| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard and Kierra Frazier | |  Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about Florida’s six-week abortion ban during an event at the Prime Osborn Convention Center on May 1, 2024 in Jacksonville, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | | Good morning from DC and happy Friday. Vice President Kamala Harris has long been more fluent in discussing abortion rights than her Catholic, 81-year-old boss. And now that she’s expected to be at the top of the Democratic ticket instead of President Joe Biden, the party is re-emphasizing this part of Harris’ resume to voters. The timing for Florida is salient: Voters are poised to weigh in on abortion rights through Amendment 4, and now Democrats have someone viewed as a more effective messenger leading the cause nationally. Harris last came to Florida to talk about abortion rights the same day that the state’s six-week abortion restriction became law. She was also scheduled to hold a panel about reproductive rights on former President Donald Trump’s turf in Palm Beach County on July 15, but ended up postponing the stop due to the assassination attempt against him. The digital video her campaign rolled out yesterday leaned heavily into the theme of voters being able to “choose freedom,” including “the freedom to make decisions about your own body.” “She has fought hard to make sure a woman’s right to choose is something women have a right to do,” state Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book said in a call with reporters yesterday. Trump has said he wants to leave abortion laws to the states, but Democrats have been pointing to “Project 2025,” a publication of the conservative Heritage Foundation that recommends policies to Trump if he were to win a second term. The 900-page document urges the “next conservative president” and Congress to “enact the most robust protections for the unborn that Congress will support while deploying existing federal powers to protect innocent life” and to withdraw the approval of medication abortion. Book called the document an “extreme blueprint for a second Trump term.” Florida Democrats are rallying around Harris. The state party this week announced 11 new hires and promotions — including Steven Cary as general counsel, Jordi Zapata as political director and Sam Fullam as data director, as first shared with Florida Politics. Florida Democrats say more than 6,000 people have signed up to volunteer since Harris announced her presidential campaign. Starting today and through the weekend, Harris for President is holding 36 events that include press stops and visits from local and state leaders across Florida to mark 100 days until the election. State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell predicted in the call with reporters yesterday that strong candidates like Harris would make elections in Florida more competitive and would encourage more people to come out and vote. “Kamala Harris represents the next generation of the Democratic Party,” she said. In response, Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power told Playbook the party had no changes planned to its strategy, contending that Harris and Biden both owned the policies of the White House even though Harris “may be able to actually campaign and complete sentences.” “The voters of Florida care about three things: the economy, inflation and immigration,” he said. It’s not only Republicans raising doubts. Florida Democratic megadonor John Morgan, who’d wanted Biden to pick former Rep. Val Demings as his running mate in 2020, panned the possibility of Florida voters being more receptive to Harris than they were to Biden. He acknowledged a base of voters would be especially enthusiastic about Harris’ megaphone on abortion rights, but contended it wouldn’t make a difference in Florida and predicted Harris’ ties to California would work against her. "When you talk about a California Democrat to a Florida voter, they know what you’re talking about,” he said. “Florida does not want to be California.” Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget in the campaign reporting that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com. NEXT WEEK: Live Event — We are going to space! Join us on Tues., July 30, at 8:30 a.m. ET, for an exclusive conversation with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about the space economy. What's that, you ask? Think of everything in your life that has anything to do with space — the global backbone for communications, media, data, science and defense. POLITICO also will sit with Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), from the space authorizations and appropriations subcommittees, as well as the FAA's commercial space lead Kelvin Coleman, NOAA's space commerce director Richard DalBello, Space Foundation's Meghan Allen and the Satellite Industry Association's President Tom Stroup. RSVP to attend here.
| | | | Pro Briefing: Kamala Harris and the World. What we expect on foreign policy and trade. Join POLITICO Pro for a deep-dive conversation with our specialist reporters about the vice president’s approach to foreign policy. Register Now. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | AMENDMENT 4 — “Abortion-rights initiative asks Florida Supreme Court to reject contested financial statement,” reports POLITICO’s Arek Sarkissian. “The campaign behind a ballot initiative seeking to expand abortion access in Florida has asked the state Supreme Court to reject a contested financial statement that is set to appear on the ballot, arguing that top legislative leaders did not have the authority to call for meetings that led to the changes in the first place. In the petition filed Wednesday, lawyers for the Floridians Protecting Freedom committee told the state Supreme Court that Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner did not have the authority to call for the state Fiscal Impact Estimating Conference to revise the financial statement, which was originally submitted last year.” SOARING HOAs — “DeSantis’ blunt message to legislators: It’s up to you to fix condo law,” reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, acknowledging the unintended consequences’ of a sweeping law passed in the aftermath of the Surfside condominium disaster, said Thursday that it’s up to state legislators to come up with a way to fix the state’s spiraling condo market. Florida’s condominium real estate market has seen a dramatic decline as owners find it harder and harder to sell older units ahead of new special assessments that condos are imposing to meet new safety requirements. Meanwhile, some owners have told local news outlets in South Florida that they can’t afford the huge assessments being placed on their property.” TIME TO SHOP — “Florida schools starting soon. Here's how to save on school supplies during tax-free holiday,” by Cheryl McCloud of USA Today Network — Florida. “It's almost time for the 2024-2025 school year to begin, with most Florida schools scheduled to start Aug. 12. Stores have begun promoting school supplies, with many putting bins and shelves within easy view of the doors, but if your weekend plans including buying items, you might want to wait a more few days. Florida's back-to-school tax-free holiday starts Monday, July 29.”
