Halloween is coming up, landing just days before the Nov. 3 election. And in Florida politics, plenty of people have been in costume for weeks.
Byron Donalds is dressed as a candidate who’s never heard of Donald Trump. His campaign quietly deemphasized Trump’s endorsement on his website as Trump’s approval numbers sag and Americans become increasingly disillusioned with this administration. That’s a tough costume to pull off when Trump flies into Fort Myers to rally for you.
David Jolly, meanwhile, is a former Republican Congressman dressed as a Democrat. And his latest ad has him borrowing Ronald Reagan’s old “are you better off” line. So he’s an ex-Republican dressed as a Democrat while impersonating a Republican to appeal to Democrats and Republicans. Good luck keeping track!
Andrew Parrott is the Invisible Man — unwillingly. About 9,000 Lake County mail ballots in Florida’s 6th Congressional District left the Libertarian off the list of candidates entirely. Whoops.
There have also been plenty of treats in recent weeks in the form of big-name visitors. Bill Clinton came to Florida for Jolly. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries came for Eliott Rodriguez. And Trump visited for the first of two stops just ahead of Election Day.
Whatever tricks are left in the opposition research files, now is the time to play them.
The costumes all come off Nov. 3. Then we find out who’s actually underneath.
Now, it’s on to our weekly game of winners and losers.
Winners
Honorable mention: Alex Rizo. U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez has now endorsed Rizo in the Republican Primary for Senate District 39. That means two of Miami-Dade County’s three Republican members of Congress are in Rizo’s corner, after U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart endorsed him a few weeks ago.
The seat opened in August when Bryan Ávila resigned to become Donalds’ running mate. Trump won it by 38 points in 2024, so whoever wins the GOP Primary is all but guaranteed the seat.
What makes these endorsements interesting is how the race has shaken out. It’s a two-man fight between Hialeah Republicans, and it’s giving off vibes of a DeSantis-versus-Trump proxy war.
Rizo backed the Governor in the 2024 Presidential Primary, and Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed him for SD 39 in September.
Rizo’s opponent, state Rep. David Borrero, has gone the other way. He’s been leaning hard on his Trump credentials, reminding everyone that he was one of the first five Florida lawmakers to back Trump’s comeback bid for the White House.
So you’d think Miami’s Trump-friendly members of Congress would line up behind Borrero.
In 2023, Trump was racking up endorsements from Florida’s congressional delegation while DeSantis was still deciding whether to run. Giménez was among the early endorsers. Díaz-Balart eventually backed Trump too.
Three years later, Díaz-Balart and Giménez are both backing the DeSantis guy over the self-styled Trump loyalist. It’s a sign that Borrero’s pro-Trump gambit may not be paying off here.
Borrero is no pushover though, and if Trump himself weighs in, a few congressional endorsements could get drowned out fast.
But for now, Rizo appears to have the upper hand.
Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Amendment 3 opponents. The polling continues to look grim for the push to raise the property tax exemption, and one of the men most responsible for putting it on the ballot is now against it.
This week, Senate President Ben Albritton said he’s voting “no.” That comes just a few months after he presided over the Senate as the body voted 30-9 to approve the ballot initiative.
Albritton — whose roots come from, and whose district covers, a big swath of rural Florida — said the amendment could wipe out as much as 30% of the money rural counties rely on. He warned that would gut funding for law enforcement, emergency response and infrastructure in those communities, which already struggle with funding.
That’s a significant turn from May. Before the Special Session, Albritton sent Senators a memo saying he couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday than giving every homeowner $250,000 in tax relief, adding the plan would protect funding for public safety.
Albritton joins former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who also approved putting Amendment 3 on the ballot but is now voting against it in November.
On top of that, a University of North Florida survey released Wednesday put support for Amendment 3 at 50%, well short of the 60% needed to pass.
Look, voters are clearly frustrated with property tax bills, and plenty of homeowners would welcome the relief as costs continue to spiral.
But it’s tough to sell when Sheriffs, police unions, firefighters and top Republican legislators are lining up against it.
The biggest winner: St. Pete. If this is the Trop’s playoff farewell tour, it’s been one hell of a ride.
The Rays are American League champions after beating Cleveland in six games. After clinching the ALCS in front of a home crowd, Tampa Bay has reached its third World Series, this time against Milwaukee.
Neither franchise has ever won a World Series, so somebody is about to make history.
Tropicana Field will host Games 3 and 4 of the World Series on Monday and Tuesday, plus Game 5 on Wednesday if it gets that far. That will mark the first World Series baseball in St. Pete since 2008, as the Rays played the 2020 Series in a bubble in Texas during the pandemic.
