By Kimberly Leonard

State Rep. Fentrice Driskell speaks as Democratic lawmakers and invited speakers hold a press conference on Nov. 15, 2021, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

Good morning on this Friday the 13th.

The buzz about Florida’s next governor has been all about Republicans, given their state dominance. But Democrats are also maneuvering ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial race.

Though Florida hasn’t had a Democratic governor in almost 25 years, some in the party were open about their ambitions when Playbook contacted them. “It's absolutely something that I am strongly considering,” state Sen. Shevrin Jones of Miami Gardens said in a text. “All options are on the table, and I will go as far as the people will take me.”

Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell likewise said she was “strongly considering” a run and would make a decision soon, but added “we have a lot of work to do.”

She touted her efforts explaining to voters what Democrats can offer, not just what they don't like about Republicans. This week, she also set up a new political committee, “Fentrice for Florida.”

Supporters often urge Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to run, two Democratic operatives said, but campaign adviser Christian Ulvert said she’s focused on her 2024 reelection race.

Whether any of them could pose a real challenge to the eventual GOP nominee remains to be seen. The GOP has out-registered Democrats by almost 600,000. Last quarter, state Democrats raised $1.05 million to the state GOP’s $7.6 million. It’s still not clear how much national Democratic groups will invest in Florida in 2024 to try to turn the state purple again, versus spending their money in places that are a sure win.

That’s why some Democrats hesitate to talk about the race now. State Sen. Jason Pizzo said he thought he “could be a candidate” for governor but “there’s a vast and immediate workload to tackle today,” including appealing to a wider constituency and offering policy solutions rather than “a collective malaise.”

Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book said “decisions about a future statewide run will be made at a later date,” but that she was focused on lowering costs for residents and getting abortion rights on the ballot.

The Florida Democratic Party is spending $1 million on voter registration through the end of the year. Chair Nikki Fried has said she wants to reduce the GOP registration advantage by 35 percent and told Playbook Democrats must focus on rebuilding and uniting.

“Any Democrat who wants to have any chance of winning a 2026 primary, let alone a general, better prove it this cycle — registering, organizing, and mobilizing,” said Kevin Cate, who advised Fried’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign. “If we don't course correct on the ground, 2026 will just be a useless ego exercise.”

— WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis is in New Hampshire today. He’ll speak with employees at a Huntsman Corporation town hall in Merrimack, at Politics and Eggs hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and at NHGOP's First in the Nation Leadership Summit in Nashua.

He’ll be in Iowa with Never Back Down on Saturday.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: [email protected]

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ON TAP TODAY — Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis will host a IRS Accountability Roundtable in Naples, Fla., at 9 a.m. with U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, and he’ll be making an announcement about artificial intelligence.

Nikki Fried speaks with the media as she visits the Versaille restaurant on Aug. 22, 2022, in Miami, Fla. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

ABOUT WHAT JASON PIZZO SAID — Pizzo this week threw some shade at DeSantis, other Cabinet officials as well as former Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried when he said they had never visited any prisons during their time in office.

Well … it turns out that wasn’t quite right.

Fried visited Homestead Correctional Institution on Aug. 10 of last year — or about two weeks before the Democratic primary election, where she lost her bid for governor against Charlie Crist.

Fried, who is now chair of the Florida Democratic Party, reached out on Thursday to point out that she had visited a state prison during her time in office, despite Pizzo’s comments saying she had not. Pizzo made his remarks during a Senate budget panel discussion with Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon where he asked Dixon if top state officials had ever come to a state prison.

When asked about Fried’s visit, a department spokesperson initially said they had no record of it. But after being given the name of the prison she visited the DOC spokesperson said that Fried’s accounting was correct.

— Gary Fineout

EXECUTIVE ORDER — DeSantis orders Florida to organize charter flights for Americans stranded in Israel, by POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian: The order directs the Florida Division of Emergency Management to charter flights for stranded Florida residents and deliver supplies to Israel, Alecia Collins, a spokesperson for the agency, said. The governor estimates that 20,000 U.S. citizens, including Floridians, remain in Israel. DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern wrote in an email that the governor’s office received messages from 35 stranded travelers.

HOLD ‘EM — U.S. Supreme Court puts temporary stay on Florida sports betting case, by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout: The decision doesn’t indicate which way the Supreme Court may ultimately rule, but it likely means that the Tribe will not resume sports betting anytime soon in the nation’s third-most populous state.

PROTESTS AND VIGILS — “At Florida universities, an airing of differences on the Israel-Hamas war,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar and Ian Hodgson: “University campuses in Florida have become active venues this week as groups with varying views on the Israel-Hamas war seek to be heard, find solace or simply gather with others.”

