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Politico
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Politico
A homecoming for Susie Wiles
Good morning and welcome to Monday. Florida Republicans are riding a wave of political dominance, from the state all the way to Washington. Both the party and the conservative movement seem to be almost entirely led by Floridians. At a confab on Saturday night in Orlando for the Republican Party of Florida, the focus was on one key figure who made that world possible: White House Chief of Staff SUSIE WILES. Wiles came to the Red Florida Dinner to receive the 'Statesman Award' from the state party. The evening was a testament to how Wiles, in just a few election cycles, helped transform Florida from a purple to a red state. First there was RICK SCOTT's 2010 campaign for governor, then Gov. RON DESANTIS' first gubernatorial campaign in 2018. She also led President DONALD TRUMP's Florida operation in 2016 and 2020 and ultimately led his 2024 national comeback to the White House. Now, a lot of the same Floridians she worked with over the years are in the administration. 'Honestly, Floridians overpopulate the West Wing in a really big way,' Wiles said on stage. It was all a reminder of how Trump wasn't the only one who'd seen a huge political comeback in 2024. DeSantis — who was conspicuously absent during the dinner and instead spoke during the daytime program — banished Wiles from his orbit years ago and tried to ensure she never worked in politics again. So much for that. She's now the 'most powerful woman in the world,' according to Trump and the inscription on the award she received. For her part, Wiles focused on others, not the accolades. She's known for avoiding the spotlight and for re-casting her accomplishments as merely a contribution to a larger goal. That was on full display when she reached the stage on Saturday night, quickly pivoting to name dropping dozens of others she felt could have just as easily been given the award and praising the president for fundraising to help build the future of the party. She also thanked the thousands of GOP volunteers who'd registered voters. Wiles' band of loyalists heaped praise on her, with Trump 2024 pollster TONY FABRIZIO calling the award 'long overdue' and Trump 2024 campaign co-chair CHRIS LACIVITA praising Wiles as 'inarguably the best in their field' who 'inspires by example.' 'She deserves all the credit she gets and then some,' said Deputy Chief of Staff JAMES BLAIR. Nearly everyone on stage used their remarks to remind the audience that Wiles had a hand not only in the successes of Scott and Trump — but DeSantis, too. So where does that leave DeSantis? It would be a stretch to say that the weekend GOP audience had moved on from the governor. When he spoke onstage, the crowd went wild and was hanging onto his every word. But unlike many others, he hasn't been the type of pol to pose for every last selfie or mingle at receptions. DeSantis rose to prominence because of his actions in office. Unlike Wiles, he hasn't forged numerous, deep relationships across the state. He has instead retained a small inner circle. So while his political future remains uncertain, others' are beginning to take shape. There was Rep. BYRON DONALDS, whom Trump endorsed to be the next governor, introducing Wiles to the audience. And the speakers rallied around Trump-backed state Sen. JOE GRUTERS, a longtime ally of Wiles and the president who's likely to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@ and @leonardkl. CAMPAIGN MODE MORE FROM THE RPOF WEEKEND: — Donalds continued to praise DeSantis, saying he deserved credit for 'where we are as a state.' But he also added: 'The thing we both share is that we have both been endorsed by President Trump, that's pretty cool.' At another point during his remarks he urged Republicans to stay away from infighting, saying it would make the party vulnerable. — DeSantis warned about fake Republicans. The governor warned that, with the party growing, some Republicans were inadequately conservative and would 'fumble the ball.' He said conservatives needed to continue being clear about what they stood for. 'I want Florida to be ruby red,' DeSantis said. 'I don't want us to revert back to some purple haze.' The governor cited reducing property taxes among the policies he still wanted to get done, and said members of Congress shouldn't be allowed to trade stocks. He also thanked the grassroots for helping to defeat amendments on abortion and marijuana during the 2024 cycle. — State Sen. JAY COLLINS stayed loyal to the governor. Collins extolled the Hope Florida Foundation that has been under scrutiny and praised the governor for sending flights in to help Floridians escape from Israel — which was part of a mission he'd helped with. 'Do you love how Florida is?' he asked the audience. 'Then we have to keep fighting for it.' — His own political future remains in limbo. Collins told Playbook on Saturday night that whether the governor might appoint him lieutenant governor — or whether he would even subsequently run for the office should he be tapped to the job — was something he'd take 'one step at a time.' He called it a privilege to potentially serve as LG or to remain in the state Senate, and praised DeSantis as an 'incredible governor.' 'People rushed to put that information out there,' he said of the widespread expectation that he was going to be tapped as LG. He predicted that a GOP primary would form, however, pointing to what's happened historically. — Don't say DOGE. Chief Financial Officer BLAISE INGOGLIA has begun raking through local government spending to look for waste — in a similar style to what ELON MUSK did with DOGE in DC. But Ingoglia says it's time for a name overhaul. He's now calling the effort the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight. That's right: FAFO. Ingoglia, a former state party chair, got a rave reception during the party's weekend as he rolled out the new nickname and shared his principles for GOP success. — Hecklers got in. Pro-Palestinian protestors interrupted speeches from DeSantis and Rep. RANDY FINE. Fine, who is Jewish, slammed the behavior and said Republicans would never do the same to Democrats. 