From air surgeon to congressional candidate

Politico

13 hours ago

Good morning and welcome to Thursday.
State air surgeon DARREN MCAULEY helped coordinate the medical response in Tampa Bay last year as hurricanes barreled toward the area.
Now he's running for office for the first time, vying to challenge incumbent GOP Rep. LAUREL LEE. McAuley, a third-generation combat veteran, serves in the Air National Guard and completed six deployments. He has also worked as a physician for the Veterans Health Administration and is the lead osteopathic expert at Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, a job he'll continue while campaigning.
McAuley told Playbook in an interview that he thought it was important to have more doctors and educators in Congress, 'because we bring a logical thought process to assessing problems' using facts and history. Otherwise, he said, politicians 'stick their finger up in the air and go along with whatever the current opinion is' and 'lose focus of what is guiding them.'
The district he's seeking to represent covers parts of Polk, Hillsborough and Pasco counties, is home to nearly 46,000 veterans — and not one of the seats House Democrats' campaign arm is targeting to try to flip. Yet Lee, a former Florida secretary of state under Gov. RON DESANTIS, won her reelection by 12 points in 2024, a smaller or similar margin to other seats Democrats targeted (and lost) last cycle.
And McAuley's biography has links to some of the changes the Trump administration has planned as it considers revamping federal disaster relief. He predicted overhauling or phasing out FEMA would hurt states' ability to respond and rebuild. Problems that are already occurring — with high insurance costs as well as real estate investors buying up storm-damaged homes in long-established communities — would only worsen, he warned.
'Shifting the burden to the states sounds like a good catchphrase, except the states don't have the money and resources necessary to shoulder the burden,' he said. 'That's why FEMA is in place. That's why the federal government plays a role in making sure that states can foot the financial bill, but also that they have the expertise in terms of disaster strategy and management.'
Thankfully, Florida appears poised to avoid the first major hurricane of the season, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. McAuley's advice for peak season is to write down important phone numbers and directions, and for Floridians to know their neighbors, especially vulnerable older adults and pregnant women.
'Know their face, know their kids, know who lives in their house,' he said. 'That will enable you to look out for them.'
Asked about FEMA's involvement in immigration, given that the agency plans to send hundreds of millions of dollars to states to help them build immigration detention centers, McAuley said government funding should 'stick to the reason for which it was appropriated.' (It's worth noting responsibilities for housing detainees in Florida also have fallen to the state Division of Emergency Management.)
'Immigration is not an emergency in Florida,' McAuley said. 'Hurricanes, natural disasters — those things can prompt emergency response. But I think shifting money and reappropriating funds that are supposed to be spent to deal with emergencies towards another one of the administration's priorities is reckless and puts us in a position of not having those funds when an actual disaster strikes.'
McAuley stressed he supported securing the border and wanted to work on an immigration reform plan if elected. But he took issue with the Trump administration 'arresting people who are going to work or showing up to court.'
'It's an about-face on the mission that was presented to the American people when they had the opportunity to vote,' he said.
McAuley raised more than $115,000 in the first 24 hours after launching his campaign in late July, per his political operation. Lee has nearly $840,000 cash on hand.
WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis has a press conference at 9 a.m. in Sanderson with Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie.
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CAMPAIGN MODE
DESANTIS WEIGHS IN ON 2026 — DeSantis said Wednesday that Jay Collins — his newly appointed lieutenant governor — could be a 'compelling' candidate for governor in 2026 but stopped short of endorsing him for a potential GOP primary bid against Rep. Byron Donalds and others.
The governor also sidestepped a question about the political future of first lady Casey DeSantis, framing speculation about her running for governor as 'not anything she has ever outwardly sought.' But he added she wants to continue 'to help make a difference in one way or another.'
— Gary Fineout
... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...
FIRST BEAR HUNT IN A DECADE — The state wildlife commission voted Wednesday to allow Florida's first bear hunt in a decade, prompting opponents to say they will immediately file a legal challenge to block the move.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved new proposed rules that would allow hunters to kill 187 bears in four regional zones in December.
The unanimous vote followed more than two hours of public comment, during which hunters clad in fluorescent orange supported the proposal. Opponents, many wearing black 'stop the bear hunt' T-shirts, said the allowed methods of killing were cruel.
— Bruce Ritchie
'VAPE SHOP HEROIN' — Food safety inspectors from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will be hitting the streets armed with new rules banning a synthetically derived chemical said to give the same dangerous effects as morphine.
State Attorney General JAMES UTHMEIER said Wednesday he used the emergency rulemaking authority given to him under a recently enacted law to ban the sale of 7-hydroxymitragynine. Traces of the chemical, commonly known as 7-OH, are found in Kratom. Products made with 7-OH have recently become popular at vape shops and gas stations for providing the same sedative effects as the most powerful opioids.
