| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | Good morning and welcome to Monday. Florida Democrats spent much of their “Leadership Blue” fundraising weekend focusing their ire on Republicans — accusing the GOP of shaping the state into a “hellscape,” of spinning a “vengeful brand of politics,” and of turning Florida into a place with “less freedom.” Mark Hamill, AKA Luke Skywalker from “Star Wars,” even piled on in a video message calling the GOP the “Evil Empire.” During a gala on Saturday night at the Disney Contemporary Resort, Democrats blasted Trump in existential terms, sometimes without using his name. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz called the presumptive GOP presidential nominee a “nightmare for democracy” while Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell warned of impending “authoritarian rule.” Gov. Ron DeSantis was a key target of the evening, too. In one Saturday Night Live-like sketch, Jennifer Jenkins, a Brevard County School Board member, spoofed Sen. Katie Britt’s (R-Ala.) widely panned State of the Union response by saying that her kitchen counters had been “wiped clean — just like Ron DeSantis has done to your rights and Black history.” At another point she scooped chocolate pudding into her mouth using her fingers. As the audience dined over a meal of braised beef short rib, chicken breast, whipped potatoes and root vegetables, Democrats tried to strike a hopeful tone despite a major voter registration disadvantage. They held several tributes for the late governor and senator, Bob Graham, and Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell invoked the “Star Wars” quote that “strength of character can defeat strength in numbers.” Florida Democrats also unveiled the panther as their new mascot because the endangered species, as party Chair Nikki Fried said, “won’t back down from a fight.” Despite a significant polling deficit in Florida, speakers praised President Joe Biden throughout the weekend, with Wasserman Schultz even declaring the party had “Joe-mentum.”
|  Standing with Chair of the Florida Democratic Party Nikki Fried, US President Joe Biden (R) speaks to campaign volunteers and supporters, after an event about reproductive rights at Hillsborough Community College-Dale Mabry Campus in Tampa, Florida, on April 23, 2024. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images | | At the end of her speech, Fried had attendees hold up their phones and turn on their flashlights to “bring the fire,” and the room broke out into a “take back Florida” chant. Central to Democrats’ rallying cry was to fight the six-week abortion ban that went into effect last week. Fried said women were “pissed off” about the “bulls—” ban and Mucarsel-Powell said she was “more determined than I ever have been to protect our freedom and our rights.” Keynote speaker Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said “Florida man Trump took away abortion from America” and showed a map of all the states where abortion care was hard to access. The event, however, served as another reminder of how campus demonstrations have saturated the news cycle even as Democrats tried to make last week all about abortion rights. Several Democrats admitted to Playbook on Saturday that they were on edge ahead of the gala because there had been some outcry from progressives over inviting Fetterman, a staunch defender of Israel. Just a couple of minutes into his speech, a pro-Palestine protester stood up near the stage with a videographer in tow. Fetterman, who was wearing a sweatshirt with the new panther mascot, stopped talking and held up a Biden-Harris campaign sign while Democrats in the room broke out into a “four more years” chant until security escorted the protesters out within a few minutes. Florida Democrats hadn’t tried to ignore the Israel-Gaza war. At the start of the gala, interfaith leaders prayed for peace, the safe return of hostages and safety for civilians in Gaza. The party released a statement after the demonstration, characterizing it as “peaceful,” extolling the right to free speech, calling for understanding and bashing times when police have used excessive force. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com. | | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | |
BARRED FROM HOME BUYING — “When buying a home is treated as a national security threat,” by Amy Qin and Patricia Mazzei of The New York Times. “In more than a dozen interviews, Chinese residents in Florida voiced frustrations about being cut off from the ultimate American dream. Other residents of Chinese descent said they faced discrimination as they tried to buy a home. Some said they lived in fear over whether they may have inadvertently violated the law.”
