By Kimberly Leonard

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Moms for Liberty meeting in Philadelphia, on June 30, 2023. | Matt Rourke/AP Photo

Good morning and happy Friday. 

Evidence is mounting that Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t have the king-like stature in Florida that he once enjoyed.

His ability to control all levers of government and reshape the state’s political landscape allowed him to rule in the state by setting the agenda while the rest of the Legislature and the state party went along. Lately, though, he’s getting more pushback.

College boards comprised of his appointees are rejecting presidential candidates with either links or backing by the DeSantis administration. The board that oversees many of Florida’s affordable housing programs recently placed its DeSantis-backed executive director on leave.

Then there’s the politics. Several Republicans are already floating their names for governor for a race that’s three years away. The Republican Party of Florida rescinded its loyalty pledge, at the behest of former President Donald Trump supporters and against DeSantis’ wishes.

Billionaire Ken Griffin, a Chicago-to-Miami transplant who was a DeSantis megadonor, criticized several of DeSantis’ policies on camera with CNBC. A speech by the incoming House speaker was widely interpreted as a broadside against the governor’s “conveyer belt” tactics, even though he insisted it shouldn’t be.

Interviews with nearly two dozen lobbyists, political consultants and lawmakers revealed many expect DeSantis to be relegated back to Florida as a lame-duck governor weaker than he was before, when he once seemed like a safe bet for the GOP presidential nomination.

What that means for the Legislature reasserting itself in Tallahassee is still an open question. Planning for their next session will be in full swing just as Iowa, New Hampshire and Iowa are voting. DeSantis may view the lawmaking period as an opportunity to get media attention and win over slabs of GOP primary voters in other states, but the legislature may have a different idea if Trump notches early wins.

“There’s no love lost between the Legislature and DeSantis…They are faking it. They are waiting long enough to see the king drained of all his power. It’s a slow-motion coup,” a major lobbyist in Tallahassee said.

For now the governor still has many who fear crossing him publicly, knowing that he wields the line-item budget veto pen. He also still has supporters who point to his record of success in the state.

State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who endorsed DeSantis, contended that the governor continued to enjoy strong support among legislators and said sarcastically that it was “shocking that some people in politics are fair weather actors.”

— Reported with Gary Fineout.

— WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis is continuing his fundraising swing in Texas. His interview with Glenn Beck will air Saturday.

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VAX LAPSE — Ron DeSantis is doubling down on Covid vaccine skepticism. It probably won’t work, by POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg: “Covid restrictions have gone from a dominant issue that got talked about all the time in the focus groups to one that never comes up. People just don’t talk about it anymore,” said Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican strategist who routinely conducts focus groups. “Covid cost him one of his calling cards, and it left him with more of the woke, culture war, Disney stuff that doesn’t work that well for him.”

COVID CASES RISING — DeSantis delivered Covid booster warning as Florida led the nation in hospitalizations, by POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing Florida’s hospitalization rate was 10.65 per 100,000 residents during the week ending on Sept. 9. Washington, D.C. was next with 10.06 per 100,000, followed by Arkansas.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT — “Florida Shuffle: State's failure to oversee addiction treatment leaves patients in deadly danger,” by Palm Beach Post’s Antigone Barton: “The Florida Shuffle starts when unqualified providers lure patients to the state, marketing addiction treatment that has met no medical standard. It feeds a corrupt economy that makes failed treatment more profitable than recovery. Raising the odds of patients slipping back into substance use, the Florida Shuffle feeds a toll of overdose deaths that is among the highest in the nation. It is a cycle enabled by the inaction and incompetence of Florida’s Department of Children and Families, the agency that is supposed to oversee private addiction treatment, a Palm Beach Post investigation has found.”

VOTING LAW — “Eleventh Circuit won’t bulge, reaffirms Florida’s 2021 voting restrictions law,” by Florida Phoenix's Michael Moline: “The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has refused to take a second look at a voter suppression law passed in Florida three years ago, over a dissent complaining that the court majority was breaking promises made in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments. The effect is to let stand a split ruling by a three-judge panel of the same court in spring last year to allow enforcement of the law, SB 90, that will interfere with the right to vote using drop boxes and provide food and water to people waiting in line to vote, and that erects barriers in front of organizations seeking to register voters.”

DeSantis administration responds: “Today, the full United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rightly voted against rehearing the reversal of an activist judge and affirmed, yet again, Florida’s common-sense elections provisions signed into law by Governor DeSantis in 2021. We will continue to fight to make Florida’s elections secure, efficient, and transparent,” press secretary Jeremy Redfern said in a written statement.