'What you have to understand is that the fact that they would come into our house — our event — that shows their level of determination to beat us next year,' he said. He urged the crowd to take that same energy into the 2026 cycle, warning that a Democratic controlled House would otherwise try to impeach Trump. ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... CITIZENS RULING — A state judge is blocking Florida's insurer of last resort from sending claims disputes to an administrative judge — a tactic that Citizens Property Insurance has used the last two years to clamp down on litigation expenses. Circuit Judge Melissa Polo in Hillsborough County on Friday issued a statewide injunction against the practice and ruled that hundreds of claim dispute cases in administrative court need to be put on hold. — Gary Fineout OVER THE WEEKEND — The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida submitted filings to formally intervene in the environmental lawsuit against 'Alligator Alcatraz' and lay out its complaint. Last week, U.S. District Judge KATHLEEN WILLIAMS said she would allow the tribe to join Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity in the suit, which aims to have state officials quickly shut down or halt expansion of the detention center while the court looks at alleged violations of environment and procedural law. The tribe wrote in the complaint that the center threatens religious and ceremonial sites, and that it was not consulted despite legal requirements and precedents recognizing the cultural and historical significance of the land. PENINSULA AND BEYOND WRESTLING WITH THE STATE — Alachua County's school board is taking major heat from the Florida Department of Education, and it all started with a callous social media post surrounding the death of storied professional wrestler HULK HOGAN. The state is threatening to withhold the whole school board's salary over the 'circus' caused by Chair SARAH ROCKWELL scribing a post saying 'Oh did Hulk die? I didn't even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world.' The comment set off serious blowback, generating national attention from wrestling fans and conservatives alike who were outraged. The pressure boiled over last week when a local parent publicly called on Rockwell to resign, leading to one board member calling for the speaker to be removed from the meeting. Education Commissioner ANASTASIOS KAMOUTSAS didn't like what he saw. Kamoutsas on Friday recommended that the state Board of Education dock the pay of Alachua board members on the grounds of violating the rights of parents. The local school leaders are being called before the state board later this month to explain corrective actions taken since the incident. 'You made disparaging comments about the death of a conservative public figure, leading the public to lose confidence in your ability to treat all students and families fairly,' Kamoutsas wrote. Rockwell, for her part, has apologized for the post. 'I deeply regret making that comment and have since removed it. I want to make it very clear that I never have and never will wish harm on anyone regardless of whether we share political views. While I strongly disagree with some of the comments Hulk Hogan made, that is no excuse for my comment,' Rockwell wrote. — Andrew Atterbury DEMINGS CAVES ON ICE — Orange County Mayor JERRY DEMINGS signed an agreement with ICE on Friday to help transport undocumented immigrants to detention centers, but the matter still has to go before the six-member commission during a meeting Tuesday. Demings had resisted the agreement previously despite pressure from Uthmeier and DeSantis, who threatened to remove him from office. Demings explained at the time that officers were overwhelmed with work due to vacancies and already housing undocumented immigrants at its jail. Demings told reporters during a press conference on Friday that he'd signed the agreement under 'protest and extreme duress' and had to take a 'calculated risk' because otherwise the governor would put in replacements that hadn't been elected. 'Yes, we signed the damn thing because we really had to,' he said. TESLA LOSES IN COURT — A federal jury in Florida ruled against Tesla on Friday, awarding a $243 million judgment for the 2019 death of Naibel Benavides and injuries sustained by her boyfriend Dillon Angulo when they were hit by a Tesla Model S while it had Autopilot engaged — a landmark decision that paves the way for Tesla to potentially be on the hook financially for similar accidents that involve its controversial suite of driver assist tools. The jury found that the Tesla driver, who had been looking at his phone at the time of the accident and using Autopilot to drive the car, was 67 percent liable for the crash, while Tesla was 33 percent liable. 'Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans,' Brett Schreiber, the attorney who argued the case against Tesla, said. 'Tesla's lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology, putting everyday Americans like Naibel Benavides and Dillon Angulo in harm's way.' In a statement, Tesla called the verdict 'wrong' and said it will appeal the decision. — POLITICO's Chris Marquette ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN BIRTHDAYS: Former state Rep. Andrew Learned … Writer and journalist Leonora LaPeter Anton, formerly of the Tampa Bay Times … Herbie Thiele with Sachs Media.
