| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | | Presented by |  | | | |  Demonstrators chant slogans during a rally in support of abortion rights, Thursday, May 23, 2019, in Miami. | Lynne Sladky/AP | Good morning and welcome to Monday. Florida Democrats are facing sizable hurdles, a new survey shows, just as they say they’re getting revved up. Polling released this weekend from USA TODAY/Ipsos has former President Donald Trump viewed more favorably by Floridians than President Joe Biden. He also currently has a wider lead in a head-to-head matchup than what he ultimately won by in both 2016 and 2020. It also shows most Florida voters don’t know former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is running for the Democratic nomination to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. Rick Scott. (In a head-to-head, he’s polling at 36 percent and she’s polling at 26 percent.) The findings are out at a time when Democrats say they’re making several new pushes to win over voters. The Biden campaign made the bold claim roughly two weeks ago that Florida was “in play.” Last week, Florida Democrats kicked off a campaign of hundreds of volunteers to register voters and re-enroll people to be eligible to vote by mail, and they’ll be sending out volunteers every weekend until November, said Eden Giagnorio, spokesperson for Florida Democrats. As for Mucarsel-Powell, she just launched a “Florida Freedom Tour” and hasn’t yet put out major ad buys. Democrats have been banking that the abortion-rights question set to be on the ballot in November will help them, but the survey indicates that the issue isn't necessarily a lock for them. According to the USA TODAY/Ipsos poll, half of voters are sure they support the referendum, while about a third already oppose it. The referendum requires the support of 60 percent of Florida voters to pass — a significant hurdle abortion-rights measures in other states haven’t faced. If it fails, a six-week abortion limit taking effect May 1 will stay in place. Though Trump — a Florida resident — has remained silent on how he’ll vote, Florida Republicans have vowed to message against the referendum, calling it “extreme” because it gives health care providers broad leeway to determine the circumstances for authorizing abortions later in a pregnancy. On the other side of the issue, more than 1,000 people gathered in Orlando this weekend in support of the campaign to urge voters to approve the referendum, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Neither side has yet said how much they’ll spend on the effort, though it’s bound to be a pricey undertaking. As POLITICO previously reported, some state Democrats have warned that making abortion rights overly partisan will doom the referendum. They know they’ll need Republicans, who already have a 900,000-person active voter advantage (and counting) and don’t cite abortion rights as a top concern. Democrats are also hoping to tap into Florida’s independent voters, who number 3.4 million. “You basically have to give people who are independents and Republicans permission to agree with you on this thing, to disagree with their individual candidate or their party, and to split that ticket if that’s what they feel they need to do,” Anna Hochkammer, executive director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, recently told POLITICO’s Ryan Lizza. 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 Alibaba: Every day, American businesses generate big global sales on Alibaba's online marketplace – to the tune of $66B in one year alone. These sales are having a bigger impact on communities back home. Florida companies like Timberwolf Pet Foods and DS Laboratories sell to over one billion consumers in China through Alibaba, supporting 15,800 local jobs and contributing $1.9B to Florida's GDP. Learn more about how Alibaba positively impacts Florida's economy. | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | |
BLOCKED — “Florida loses legal bid to resume wetlands permitting,” reports POLITICO’s Annie Snider. “Florida's wetlands permitting program will remain on ice after a federal judge on Friday ruled against the state Department of Environmental Protection's bid to retain authority over some permit applications. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss halted the program in February, ruling that EPA had erred in handing Clean Water Act permitting authority over to the state without sufficiently analyzing the impact it would have on endangered species. But he had left open in that ruling the possibility that the state could temporarily retain control over permit applications that didn't involve species listed under the 1973 law. Florida requested a limited stay of the ruling, but the Department of Justice opposed the move, arguing it would be unduly burdensome even just to figure out how to divvy up the workload. In his Friday ruling, Moss agreed.”
