Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
— First Shot —
Less than a day after Florida lawmakers approved a new congressional map drawn by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, candidates are beginning to sort out which pocket of Florida they’ll be running to represent this Fall.
So far, only a handful of candidates and incumbents have publicly confirmed their plans, and most of whom have confirmed they will stay put.
The lineup: U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart will run again in CD 26, which lost a stretch of Collier County portion held on to most of its Miami-Dade base; U.S. Rep. Greg Steube is staying in CD 17, which remains strongly Republican but with significantly different borders; and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast will continue his re-election bid in CD 21.
In the newly redrawn CD 25, meanwhile, two Republican candidates who had been running in CD 23 are shifting their battle to a new arena.
Former state Rep. George Moraitis and former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer each confirmed they will run in the newly configured District, which went from covering south and central Broward County to spanning the southeast coast from Delray Beach in Palm Beach County. Sources close to U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz say the second-term Congressman could land there as well — the new district contains roughly half of his current District.
In Central Florida, the race to fill the seat currently held by retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Webster has a couple of takers: Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini filed on Wednesday and less than a day later, former Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker announced he was also considering a run in the District.
The early announcements provide only a partial picture of the post-redistricting landscape. With all 28 seats up for election and qualifying still ahead, more candidates are expected to enter, exit or shift districts in the coming days as the new map sinks in.
— Evening Reads —
—“Supreme Court’s voting rights ruling could fuel new gerrymandering era” via Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times
—“How Trump’s Iran blockade is complicating a high-stakes trip to China” via David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager of The New York Times
—“How the Voting Rights decision may block the rise of young Black leaders” via Rick Rojas of The New York Times
—“The era of normie extremism is here” via Ali Breland of The Atlantic
—“Ron DeSantis does a Hakeem Jeffries impression amid redistricting jabs” via Garrett Shanley of the Tampa Bay Times
—“Secretive push to build new Florida slaughterhouse endangers Lake O” via Craig Pittman of the Florida Phoenix
—“DeSantis calls Sloth World deaths ‘weird’ as Orlando Democrats demand investigation” via Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics
—“Florida workers have pay raises on the line in upcoming budget Special Session” via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics
—“A major new study found AI outperformed doctors in ER diagnosis — but there’s a catch” via Dylan Scott of Vox
—“How Silicon Valley’s brightest parents broke their own school” via Zusha Elinson of The Wall Street Journal
— Quote of the Day —
“He goes out there, and he’s like, um, ‘we’re gonna do maximum warfare against Republicans. Florida Republicans, you F around, you gonna find out,’ all this stuff.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, doing a bad impression of Hakeem Jeffreys.
— Put it on the Tab —
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Order a Boilermaker while you still can — a bill that could put several unions into decertification territory is on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.
It may have middling reviews, but the Unemployment Benefits from the bar taste better than what a slowly decreasing number of Floridians are getting from this economy.
Someone order the Governor all of the Cringe Cocktails, please. Actually, don’t … he might do more impressions.
— Breakthrough Insights —
— Tune In —
Magic on doorstep of historic upset
The Orlando Magic can eliminate the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a win at home on Friday over the Detroit Pistons (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
Orlando leads the best-of-seven series three games to two after Detroit survived last night in a 116-109 final. The game saw a duel between Paolo Banchero of the Magic and Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, who each scored 45 points in the game. Cunningham’s mark was a Pistons’ playoff record. His jumper with 32 seconds remaining helped seal the win for Detroit.
Banchero has been the pacesetter in the postseason, averaging nearly 26 points and more than six assists per game for the Magic.
Now, Game 6 shifts to the Kia Center, where Orlando won Game 3 and Game 4 in the series. If the Magic advance out of the first round, they will face the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers-Toronto Raptors series in the conference semifinals. The Magic are trying to become the seventh team to knock off a top seed as a No. 8 seed in NBA playoff history. Only two No. 8 seeds have advanced to the NBA Finals. Both the 1999 New York Knicks and the 2023 Miami Heat advanced to the finals before losing.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
