| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | Good morning and happy Friday. The Orlando area is the place to be this weekend for Florida politicos from both parties. Democrats are having their big annual “Leadership Blue” weekend fundraiser where 1,000 party members are expected to attend. The confab, at the Disney Contemporary Resort, will have literal fireworks while dessert is being served Saturday night. Eden Giagnorio, Florida Democratic Party spokesperson, previewed a “full sensory experience” that would make people laugh and cry. Democrats will also have a “grand unveiling” regarding party branding. Party Chair Nikki Fried will be weaving the “light” motif into her big speech — right on the heels of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis taunting the party to “light it up” on the airwaves. The weekend is happening just as a six-week abortion ban went into effect and around the two-year anniversary of when POLITICO reported a leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Fried plans to spend a significant amount of her remarks on reproductive rights and over the weekend the “Yes on 4” campaign will be doing messaging training to encourage voters to support a referendum that would enshrine abortion rights into the state’s Constitution.
|  Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., speaks about gun safety on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP | But they’ll zoom out on other topics, too. Brandon Wolf, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign who is a survivor of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting, is doing a gun violence prevention panel with Rep. Maxwell Frost. Attendees will also hear from Rick Wilson, who co-founded the anti-Donald Trump Lincoln Project. There will be trainings on early voting, voter registration and candidate recruitment, and town halls for Hispanic and Black voters. The keynote speaker for the gala portion of the weekend is Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), whom Fried said “embodies the spirit of Florida Democrats.” Fetterman as a headliner is already drawing backlash, and it’s not because he praised DeSantis for banning cultivated meat in Florida. The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida tried to have the party cancel his appearance given his “unwavering support for Israel’s actions.” The backlash comes as campuses continue to see pro-Palestinian protests — and as President Joe Biden condemned those that turned violent. Across town at the Rosen Centre Hotel, Republicans are having their quarterly meeting, which is much smaller and more about volunteer strategy for the general election. There will, however, be some policy in the mix: The group will vote on taking a public stance on the ballot referendum that would legalize cannabis for recreational use. DeSantis has already said he’ll try to get voters to “no” on the issue. A schedule of the Republican Party of Florida meeting viewed by Playbook showed committee meetings for engaging women, tapping into blue counties and organizing for early voting. Alex Garcia from Trump and the RNC’s political operation, who was a former chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, will be talking to attendees about the state of the campaign. It’s expected to be a pumped-up environment, given the 900,000 voter registration advantage Republicans have achieved in Florida. While volunteers get down to business, the GOP’s biggest stars will be over in Palm Beach for the Republican National Committee’s retreat and fundraiser at the Four Seasons and Mar-a-Lago. That event is being widely reported as serving as an informal tryout session for several potential Trump running mate contenders, including Florida Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Byron Donalds. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
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|  Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | WAR ON WOKE — “DeSantis signs law targeting ‘identity politics’ in teacher training programs,” by POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury. “The new law strengthens a 2023 policy rebuking diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to dozens of teacher education programs at state universities, colleges and school districts by prohibiting them from ‘distort[ing] significant historical events’ or teaching ‘identity politics’ as they prepare educators and school leaders. The measure is the state’s latest attempt to root out traces of ‘wokeness’ in public education, which the DeSantis administration says is DEI and critical race theory, frequent targets for Republicans in the state and nationally.” NEW RULES — “Florida issues emergency rules for exceptions under state’s new six-week abortion ban,” reports Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida. “Regulators focused on certain medical conditions that might occur after six weeks of pregnancy and ‘can present an immediate danger to the health, safety and welfare of women and unborn children in hospitals and abortion clinics,’ according to the rules. Those conditions are … a pregnant woman’s water breaking prematurely; situations when prematurely ruptured membranes cause doctors to induce births and babies die; ectopic pregnancies; and treatment of what are known as trophoblastic tumors. The rules involve record-keeping and reporting about the treatments.” REGIONAL EFFECTS — “‘Our patients are screwed': Florida’s ban cuts off abortion access in the South,” by POLITICO’s Liz Crampton and Alice Miranda Ollstein. “The shift away from abortion access in Florida opens a new phase in the post-Roe v. Wade world, with severe new limitations on abortion in place across a vast and unbroken stretch of the country. The new landscape further limits access to care for women and is guaranteed to strain reproductive health care services in nearby states that still allow for broad access to the procedure.” ORGANIZING — “Inside the ground game to win Florida abortion referendum votes,” by the Washington Post’s Lori Rozsa. “At the Gainesville volunteer training, one instructor put it plainly: Supporters need to get more than 7 million voters to approve the amendment to put it in the constitution. That will inevitably mean talking to people who disagree with them.” NEW LAW — “DeSantis signs bill targeting banks and creating IRS liaison for Floridians,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Lawrence Mower. “Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Thursday making it harder for banks to drop customers and creating a state liaison to field Floridians’ complaints with the Internal Revenue Service. House Bill 989 would protect conservative groups, gun sellers and private prisons from being dropped by financial institutions, DeSantis said during a news conference in Jacksonville.” INVESTIGATIVE REPORT — “Are midwives and doulas the answer to keeping more Black babies alive?” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Cindy Krischer Goodman. “Doula training has ramped up in the state, the result of a confluence of factors that are making the option more available to women — particularly women of color — who may benefit most from having an advocate through the process. Doulas are non-medical, trained labor assistants or coaches who provide physical and emotional support during pregnancy, childbirth and recovery. A doula will speak up for a mother when a doctor dismisses her concerns. She will ensure a woman’s birth plan is followed as much as possible. And, she will pick up on signs of complications or postpartum depression that could have been overlooked.” DISENROLLED — “Analysis: Nearly 600,000 Florida children lose Medicaid, CHIP coverage during pandemic unwinding,” by Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics. “Florida ranks second behind Texas in a list of states with the largest enrollment declines in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, better known here as Florida KidCare … Researchers were unable to determine how many of the children who were disenrolled from the health care programs ultimately became uninsured.” PUSHBACK — “'Unconscionable': Plan to drill for oil in N. Florida outrages even some Republican lawmakers,” by the Tallahassee Democrat’s James Call. “Lawmakers, including a powerful Republican freshman lawmaker, called it irresponsible and atrocious for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to permit a Louisiana company to drill for oil between the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers, about 60 miles west of Tallahassee in Calhoun County.” — “Fewer 'spinning' fish, sawfish deaths hoped, FWC says,” by News Service of Florida. — “After arrest of Jacksonville funeral director, DeSantis signs bill giving state more power to investigate funeral homes,” by News4Jax’s Anne Maxwell.
