| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | | | |  From left, Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy are seen as they take the stage for the third 2024 Republican presidential primary debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Fla., Nov. 8, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | Good morning and welcome to Thursday. Ron DeSantis seemed to be picturing Gavin Newsom last night while he was sparring with Nikki Haley. Throughout the fourth Republican presidential primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Florida governor portrayed his South Carolina rival as left-leaning and pro-establishment on top issues, including on immigration, transgender care for minors or China. Haley, he said, “caves any time the left comes after her.” The exchanges all seemed very familiar. DeSantis took a similar posture when he faced off against Newsom, a liberal Democrat from California, in a debate just last week. Of course, DeSantis and Haley have far more ideological similarities than DeSantis and Newsom. But even criticizing Haley on issues where she's more centrist than he is energized DeSantis and reminded voters how combative he could be when going after the left. Rather than wait to be attacked last night, DeSantis inserted himself into the conversation repeatedly and raised areas where he thought Haley had been insufficiently conservative. Ahead of the debate, the Fight Right super PAC supporting DeSantis ran ads that compared Haley to 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and his campaign circulated a memo as the debate kicked off that listed left-leaning billionaires who’d backed Haley’s campaign. “You killed it,” DeSantis shot back at Haley at one point over a proposed “bathroom bill” in South Carolina. “I signed it.” Even Haley appeared to fall into the role DeSantis wanted her to, at one point calling Florida’s schools law the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” — the nickname Democrats gave the Parental Rights in Education Act that limits LGBTQ+ curriculum in public schools. Haley spent most of the night pushing back on incoming fire coming not just from DeSantis but also from entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. She didn’t appear to have the same loathing for DeSantis as she did for Ramaswamy, but at one point she claimed they were “just jealous” that major donors had flocked to her instead of them. “I love all the attention, fellas,” she told them. “Thank you for that.” — WHERE’S RON? Gov. DeSantis will be interviewed on Fox and Friends in the 8 a.m. EST hour. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com | | A message from CVS Health: Learn how we’re delivering the future of health care. More here. | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | |
CLOSED — Ethics panel clears DeSantis' campaign manager, but governor's office still upset with probe, reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. Florida’s ethics commission has rejected allegations that two of DeSantis’ top aides — including his current presidential campaign manager — flouted state laws to help his presidential campaign.
Lobbyists told NBC — and corroborated by lobbyists who talked to POLITICO — that they were uncomfortable with DeSantis aides making a request for campaign donations right before DeSantis was scheduled to take final action on this year’s budget. The probe has stung the DeSantis administration enough that the governor’s top lawyer wants changes to how ethics investigations are handled. ‘DEATH KNELL’ — Bill would allow agencies, companies to seek legal fees for environmental permit challenges, reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. A Republican senator and committee chair filed a bill Wednesday that would allow judges to force environmental groups and residents to pay legal fees for companies and state agencies if they lose their challenges to state environmental permits. IN COURT — Democratic prosecutor suspended by DeSantis takes fight to Florida high court, reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. Florida’s conservative-leaning Supreme Court sounded skeptical on Wednesday about whether it would back a Democratic prosecutor’s bid to win back her job after she was ousted by DeSantis. But the court was equally skeptical about a push from lawyers representing DeSantis seeking a ruling that would wipe out future legal challenges to his suspension powers. LAST SESSION AS SPEAKER — “Paul Renner gears up for swan song legislative session as Florida House speaker,” reports James Call of USA Today Network - Florida. “His priorities for 2024 are to increase the number of health care providers in the state, improve access to mental health care, and to begin conversations that will ensure Florida’s independence in energy, pharmaceuticals, and food, he said.” SCHOOLED — College Board’s updated African-American studies course nods to Colin Kaepernick and Black feminism, reports POLITICO’s Juan Perez Jr. and Andrew Atterbury. American high schoolers will learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Black feminist movement and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s racial justice protests as part of a newly-revised College Board course on African American studies. But it’s not clear how a new course framework set to launch nationwide in the 2024-25 school year will quell political controversy in states that restrict school lessons on race and gender, or among liberals who criticized the education giant after it excluded lessons on Black queer studies in an earlier version this year. COVERAGE LAPSE — “Florida low-income children’s health insurance expansion delayed after paperwork issue,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Caroline Catherman. “Florida families hoping to get their children on a state subsidized insurance plan in January will have to wait three months longer. The reason: The agency didn’t submit paperwork required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a snafu revealed during a Monday conference with state agencies in charge of the rollout. A spokesperson from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration blamed the federal government for the delay.” | | 
A Tesla electronic vehicle is charged at a Tesla charging station. | George Walker IV/AP Photo |
NEW EV FEES POSSIBLE — “Florida Senate panel backs annual fees for owners of electric, hybrid vehicles,” reports News Service of Florida’s Jim Turner. “Florida lawmakers have restarted a move to impose annual registration fees on electric vehicles amid pushback over the proposed amount. The Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday backed a proposal (SB 28) that would require electric-vehicle owners to pay $200 registration fees to try to offset anticipated losses in gas-tax dollars as more people convert to electric and hybrid vehicles. Annual fees of $50 a year would be imposed on plug-in hybrids that use a combination of electricity and gas and $25 fees would be imposed on electric motorcycles.”