Politico
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Republicans' summer shindig
Good morning and welcome to August. The Republican grassroots are headed to Orlando this weekend for their second-biggest fundraiser of this year: the Florida Freedom Forum. The setting: The site of the event is the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel, and it all formally kicks off today with a quarterly meeting to talk about the state party's business. Republicans are already dominant in Florida, but they're hoping to flip even more counties from blue to red in terms of voter registration ahead of the 2026 midterms. To help with that, RPOF expanded its guest list for the quarterly meeting to include all Republican officers from each county. Usually the meetings are only open to each county chairman, state committeeman and committee woman. But today — for the first time — vice chairs, secretaries and treasurers are invited to join in. RPOF also invited hundreds of local, chartered Republican clubs to attend a training about how to use social and digital media to recruit new members. RPOF Chair EVAN POWER often tells his members not to become complacent even amid a 1.3 million voter registration advantage. 'We're doubling down on local empowerment, providing top-tier training and support from the state level to ensure our grassroots warriors are ready to win,' Power told Playbook in a statement. The characters: Saturday has a lineup of Republican heavyweights, from Gov. RON DESANTIS to Rep. BYRON DONALDS and KC CROSBIE, co-chair of the Republican National Committee. The biggest get of all is White House chief of staff SUSIE WILES, who will be receiving the 'Statesman of the Year' award during Saturday evening's Red Florida Dinner. Recently added to the dinner lineup is Trump 2024 campaign co-chair CHRIS LACIVITA and Trump chief pollster TONY FABRIZIO. Having the trio there underscores how much Florida will have to share with state GOPs across the country about what it takes to craft and deliver a winning strategy. 'We're charging into the year ahead with focus and momentum, ready to compete and win in local races, state legislative battles, statewide offices, congressional contests, and U.S. Senate seats,' Power said. 'Republican victory is the mission — and Florida is leading the way.' The forum topics: Saturday's panels will be on school vouchers and support for veterans. Members of Congress and the Legislature also will be holding panels, with a push to lower property taxes sure to be a lead area of discussion. The intrigue: Another major topic of conversation throughout the weekend will be how the governor has been looking seriously at having the Legislature redraw congressional maps. Beyond that, Republicans are feeling elated after Trump urged state Sen. JOE GRUTERS to run for chair of the Republican National Committee — that means an internal battle (at least for now) has been avoided for the state chief financial officer job that DeSantis gave to BLAISE INGOGLIA. Interestingly, both Gruters and the newly minted CFO are each set to take the stage Saturday during the forum. Another Cabinet member the grassroots will be eager to hear from is Agriculture Commissioner WILTON SIMPSON, who's speaking during the day Saturday. ERIN ISAAC, spokesperson for Wilton's political operation, called him a 'proud leader of the Conservative Revolution that has made the Free State of Florida the envy of the nation and President Trump's strongest partner in delivering on his promises for the American people.' Still leaving Republicans talking is the governor's race. Right now Donalds is the only major candidate on the Republican side to be running for the office. Does he have it locked down with the grassroots thanks to Trump's endorsement? DeSantis hasn't decided who he'll back and his own political future is murky. The GOP audience will be listening extra carefully to comments from state Sen. JAY COLLINS, who's still in the running to be lieutenant governor. (A lot of the chatter about these kinds of things also tends to happen at private receptions throughout the weekend.) Attendees will be watching closely for trial balloons. Is anyone seriously considering challenging state Attorney General JAMES UTHMEIER (who's also speaking) for the GOP nomination? Also TBD is that the National Republican Congressional Committee has targeted two House seats to try to flip, so these types of meetings give ambitious pols a platform to get their names out there. Attending the Florida Freedom Forum? Playbook will be on the ground Friday and Saturday. Get in touch at: kleonard@ and @leonardkl. MORNING MONEY: CAPITAL RISK — POLITICO's flagship financial newsletter has a new Friday edition built for the economic era we're living in: one shaped by political volatility, disruption and a wave of policy decisions with sector-wide consequences. Each week, Morning Money: Capital Risk brings sharp reporting and analysis on how political risk is moving markets and how investors are adapting. Want to know how health care regulation, tariffs, or court rulings could ripple through the economy? Start here. ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... STATE RECORD — 'A man convicted of the 1994 killings of his wife and their two children became the ninth person put to death in Florida this year, his death Thursday marking a state record for a single-year execution total since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty decades ago,' reports Curt Anderson of The Associated Press. RTO — Florida universities are calling employees who have been working remotely back to the office this fall, putting an end to popular Covid-era workplace policies after probing from the state's DOGE team. Several schools, including Florida Atlantic University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida, have tightened up on hybrid and at-home working allowances in a shift set to affect scores of employees. — Andrew Atterbury NEW STATE FOREST — The Department of Environmental Protection announced Thursday it closed the deal on buying 12,243 acres near Panama City for a new state forest. DeSantis and the Cabinet last December approved spending $32.65 million to buy the land along Bear Creek in Bay County from Bear Creek Timber. 