HIGH HOUSING PRICES — “Florida leaders are forcing thousands of homeowners to pay higher prices for property insurance,” reports Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents. “DeSantis’ insurance overhaul was promoted and cheered by insurance industry lobbyists and executives. Many of those same companies are also lavish campaign contributors: Records show that Slide Insurance alone has given nearly $1 million to Florida politicians and political parties since 2022 — virtually all of it to Republicans, who control the Governor’s Office, both chambers of the Legislature, and the Chief Financial Officer’s office, which is involved in insurance regulation. But those same changes are now forcing Floridians … to pay far higher prices for their homeowner’s insurance.” PENDING — “With 6-week abortion ban in place, Florida eyes ‘Safe Haven’ expansion,” by POLITICO’s Siena Duncan. “An expansion of Florida’s ‘Safe Haven’ policy — which decriminalizes surrendering unwanted infants, as long as they are given up to specific agencies like hospitals, fire stations and EMS services — faces just one more hurdle to becoming law … State law currently allows for a surrender up to 7 days after the child was born. This bill would more than quadruple the amount of time to 30 days and also authorize 911 responders to arrange an infant drop-off location in case the child’s guardian has no transportation to an agency’s site.”
| 
A pro-kife sidewalk volunteer holds a placard that reads “Abortion pill reversal. It is not late” outside the A Hialeah Woman’s Care Center on Wednesday, May 1 in Hialeah, Florida. | Photos by Eva Marie Uzcategui for POLITICO | DICHOTOMY — “‘They may be Republicans, but they still come in for services,’” by POLITICO’s Kathy Gilsinan. “More than 90 percent of the more than 84,000 women who got abortions in the state last year came from Florida. And Hialeah, a heavily Republican and Cuban South Florida city that also has one of the state’s highest concentration of abortion clinics, crystallized the contradiction between how people voted and how they behaved.” PUBLIC RECORDS REVEAL — “How a Texas-based think tank upended Florida’s homelessness strategy,” by the Orlando Sentinel’s Ryan Gillespie. “The critical elements of Florida’s bold new statewide homelessness policy emerged from the written prescriptions of a Texas-based conservative think tank bent on thwarting the nation’s ‘homeless-industrial complex,’ according to records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. Emails show the Cicero Institute offered Florida lawmakers a menu of reforms last summer, sending them to the staff of House Speaker Paul Renner in July. It then worked persistently to secure the passage of House Bill 1365, which banned public camping and sought to move unsheltered people from sidewalks to sanctioned, highly structured encampments.” DON’T SAY ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ — “Bill awaiting DeSantis’ OK would end years of renewable energy policies,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeffrey Schweers. “If signed, the law would reverse 16 years of state policy, finishing the work started by former Gov. Rick Scott and undoing Gov. Charlie Crist’s signature piece of environmental legislation. Most troubling to environmentalists, it would eliminate any mention of climate change, even though mostly flat Florida is extremely vulnerable to global warming, as already seen with rising waters in the Keys, Miami Beach and Tampa Bay.” — “While spending billions on the environment, DeSantis blocks efforts to ease climate change,” reports John Kennedy of USA Today Network — Florida. NO WAY — “DeSantis opposes plan to move Florida guard unit to Space Force,” reports Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times. “Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday came out against a Department of Defense plan that would have a unit of the Florida Air National Guard join the Space Force. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and various members of Congress, DeSantis wrote that the unusual proposal ‘would flout more than a century of precedent’ and undermine state control of the National Guard.” TOURISM PUSH — “Florida's tourism agency campaigns for 'legal' Mexican visitors,” by USA Today Network — Florida’s Ana Goñi-Lessan. “The state of Florida, hoping to boost tourism from Mexico, is ready to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to increase "legal" travel from south of the border. Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing arm, is advertising a $368,000 contract for ‘protecting and growing visitor volume from Mexico to Florida’ and ‘extending the length of stay and increasing spending by Mexican visitors,’ according to a request for proposals.” FILINGS — “Former lawmaker Dorworth’s Seminole firm files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Martin E. Comas. “Former state lawmaker Chris Dorworth’s River Cross Land Co. has filed for bankruptcy, after spending roughly $1 million in a failed bid to erect a controversial mega development within Seminole County’s rural boundary. According to the Chapter 7 filing on April 22, the company, an LLC, has liabilities estimated to range between $500,000 and $1 million, and estimated assets of up to $50,000.” TAKING FLIGHT — “No more mockingbird? Florida official wants new state bird,” reports News Service of Florida. “Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Chairman Rodney Barreto wants the wildlife agency to renew efforts to designate a ‘state bird’ that is unique to Florida. ‘The state bird of Florida is the (northern) mockingbird. However, five other states have the mockingbird as the state bird,’ Barreto said Thursday during a commission meeting in Daytona Beach. ‘I’ve got to believe we can find a bird that is different than five other states.’” — “Judge sides with Rep. Amesty, dismissing former aide’s defamation lawsuit,” by the Orlando Sentinel’s Annie Martin. — “STD surge: Florida hits record high rates, surpassing pre-pandemic levels,” reports Kayla Kissel of WFSU. “ | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | |
QUESTIONED — “Miami mayor subpoenaed to testify in SEC’s case against developer who paid him,” reports the Miami Herald. “When the Securities and Exchange Commission sued developer Rishi Kapoor in December, accusing him of defrauding investors in his real estate projects, the SEC’s lawsuit made no mention of his company’s consulting agreement with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez … In April, Suarez was compelled under subpoena to give a sworn statement related to the Kapoor case, according to three people familiar with the matter.”