After everything the Trop and city have been through, this is a remarkable turnaround. The Rays’ run will fill not just the stadium, but bars, restaurants and hotel rooms as well. The Rays are even opening the Trop for watch parties during the road games, so the building will stay busy.
Of course, there’s also the bittersweet side to all of this. The Rays are planning a new ballpark in Tampa, set to open in 2029. That means this Series could be the last one St. Petersburg ever hosts.
But if it ends in the first-ever title for the best small-market team in baseball, we’re sure fans would take that trade-off.
Losers
Dishonorable mention: Alix Desulme. Check, please.
A court has kicked the North Miami Mayor off the Nov. 3 ballot because he paid his qualifying fees improperly.
Desulme’s only opponent, George Morgan, filed an emergency complaint Oct. 8, arguing that Desulme broke state election law by paying with two cashier’s checks instead of checks written from his campaign account.
On Monday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko Sanchez agreed and ruled that Desulme was disqualified, giving Morgan the win.
Desulme’s team argued it was a minor slip. The Judge didn’t buy it.
The timing wasn’t ideal, with the ruling landing on the first day of early voting. Desulme’s name was already printed on the ballots, requiring polling places to notify voters that the race is uncontested.
But then — plot twist! Desulme’s team tried to get Morgan tossed too, filing a counterclaim that argued Morgan’s qualifying check came up 80 cents short. Desulme asked to reopen qualifying and hold a Special Election in December.
On Thursday, Butchko Sanchez rejected that bid, saying that someone who has already been disqualified can’t challenge another candidate’s qualifications.
Desulme’s team plans to appeal, and this is surely a frustrating way to lose your job. But let this be a reminder to check your checks.
Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: James Craner. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re not done writing about Mike Caruso.
This week, Orange County Circuit Judge Craner went against prosecutors, turning down a request to reconsider his decision letting Caruso out of jail.
Caruso, the suspended Palm Beach County Clerk, is awaiting trial on charges that he groomed and molested a young relative.
At a nearly three-hour detention hearing in August, Craner set bond at $160,000 and lifted a restriction an earlier Judge had imposed barring Caruso from being around children.
Caruso still can’t contact the alleged victim or anyone else connected to the case. But otherwise, per Craner, Caruso is free to be around kids while he awaits trial.
Craner cited concerns about the state’s case, noting that the boy was interviewed 11 times, well beyond what experts recommend, and that his account shifted along the way. Surveillance video from the cruise ship where the abuse allegedly happened was also destroyed before investigators got to it.
Craner also said investigators messed up by not gathering physical evidence to check details of the boy’s story.
But make no mistake, prosecutors have plenty to back up their case. Relatives testified that Caruso had a history of violence and owned at least two assault rifles. An FDLE detective told the court that a woman, now an adult, said Caruso abused her when she was 4. Those other allegations were investigated and never proven, but prosecutors say they support the boy’s account.
To be clear, Caruso hasn’t been convicted of anything. He has pleaded not guilty and has denied the allegations from the get-go. This is just a fight over bail, not a final verdict, and some of the flaws Craner flagged are real. Any defense attorney worth their salt would hammer every one of them in front of a jury.
The question is: What happens before the case gets to a jury? Prosecutors not only argue releasing Caruso isn’t safe, but that he could also interfere with the prosecution.
“He’s too intertwined with the community,” the prosecutors wrote. “He has too many relationships of trust with individuals to be able to manipulate them and coerce them to affect the judicial process of this case.”
Prosecutors argue Craner held the state to too high a bar when making this decision. They’ve asked the Sixth District Court of Appeal to review his original ruling, and hopefully those Judges see fit to err a little more on the side of caution here.
The biggest loser: Jackie Espinosa. In August, the Kissimmee City Commission deadlocked on whether to start impeachment proceedings against Mayor Jackie Espinosa.
This week, the state finished what the city’s elected officials wouldn’t.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that Espinosa had been arrested and facing charges of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud.
The case centers on Business Boost 2.0, a city program that used federal American Rescue Plan Act money to provide grants to small businesses in need. Prosecutors say Espinosa helped create and expand the program, then she and members of her immediate family applied for grants for three businesses they owned or controlled.
Those three businesses took in $50,000 between them, according to the arrest affidavit. Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, whose Office’s audit flagged the grants, said another $40,000 went to tenants in buildings the Espinosa family owns or manages. That brings the total to about $90,000.
To be clear, Espinosa hasn’t been convicted of anything and has entered a written plea of not guilty. Espinosa is certainly entitled to her day in court.
But it’s a tough sell when you’re the one who helped build the program. A Mayor with multiple businesses should probably know which grant programs to sit out.