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | IMPLEMENTATION EFFECTS — “At a clinic in Hialeah, immigrants wrestle with Florida's new abortion ban,” by NBC News’ Carmen Sesin and Bracey Harris. “On Tuesday, the day before the ban went into effect, a sign at the entrance to A Hialeah Woman’s Care Center and another on a pink wall of the clinic’s waiting room warned patients of the change in law. The small clinic was bustling, with women pouring in all day, eager to be seen. Some patients were asked to return the following day because the state requires a 24-hour waiting period for abortions.” — “Miami Dade College still deducts union dues from paychecks. Does Florida's new law allow it?” by WLRN’s Daniel Rivero. — “A judge said Miami racially gerrymandered its voters. Here’s the proposed new map,” by the Miami Herald’s Tess Riski.
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) reelection campaign hired a mobile billboard to circle Democrats’ Leadership Blue weekend in Orlando to attack former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, his likely Democratic opponent in the race. The billboard will draw attention to voter registration advantages for Republicans, as well as a poll that showed Scott ahead and that few Floridians knew Mucarsel-Powell’s name. NPA — “Not Democrats, not Republicans. Who are Florida’s independent voters?” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Ivy Nyayieka. “Both Democrats and Republicans have lost hundreds of thousands of voters who have decided to become unaffiliated with either party. Women were more likely than men to switch from a party to no-party status, according to the Times analysis, with women making up 55 percent of those who dropped their party affiliation since 2020. The majority of women who switched — some 149,000 voters — came from the Democratic Party. Fewer women made the opposite switch from no-party to Democrat during this time period, narrowing Democrats’ share of female voters. In contrast, the share of women registered as Republican and as no-party increased slightly in the last four years.” NEW CHALLENGE — “Fresh off resigning as Palm Beach County Democratic chair, Mindy Koch files to run for School Board,” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man. “Immediately after resigning as chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party, Mindy Koch filed paperwork to run for School Board. Koch had a tumultuous, 17-month run as chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party, culminating in her resignation Wednesday afternoon. She then drove to the Supervisor of Elections Office headquarters and turned in paperwork as a candidate for Palm Beach County School Board, Koch said Thursday in a telephone interview.” — “Brevard Republicans announce puppy killer Kristi Noem will keynote annual dinner,” by Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles.
| | | | Power Play will be at the 27th Annual Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles, from May 5-8. POLITICO’s highly influential podcast, hosted by Anne McElvoy, will bring conversations with power players in politics, finance, tech philanthropy and beyond to your ears, as they grapple with the world’s most pressing and complex challenges. Listen and follow Power Play here. | | | | | | | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | DROPPING NAMES — “Trump drags Mike Pence into Mar-a-Lago case, says former VP kept classified documents, too,” by the Palm Beach Post’s Hannah Phillips. “Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Chris Kise gave Cannon a list of other former officials who they say acted similarly to Trump, but against whom ‘no one in the government lifted a finger.’”
| | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | | PIX — “Universal Orlando resort lifts the lid on its Super Nintendo World,” per Gizmodo’s Sabina Graves. IN MEMORIAM – Judith Diane Duga, who practiced medicine in Florida and was a native of Coral Springs, recently passed away in Boca Raton. BIRTHDAYS: Harris Media’s Vince Harris … Author and journalist Andrew Nagorski … David Siegel, president and CEO of Westgate Resorts … (Saturday) State Sen. Tina Polsky … Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg … (Sunday) Former Rep. Craig T. James … Jim Magill with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and former legislative affairs director for Gov. Jeb Bush … Paul Flemming, director of public information office for the Supreme Court of Florida ... political consultant Max Goodman. | | | | 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 | | | | |