NEW COLLEGE — “Changes bring friction, and lawsuits, to Florida college targeted by DeSantis,” by NYT’s Patricia Mazzei: “More than a third of last year’s faculty members — about three dozen — are gone. So are about 125 students who chose not to return. In a school that last year had about 700 students total, the freshman class of 338 is the largest ever; it also has a higher proportion of Black, Hispanic and male students than previous ones did, according to the administration. More than 200 students have been moved from on-campus dorms to off-campus hotels to make room for the recruited athletes and other new students.”

TAB DUE — “Florida families say school vouchers are unpaid, causing major disruption,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Jeffrey S. Solochek: “It’s a situation being played out across Florida, as private schools and families scramble to make ends meet amid the growing pains of the state’s expanded voucher program. Lawmakers lifted the eligibility requirements for the system, leading to a doubling of participation this fall to more than 400,000 children. The disruption appears to have affected thousands of students, while parents and school officials say they have been unable to get answers from those in charge of the $4 billion voucher system.”

SURPASSING TEXAS — “Florida is the nation's book banning leader, according to national free speech group,” by the Palm Beach Post’s Douglas Soule: “It had more than double the bans of No. 2 Texas, according to a new report by national free speech group PEN America. The report found 3,362 instances of books banned across the nation in the 2022-23 school year, up 33% from the previous one. Forty percent of those were courtesy of Florida school districts.”

FILE - U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., listens during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 23, 2022. The outgoing senator left office Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, to become the University of Florida's new president and said he knows he may be remembered more for his criticisms of former President Donald Trump than for the policies he supported. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) | AP

INSIDE UF — “On campus with UF President Ben Sasse as he seeks a ‘north star’ beyond rankings,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar: “He’s suggested that many faculty and departments aren’t pulling their weight. He wants UF to build a stronger presence across the state and nation, with less focus on the Gainesville campus.”

STORM LOSSES — “Florida agriculture estimated losses between $78M and $371M from Hurricane Idalia,” by The Associated Press’ Curt Anderson: “Predicted losses for livestock are pegged at between $30.1 million and $123.4 million, according to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences report. Estimates for field and row crop losses are between $30.7 million and $93.6 million, with greenhouse and nursery products accounting for between $4.7 million and $68.8 million.”

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT — “Florida high court won’t stop execution of 1996 killer of Panhandle woman,” by News Service of Florida’s Jim Saunders: “The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously refused to block the scheduled Oct. 3 execution of Michael Duane Zack, rejecting arguments that he should be spared the death penalty because of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.”

TOMORROW — Miami commissioners will meet to discuss how to fill the seat left vacant by the arrest and suspension of Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla. They either have to appoint a temporary replacement within 10 days or call for a special election.

ALL ABOARD — “First private US passenger rail line in 100 years is about to link Miami and Orlando at high speed,” by The Associated Press’ Terry Spencer and Daniel Kozin: “The only other U.S. high-speed line is Amtrak’s Acela service between Boston and Washington, D.C., which began in 2000.”

CHARGES — “Ex-CEO of disgraced domestic violence coalition faces charges of fraud, theft, misconduct,” by the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas: Tiffany Carr, the former head of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence has been charged with organizing a “scheme to defraud, grand theft and official misconduct. Carr, 54, is being charged with Patricia Duarte, 57, the former chief financial officer of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who turned herself in late Tuesday. Both women are accused of padding the books at the defunct taxpayer-funded organization to compensate themselves using funds provided through grants intended to help fund domestic violence shelters across Florida.”

— “Stoneman Douglas building, site of Parkland shooting, will be demolished next summer,” by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Lisa Huriash

DEMS ON IMMIGRATION — Florida Democrats are planning to message heavily on immigration ahead of the 2024 election in a bid to help roll back Republican gains in the state, Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said.

In an interview with Playbook, the former agriculture commissioner said a new law making it harder for undocumented people to work and seek health care in Florida is already adversely affecting the state’s economy and safety of the state’s Hispanic residents. She predicted the measures would take a toll on the construction and agriculture industries — the second and third-largest sectors of Florida’s economy — and open the door for racial profiling against the state’s Hispanic and Caribbean communities.

Fried said that with the right message, her party can capitalize on recent increases in registered Democrat and no-party affiliated voters in the state and rebuild trust with communities in the state that have soured on Democrats, including in rural counties.

“This is our opportunity to fight for those who have created the fabric of our state,” Fried said. “And this is an opportunity for us to show the human side.”

— Eric Bazail-Eimil

President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

EXECUTIVE ORDER — President Joe Biden today will hold an event to announce the creation of a federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The idea originated from a bill Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fl.) introduced to coordinate gun violence prevention efforts across federal agencies.

NEXT — Trump will skip the third GOP debate in Miami, Bloomberg reported.

BIRTHDAYS: State Sen. Jennifer Bradley … William Stander of WHISPER LLC … (Saturday) Former Rep. Al Lawson … Hillsborough County Property Appraiser and former state Rep. Bob Henriquez …

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