QUESTIONS RAISED — “Redondo condo? GOP candidate wins state House race in South Florida amid questions over district residency,” reports Fresh Take Florida’s Silas Morgan. Michael Redondo, “a lawyer who runs his own law firm, said he signed a 12-month lease for an apartment behind a shopping center in the district in June and updated his voter registration records June 22 to reflect his new address. That was just days after Redondo bought a two-bedroom luxury, waterfront condominium for $950,000 that is 20 miles away in House District 113, according to property records. He signed a 30-year mortgage May 30 for $727,000 that required him to live in the condo as his principal residence for at least one year, records showed.” NEW REPORT — “Professors union report says Florida higher ed policies must be fought 'tooth and nail,’” reports Douglas Soule of USA Today Network - Florida. The American Association of University Professors interviewed “more than 65 people currently or previously in Florida’s higher education environment, from professors to students to former presidents. In its faculty interviews, the committee said there were two prevalent sentiments: that the state has become ‘Orwellian,’ meaning threatening to a free and open society, and a ‘canary in a coal mine,’ portending disaster.” | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | |
MORE FALLOUT — Karen Rose calls for Bridget Ziegler to resign from School Board, reports Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles. “I am shocked and deeply saddened by the conduct and deplore the salacious news coverage,” she said. “But my first responsibility is to the Sarasota County School District. So for the good of our students, teachers, staff and community, I will be calling on Mrs. Ziegler to step down from her position on the School Board. I am asking our Superintendent to place this item on the agenda for our next meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 12, where I will make a motion that the Board approve a resolution asking Mrs. Ziegler to step down.”
FROM THE BUDGET — “DeSantis seeks to spend Hillsborough transportation sales tax funds,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Olivia George. “Remember the now more than $570 million collected from the Hillsborough transportation sales tax supported by county voters in 2018 before it was overturned by Florida Supreme Court? DeSantis wants the money to be used on transportation projects in Hillsborough rather than on a tax refund — a process he had recommended a year prior.” NOW WHAT? — “onePulse must repay $394,000 to Florida for unbuilt museum, letter states,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Ryan Gillespie. “onePulse was founded to build a permanent memorial to the 49 victims of the shooting and later added a museum to its plans. The foundation announced in late November it would be shutting down and a month before that said it wouldn’t build the museum, for which several hundred thousand dollars were allocated from state coffers. The letter, dated Tuesday, states that onePulse must ‘provide detailed written assurances of how the grantee plans to remain in compliance with the Grant Agreement and Restrictive Covenant.’” — “Fellow Republicans call for new St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson to be removed,” reports WPTV’s Meghan McRoberts | | | | A message from CVS Health:   | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | |
RPOF — Florida Republicans try to oust GOP chair amid rape probe, reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard. Party leaders are concerned that Ziegler’s refusal to step down could hurt them ahead of an election cycle that includes the presidential race, a high-profile Senate contest and control of Congress as well as the Florida Legislature.
“He’s living in denial,” said one Florida Republican familiar with the thinking of GOP leaders but who was not authorized to talk publicly. “This is unsustainable. He thinks he can do what (former President Donald) Trump does. … He doesn’t understand that the Republican Party of Florida supports traditional family values.” GUESS WHO’S BACK — “Veteran Republican strategist Phil Cox is joining Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential bid, as the PAC looks to regroup following a series of leadership changes,” reports POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt. “Cox will be senior adviser to the super PAC, according to three people familiar with the move. A longtime DeSantis ally, he will advise the board of directors and oversee the PAC’s field and budget strategy, said the people, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.”
|  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks about education reform. | Jeffrey Collins/AP | PUSH TO RETIRE — “Former Gov. Jeb Bush calls for older Americans to ‘get off’ the political stage,” reports the Miami Herald’s Max Greenwood. Bush on Wednesday called for “older Americans to pass the political torch to a new generation, saying that it’s up to a new cohort of leaders to change the country’s ‘toxic political climate.’ ‘As a 70-year-old person, I’m part of the problem,’ Bush said at a luncheon at Miami’s Jungle Island hosted by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. ‘It’s time for my generation to get off the stage politically.’” | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | |
BIRTHDAYS: Tampa Mayor Jane Castor ... Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey … former State Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff … Progress Florida’s Mark Ferrulo
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