'It's clearly something more potent than morphine that should not be sitting on a shelf next to a pack of Skittles,' Uthmeier said. 'We're going to remove that immediately.'
Researchers also believe 7-OH is even more addictive than opioids, prompting the FDA to recommend heavy restrictions last month. Other than medical marijuana, Florida's GOP leaders have repeatedly failed to approve key regulations for hemp and other new products hitting the market. The state's few hemp restrictions mostly address product safety for children, leaving enforcement to the state Department of Agriculture. Uthmeier was joined by Agriculture Commissioner WILTON SIMPSON, who said his team of food safety inspectors will start enforcing the 7-OH ban at the more than 5,000 stores selling it statewide.
Before the emergency rule was made, Simpson's inspectors had no way to address complaints about 7-OH filed by residents.
'Let me be clear, we are going to aggressively pursue this issue, and issue stop sales immediately,' Simpson said. 'We have fielded complaints, but have not been able to act. That ends today.'
— Arek Sarkissian
DECISION COMING WITHIN A WEEK — U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams sharply questioned lawyers for the state of Florida and federal government Wednesday about why the 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention facility had to be built on an airstrip in the Everglades' delicate ecosystem.
She questioned why the tented facility, which is expected to have the capacity to hold as many as 4,000 undocumented immigrants at a time, wasn't constructed elsewhere, including outside a standing detention center, at an abandoned commercial property, a decommissioned airport or 'an abandoned speedway' — in an apparent reference to the 'Speedway Slammer' detention facility under development in Indiana.
State and federal lawyers explained the location was helpful for sending out deportation flights directly from the airstrip, and that the remote site was important for public safety. But Williams, an Obama-era appointee, shot back that deportation flights could leave out of other Florida airports.
— Kimberly Leonard
ORDER ISSUED ON LGBTQ+ LAW — 'A federal judge agreed with a transgender teacher that state law prohibiting teachers from telling students their preferred pronouns discriminated based on sex and altered her employment conditions, violating federal law,' reports Stephany Matat of USA Today Network — Florida.
A LOOK AT THE NEW EDUCATION SECRETARY — Anastasios Kamoutsas, 'the former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis, has gained attention through his use of threats, warnings and public shaming to demonize school board members, district officials and union leaders whom he accuses of not adhering to the DeSantis agenda. At the same time, he has heaped praise on groups and individuals who share his views,' reports Jeffrey S. Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times.
— ''Conservatives' press for continuation of Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits,' by Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix.
TODAY — Simpson state Senate President BEN ALBRITTON and Senate President Pro Tempore JASON BRODEUR are joining the Farmers Feeding Florida initiative in Tampa for a noon kickoff event. The initiative makes more food available in more locations for people who can't afford it and connects fresh food from Florida to state food banks.
PENINSULA AND BEYOND
'NOT GOING TO BE SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS' — Alachua County school board members received a free speech refresher course Wednesday after a recent public meeting devolved into a 'circus,' all triggered by a callous social media post after HULK HOGAN's death.
Will this be enough to satisfy the state Board of Education, which is poised next week to consider potential sanctions against Alachua school leaders for threatening to remove a parent who criticized the anti-MAGA sentiments?
The issue is the latest First Amendment spat in Florida, as state Education Commissioner ANASTASIOS KAMOUTSAS calls for the state to dock school board members' pay for violating the rights of parents.
The controversy stems from Chair SARAH ROCKWELL scribing a post on social media that generated national blowback from conservatives: 'Oh did Hulk die? I didn't even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world.' The state Board of Education is set to weigh 'probable cause for noncompliance' with Florida's parental rights laws at its upcoming meeting.
In the face of this showdown, Alachua's school board attorney held a training on free speech and social media Wednesday, warning officials that although public comment can be 'uncomfortable,' they should be hesitant to toss speakers.
'It's not going to be sunshine and rainbows when people are coming down to share their grievances,' said school board attorney DAVID DELANEY.
— Andrew Atterbury
DATELINE D.C.
JRE TREATMENT — Rep. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-Fla.) joined JOE ROGAN on his popular podcast this week to share her take on unidentified anomalous phenomena, the term the US government uses instead of UFOs. Luna said she had viewed top-secret photos in a secure location that make her 'very confident there are things out there not created by mankind' and said she and several other members of Congress are working on pushing for more material to be declassified.
TAKING THE TEMPERATURE ON REDISTRICTING — POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky and Meredith Lee Hill a piece today about concerns some members of the House have regarding redistricting. One of them is Rep. RANDY FINE, who told POLITICO's Gary Fineout that he wasn't sure how it could legally be done in Florida given a law prohibiting lawmakers from redrawing the map to help incumbents or a particular party.
ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN
— 'Man arrested after nude photos found displayed at Florida Publix, police say,' per Click Orlando.
BIRTHDAYS: Tim Tebow ... Martin J. Sweet, author and professor ... Sean Miles, principal at the Mayfair Group and a Rick Scott alum … state Rep. Sam Greco.