say 80 percent of the contributions came from in-state donors — sparking worries that big donors from out-of-state and national groups are dismissing Florida. By comparison, Ohio’s Issue 1, the initiative enshrining abortion rights in that state’s Constitution, raised more than $28 million, including close to $13 million from groups based in New York, Washington, D.C., and even Tulsa, Okla.
DEM SEAT TARGET — “Miami-Dade School Board’s Baez-Geller seeks to challenge US Rep. María Elvira Salazar,” reports the Miami Herald’s Max Greenwood. “Beating Salazar is likely to prove challenging for Democrats. A well-known former news anchor, Salazar first won her seat in 2020 when she defeated now-former U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala in a rematch by less than 3 percentage points, but went on to win reelection last year by nearly 15 points. She also has more than $700,000 in her campaign account and the support of the national GOP’s House campaign arm.”
GAMING IT OUT — “Polls suggest DeSantis is done. Here are 5 reasons he might not be:” unknown factors include what happens if Trump is convicted and what DeSantis could do as governor to showcase his leadership, reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Jay Cridlin.
— “Five moments GOP presidential hopefuls spoke to Florida residents on important issues here,” by the Palm Beach Post’s Stephany Matat
TODAY — U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is holding a U.S. Senate Committee on Aging field hearing in Tampa about “Veterans Access to Care, Services and Economic Opportunity” with GOP U.S. Reps Gus Bilirakis, Laurel Lee and Anna Paulina Luna.
THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR EATING — Trump served reporters a special dessert during an off-the-record dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, per Semafor’s Max Tani
IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT — State Rep. Linda Chaney (R-St. Pete Beach) has introduced a bill that would create a “Margaritaville” state license plate in Florida.
BIRTHDAYS: Mark Herron, attorney with Messer Caparello, P.A. … Journalist and writer Alan Gomez … Carlos Becerra, associate vice president of government and community affairs for Florida International University … (Saturday) Tallahassee Democrat’s TaMaryn Waters … author and Florida man chronicler Craig Pittman … former Rep. Corrine Brown … Rene Rodriguez, manager of the Bill Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami … (Sunday) State Sen. Nick DiCeglie … former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp … Linda Shelley, former chief of staff for Gov. Lawton Chiles … Taylor Patrick Biehl of Capitol Alliance Group … Florida Politics’ Gray Rohrer