'When opened, Sandy Creek State Forest will provide new outdoor recreation opportunities for families, sportsmen and nature lovers in Northwest Florida,' Simpson, whose department manages state forests, said in the announcement. Also Thursday, the North Florida Land Trust announced it bought 79 acres near Camp Blanding for preservation. — Bruce Ritchie DRILLING MEDIATION REJECTED — Florida officials are telling a company that wants to drill for oil along the Apalachicola River that they won't go to mediation over the state's permit denial. Clearwater Land and Mineral last week appealed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's permit denial, two weeks before a new law took effect banning drilling along the river. But the company also said it was invoking a state law that it claims requires mediation rather than a court fight over the denial. On Thursday, the company asked the state's First District Court of Appeal to delay action on the case. The company included an email from a special counsel to Uthmeier stating that DEP won't go to mediation unless ordered and does not agree to delay the case. Other emails showed a DEP lawyer last week agreed to meet with the company's lawyers to discuss choosing a magistrate to oversee the mediation. DEP did not respond to a request for comment. — Bruce Ritchie NOTHIN' — SpaceX is a big deal in Florida, given its critical role in helping NASA send astronauts into orbit. POLITICO's Sam Ogozalek was curious whether DeSantis and ELON MUSK, the private spaceflight company's CEO, talk often. He filed a public records request last month with DeSantis' office seeking any communications between the pair — including emails and text messages — since the beginning of the year. The state recently said it found no responsive documents. — Sam Ogozalek TODAY — 'Flags at the state capitol in Tallahassee will fly at half mast in honor of the pro wrestling star [Hulk Hogan] who died last week,' reports POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy. 'Aug. 1 will also be known as 'Hulk Hogan Day; in Florida to honor the star, DeSantis said Thursday.' PENINSULA AND BEYOND MIAMI ELECTION RULING — The Third District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that Miami's election cannot be delayed from November 2025 to November 2026 without voter approval. City commissioners tried to move the election in a 3-2 vote, saying that it was intended to increase voter turnout. But the move also would have given commissioners and Mayor FRANCIS SUAREZ another year in office. Republican mayoral candidate EMILIO GONZÁLEZ sued last month to maintain the election dates and won a lower court battle before winning again on appeal. 'I served this country for 22 years in the United States Army,' he said following Thursday's ruling. 'I spent my entire career helping to build and defend democracies around the world — and I will never sit back and watch one be dismantled in my own backyard.' Miami-Dade Commissioner EILEEN HIGGINS, a Democrat running for mayor, called the decision a 'win for democracy and fairness.' She wants voters to have a say on moving the election to even-numbered years. 'As mayor, I'll propose shortening the next mayor's term and putting the question on the 2026 ballot to modernize our democracy without undermining it,' she said. The case may next be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court but the city hasn't announced its plans. CAMPAIGN MODE WEIL'S OUT — Senate candidate JOSH WEIL announced Thursday that he was suspending his campaign in to focus on his health. Weil has a serious medical condition called rhabdomyolosis, which can lead to kidney damage. Weil — who received a good deal of attention earlier this year after raising $14 million in a House special election — revealed in a statement that he was hospitalized for the condition in 2021 and 2022, and that his symptoms worsened as he was campaigning across the state. 'After discussion with my family, I have decided to focus on my health first and foremost,' he said. 'Florida deserves a U.S. Senator who can fight for them 100 percent of the time. I do not wish to hold that seat if I cannot give them that 100 percent that they deserve.' Weil said he had 'sadness' about the decision but hoped that bowing out early might lead another progressive to enter the race. No other major Democrat has filed to run so far. TRANSITION TIME COMING ON BOARD — There's a new deputy chief of staff coming to work for DeSantis. JAMES 'JAY' KEITH ARNOLD JR. will join the governor's office on Aug. 11 where he will oversee several key agencies, including those involved with immigration enforcement. His portfolio will include Military Affairs, the Florida National Guard, Florida State Guard, Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Arnold, who has been a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, currently works as chief of staff for the Florida State Guard. 'His service at the Florida State Guard has been instrumental to its success and we are confident he will help lead our law enforcement agencies with an experienced hand,' JASON WEIDA, the governor's chief of staff, said in a statement. — Gary Fineout ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN BIRTHDAYS: Former state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan ... former state Sen. Garrett Richter … (Saturday) Dean Cannon, president and chief executive officer of GrayRobinson and former Florida House Speaker ... former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman … Kevin Cate, owner of CATECOMM … Heidi Carr, professor at the University of Miami … Landon St. Gordon, partner and chief creative officer at MDW Communications … (Sunday) Florida Phoenix's Jay Waagmeester … Former Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla.