|  Then Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) makes his opening statement during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 27, 2021, in Washington. | Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP | WEIGHING IN — “University of Florida president on response to protests: ‘You don’t get to take over the whole university,’” by the Hill’s Lauren Sforza. “[Ben] Sasse, a former senator representing Nebraska, reiterated that neither protesters nor other students have the right to set up encampments on campus.” EXPLAINER — “Campus protesters are calling for divestment. What does that mean?” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar and Ian Hodgson. “Students and activists are calling on universities to cut financial ties with defense companies and weapons manufacturers they say are supporting Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, resulting in more than 34,000 civilian deaths in Gaza. The movement has picked up momentum in Florida, with actions that include a hunger strike at USF earlier this spring and campus protests that have resulted in more than three dozen arrests across the state.” — “Who’s behind the USF pro-Palestinian protests? Here are 3 key groups,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Sam Ogozalek. — “Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon stood with pro-Palestine protesters at UNF,” reports of Florida Phoenix. | | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S ENERGY SUMMIT: The future of energy faces a crossroads in 2024 as policymakers and industry leaders shape new rules, investments and technologies. Join POLITICO’s Energy Summit on June 5 as we convene top voices to examine the shifting global policy environment in a year of major elections in the U.S. and around the world. POLITICO will examine how governments are writing and rewriting new rules for the energy future and America’s own role as a major exporter. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | |
RUBIO ON LEAVING FLORIDA — “All this other stuff is just speculation,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday, of reports saying he is on the shortlist to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate and would have to move because they both share the same home state. “I get it, you know political reporters have to cover political topics,” he continued. “The primary is over, the general [election] is six months away, so then we're going to speculate on the VP thing." He went on to say that Trump had many choices for vice president and for his Cabinet, before adding, “I would just have to say — leaving me aside for a moment — I think that before anyone decides to move from their state, you better make sure you don't move to a state where there's not some DA [district attorney] that makes a career after going after Republicans.”
OUT — “Top RNC lawyer resigns after less than 2 months,” reports POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt. “Republican National Committee chief counsel Charlie Spies has resigned after less than two months on the job, party officials confirmed. Spies, a longtime Republican election attorney, was brought on to the committee in March, amid a Trump-campaign-led overhaul of the committee. But over the following weeks, former President Donald Trump privately expressed anger over Spies’ hiring, as some allies began to tell him about the attorney’s past work for two former primary opponents — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.” WHAT HAPPENED? — “Trump-backed challenger fails to emerge for Hillsborough congresswoman,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ William March. “What happened? No one who knows is saying, but somehow the differences between Florida District 15 U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee and former President Donald Trump were smoothed over, and no Trump-backed primary challenger materialized against her.” | | | DATELINE D.C. | | |
HELP WANTED — “Feds in South Florida seek Haitian community’s help to tackle arms trafficking to Haiti,” by the Miami Herald’s Syra Ortiz Blanes. “Federal agents investigating the illegal flow of weapons, drugs and contraband between the United States and Haiti are turning to South Florida’s Haitian community for help in cracking down on the gang violence that is fueling instability in the volatile Caribbean country. Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the criminal investigations arm of the Department of Homeland Security, met with prominent Haitian-American leaders from the Miami metro area at the agency’s office on Friday.”
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | |
— “Trump makes pit stop at F1’s Miami Grand Prix during weekend break in hush money case,” per the Miami Herald.
BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna … State Sen. Tracie Davis … state Rep. Toby Overdorf … McKinley Lewis, communications director for Sen. Rick Scott. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