COVERAGE DROPPED — “Vulnerable Florida patients scramble after abrupt Medicaid termination,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Teghan Simonton. “These patients are the latest Medicaid recipients to find their coverage threatened amid the state’s redetermination process, which began in April 2023. Florida’s Medicaid rolls swelled by 1.7 million people during the pandemic, when the federal government gave states additional funding to keep people covered even if they were no longer eligible. Once the funding ended, the Department of Children and Families began conducting its first eligibility checks in years.” 3.5 MILLION ENROLLED — “State announces intent to ink multi-billion dollar contracts with five managed care plans,” reports Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics. “The contracts are massive in scope since the managed care companies that are picked will get six-year contracts to administer a health care program that annually costs tens of billions of dollars.”
|  In this NOAA handout image taken by the GOES satellite, Hurricane Ian moves toward Florida. | NOAA via Getty Images | PROPERTY COVERAGE — “Florida insurance market full of ‘low quality’ companies, study finds,” reports the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times’ Lawrence Mower. “The vast majority of small insurers operating in Florida are considered so financially weak that they wouldn’t typically meet federal guidelines allowing them to back mortgaged homes.” — “Surge in Haitian migrants hasn’t hit Florida shores, so far. What happened?” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man. … DESANTIS SIGNS BILLS INTO LAW … — “DeSantis signs bill preventing cities from requiring heat safety protections for workers,” reports News Service of Florida. “DeSantis [last] week signed a bill that will prevent local governments from imposing wage requirements on contractors and requiring heat exposure protections for workers … The heat and wage restriction bill signed Thursday was backed by business groups … But more than 90 organizations, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, the League of Women Voters of Florida, the Farmworker Association of Florida and the NAACP Florida State Conference signed on to letters to DeSantis opposing the bill and seeking a veto.” — “DeSantis signs bill to defang police oversight panels like the one Miami voters created,” reports the Miami Herald’s Alexandra Glorioso and the Tampa Bay Times’ Olivia George. “The law, which takes effect in July, has consequences for civilian oversight panels that in more than 20 Florida counties and cities look into citizen complaints against officers by using public records and witness interviews and by auditing police investigations. … These organizations will now largely be prohibited from receiving and following up on complaints.”
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GUILTY PLEA — “Former U.S. Ambassador is sentenced to 15 years for acting as Cuban agent,” reports the New York Times’ Patricia Mazzei. “Manuel Rocha, 73, pleaded guilty to two charges — conspiring to defraud the United States as a foreign agent and failing to register as a foreign agent — as part of an agreement with the federal government. He also faces three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine.”
— “USCG: 14 Cuban migrants arrive at Dry Tortugas National Park,” reports 7News. SEARCHING FOR CLUES — “Biologists rescue sick sawfish, hoping for clues in Florida Keys fish-kill mystery,” reports David Goodhue of Florida Keys News. “As the number of dead endangered smalltooth sawfish found in the Florida Keys since the end of January creeps up on 40, biologists made progress last week in their struggle to solve the mystery into what is killing them — and whether the culprit is linked to a larger fish kill plaguing the area since the fall.”
| | | | A message from Alibaba:   | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | |
TODAY — Sen. Rick Scott is holding a press conference in Orlando with Hispanic leaders.
MOVING ON — Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach (R-Fort Myers) won’t be running for reelection, he announced over X.
|  Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers. | Steve Cannon/AP | DEPOSITION REVELATION — “Florida GOP operative admits role in ‘ghost’ candidate scheme that defeated utility-targeted Dem,” reports Mario Alejandro Ariza of Floodlight. “For the first time, the lead consultant to Florida Senate Republicans has admitted to hiring a disgraced ex-senator and approving a dirty trick to recruit a third-party candidate to siphon votes from a South Florida Democrat. The scheme succeeded. In 2020, Jose Javier Rodriguez, the Democrat targeted by the GOP and by Florida Power & Light, lost by 32 votes to Ileana Garcia, the founder of Latinas for Trump.” — “New records show Republicans blocked FEC probe into claims FPL used conduits to hide its illegal contributions,” reports Dan Christensen of the Florida Bulldog.