POST-OVERHAUL — “New College of Florida dropout rate spikes, retention rate falls amid DeSantis' transition,” by Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Steven Walker: “New College of Florida lost more than twice the normal number of students it usually does between fall semesters this year, according to a report sent to faculty from the college's provost Wednesday.”

WORTH THE SQUEEZE — “The forecast for Florida citrus, the state’s signature crop, is expected to improve in the upcoming season compared to last year when twin hurricanes battered the state at the start of the citrus season, according to estimates released Thursday,” writes The Associated Press.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) speaks with reporters as he departs a House Republican Conference meeting during which he announced he was withdrawing himself from consideration to be Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 12, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

DELEGATION DIVIDED — Florida Republicans are scrambling to figure out their next steps after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise dropped his bid for speaker last night when he couldn’t get enough support.

Many members of the Florida delegation are backing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who previously lost the nomination vote to Scalise and has former President Donald Trump’s support.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez said he would continue to vote to reinstate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, even through multiple rounds and even though Scalise tried to win him over. “I’m Only Kevin,” he said.

And Rep. John Rutherford, who previously supported Scalise, said the chaos brought him back to supporting McCarthy. He predicted others would follow.

“Kevin McCarthy has my full support because he has the majority,” Rutherford said. “He had 96 percent of this conference a week ago. Others never got close to that.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna initially switched her support from Jordan to Scalise after talking to the majority leader but retracted her support after a conference meeting yesterday. She later tweeted she would support Jordan, followed by Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York and Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee.

“I need someone that can unite the conference because we're badly fractured,” Luna said.

— Mia McCarthy

ON TAP THIS WEEKEND — First lady Jill Biden will be in Florida Sunday and Monday, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Susannah Bryan reported. She’ll speak Monday morning at a Cancer Survivorship Summit in Davie, hosted by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and in the afternoon will visit Patrick Space Force Base in Brevard County to meet with military spouses and families.

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EXCHANGE IN N.H. — "DeSantis, voicing support for Israel, is asked: What about Palestine? by NYT’s Nicholas Nehamas: “Why aren’t these Arab countries willing to absorb some of the Palestinian Arabs? They will not do it — Egypt will not do it, Saudi Arabia will not do it,” DeSantis told Arab American voter Ron Lahout, 65. “None of them will do it.” Mr. Lahout delivered a final retort: “You had my vote, but you don’t now.”

‘WOKE CENTRAL’ — DeSantis got a law degree at Harvard University, but he wouldn’t want a young Harvard doctor to treat him, reported FloridaPolitics’ A.G. Gancarski.

REACTS — DeSantis jab at Trump over Israel may be a hard sell to Florida Jewish Republicans, by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout: “When Donald Trump was president, the embassy was moved to Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were annexed and none of this happened,” said state Rep. Randy Fine, who had previously endorsed DeSantis’ bid for president and donated to his campaign. “We didn’t have wars when Donald Trump was president.”

DEM DILEMMA — “Floridians pushing for a pro-abortion rights ballot measure feel 'abandoned' by national Democrats,” by NBC News’ Matt Dixon: “The bulk of the money fueling the ballot effort — which would require 60% voter approval — is coming from in-state donors, which has prompted some of the measure’s biggest supporters to sound the alarm to national Democratic organizations.”

NEWLY INDEPENDENT — “The view from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign stop in Miami,” by the Miami Herald’s Alyssa Johnson: “Addressing a few dozen people at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts near downtown Miami, Kennedy — the nephew of assassinated president John F. Kennedy — delivered a meandering 45-minute speech that touched on a variety of issues ranging from housing prices, economic inequality and the U.S. military-industrial complex.”

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REDO AHEAD — ‘Wasting the court’s time’: Judge Cannon chastises prosecutors during hearing for Trump co-defendants, by POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard: U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, postponed a conflict-of-interest hearing for defendant Waltine Nauta, Trump’s valet who is represented by attorney Stanley Woodward.

FLORIDA’S BEST VIEW OF THE ECLIPSE WILL BE OVER LIVESTREAM — “The skies will put on a show on Saturday afternoon when a rare ‘ring of fire’ eclipse of the sun happens. Called an annular solar eclipse, it will be briefly visible over parts of the western United States, Central America and South America,” reports the Tampa Bay Times.

BIRTHDAYS: (Saturday) Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health … (Sunday) State Rep. Josie Tomkow … Edie Ousley of Yellow Finch Strategies

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