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— “Biden administration cancels student debt Friday for 21,280 people in Florida. Here's what to know,” reports C.A. Bridges of USA Today Network — Florida.
— “Iranian attacks on Israel spur response from Florida politicians,” reports Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski.
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | | 
Senate Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), with committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) behind him, looks on during a hearing on Capitol Hill March 11, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images | FLORIDA MAN IN THE MIX — “Trump makes most of ‘veepstakes’ intrigue in search for running mate,” reports the Wall Street Journal’s Alex Leary. “People championing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have described to Trump officials how the campaign might navigate the issue of having a ticket with two people from the same state. That would trigger obscure constitutional and Electoral College issues that could be pivotal in a close election. It is risky but not prohibitive, the Rubio backers have pointed out. The thinking has gone as far as to whether Rubio — or in theory, Trump — would move his official home to another state.” TENTATIVELY STARTING MAY 20 — “Still no new trial date for Trump’s Florida case,” reports POLITICO’s Siena Duncan. “During a two-hour hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon gave no indication when she’d set a new trial date for former President Donald Trump in his classified documents case. Cannon previously implied that she is inclined to postpone the impending trial date of May 20, but on Friday made no concrete statements about an alternative timeline, prolonging the crucial issue yet again.”
| | A message from Alibaba: Timberwolf Pet Food, a family-owned company based in Windermere, Florida, achieved an impressive 7-figure growth after launching on Alibaba's online marketplace, which reaches over one billion consumers in China. Partnering with Alibaba helped the 25-year-old company double its sales projections, allowing Timberwolf to expand its product lines, production, and staffing to meet the increasing demand.
Florida businesses generated enough global sales on Alibaba’s online marketplace to add $1.9 billion to Florida’s economy, supporting 15,800 local jobs and $1.1 billion in wages in one year.
"I knew from experience that Alibaba, with over one billion online consumers, was essential to launch our brand in China successfully," said Timberwolf CEO Kam Martin.
Learn more about how Alibaba positively impacts Florida's economy. | | | | | TRANSITION TIME | | — Florida’s Republican mayors are forming a new not-for-profit group to collaborate and develop public policy initiatives to deal with the “challenges posed by illegal immigration, public safety, housing, education choice, economic growth, resiliency” and promoting Florida cities. The chair of the Florida Republican Mayors Association is Hialeah Mayor Esteban "Steve" Bovo, a former state legislator and county commissioner. Helen Aguirre Ferré, who had been executive director of the Republican Party of Florida for nearly four years, will be executive director of the organization. Juan C. “J.C.” Flores, who heads the Florida office of DCI Group, will provide strategic consulting to the group. Ferré, a former television and radio show host, worked as communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis prior to taking the position with the Republican Party in 2020. She also worked for the administration of then-President Donald Trump. While the cities of Hialeah and Miami are led by Republican mayors, several other major metropolitan areas in the state – Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg – currently have Democratic mayors. — Gary Fineout — “Florida Republicans bring in interim executive director after incident,” reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. “The Republican Party of Florida is tapping longtime lobbyist and political consultant Bill Helmich to serve as interim executive director of the party. … Helmich’s track record includes a stint as chief of staff for the House Majority Office, and he was director of House campaigns for the 2006 cycle. He is currently a state committeeman for Madison County, which is east of Tallahassee. Helmich, who served for six years in the Marine Corps Reserve, lobbies on behalf of multiple clients including the Florida chapters of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.” — “DeSantis appoints Manatee County Commissioner James Satcher as elections supervisor,” reports Jesse Mendoza of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed District 1 Manatee County Commissioner James Satcher to a new role as Manatee County Supervisor of Elections on Friday. Satcher will replace longtime Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett for the remainder of his term. Bennett announced in January that he would retire on March 1. The position will be up for election in November.”
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | |
IN MEMORIAM — “Don Wright, editorial cartoonist with a skewer for a pen, dies at 90,” reports Sam Roberts of The New York Times. “Don Wright, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist whose pointed work punctured duplicity and pomposity and resonated with common-sense readers, died on March 24 at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He was 90.”
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