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | | |  A woman writes a note on a cross at a memorial with wooden crosses for each of the 49 victims of the Pulse Nightclub, next to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, June 17, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. The shooting at Pulse Nightclub, which killed 49 people and injured 53, is one of the worst mass-shooting event in American history. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | | PULSE MEMORIAL — “Orlando convenes advisory committee to get permanent Pulse memorial built,” by Central Florida Public Media’s Marian Summerall. “Some members of the committee now say there’s a lack of trust because of how long this process to get a permanent memorial has taken with nothing to show for it thus far. Around 150 people applied for a seat on the committee. Some families of victims who were not selected shared their frustration with the city and mayor about not having input.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | JUST OUT — The Florida Democratic Party is endorsing its own set of school board candidates to counteract the endorsements Gov. Ron DeSantis rolled out last week. The party is backing and providing fundraising support to 11 candidates ahead of the August 20 primary. “We are not going to let Ron DeSantis and his allies take over our school boards with far-right, Mom’s for Liberty candidates,” FDP Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement. “These six candidates and five incumbents represent the best of Florida’s education system and offer a clear contrast to the culture wars Republicans have been waging in our school systems.” Who’s on the list … Stephanie Arguello (Seminole), School Board Member Nadia Combs (Hillsborough), School Board Member Debbi Hixon (Broward), School Board Member Sarah Leonardi (Broward), Sarah Mannion (Duval), Jeremy Rogers (Leon), School Board Member Luisa Santos (Miami-Dade), Rebecca Thompson (Broward), Max Tuchman (Miami-Dade), Stephanie Vanos (Orange), and School Board Member Jessica Vaughn (Hillsborough). FUNDRAISING HAUL — Florida Future Leaders, the student-led PAC that funds Florida High School Democrats and Florida College Democrats, just reported that it hit $200,000 raised since it launched in January, thanks to 1,600 individual donors. The group said $50,000 of the total was raised in July. They plan to spend the money on campus events, hiring 41 campus organizers in three different legislative districts and ads that will run on social media — as well as on the dating app Tinder. NEW BILL — “IVF wars continue in race between Rick Scott, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell,” by Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski. “Reproductive rights continue to be a potent part of the Rick Scott re-election campaign, as a new bill and a sharp rejoinder from his likely General Election opponent show. The Naples Republican and U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack rolled out the Increasing Value for Families with HSAs Act. Scott’s Office says the plan is designed to ‘help individuals and families better plan and pay for medical expenses, like in vitro fertilization, by decoupling Health Savings Accounts from high-deductible health plans, and doubling the current contribution limits on HSAs from $4,300 to $8,600 for individuals and $8,550 to $17,100 for families’ … Meanwhile, the campaign of Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell pans Scott’s bill as a distraction from his real record, which includes spending ‘millions of dollars to lie to Florida voters about his anti-IVF record and cover up his recent vote against bipartisan legislation to protect access to IVF treatment.’” AMENDMENT 4 — “Faith and politics: Catholic groups spend to defeat Florida’s abortion rights amendment,” by the Orlando Sentinel’s Skyler Swisher. “Catholic groups have donated about $234,000 to Florida Voters Against Extremism, a political action committee opposing the measure known as Amendment 4, and are urging their parishioners to reject the proposal. Their contributions are dwarfed, however, by the amount raised by supporters of the amendment, who want to overturn Florida’s current six-week ban on most abortions.” STAYING INVOLVED — “How Venezuelans in Miami, unable to vote Sunday, are playing a role in pivotal election,” by Miami Herald’s Antonio Maria Delgado. “Knowing that the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans in the United States would vote for the opposition, the Caracas regime has made no effort to allow them to vote. In the past, Venezuelan exiles have been able to vote at locations rented by their country’s consulates in the U.S., but there are currently no diplomatic relations between the two countries. More than 800,000 Venezuelans are currently believed to be living in the U.S., forming part of the 7.7 million-strong wave of people who have fled the socialist government.” PROSECUTOR VS. A FELON — “Stop calling Trump a ‘felon,’ Florida voting rights leader says,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Lawrence Mower. “Desmond Meade, who led the 2018 effort to restore voting rights to Floridians convicted of felonies, says the term felon is stigmatizing the estimated 20 million Americans with those convictions … ‘The truth is the label doesn’t harm Trump, as much as it harms the millions of other people living with felony convictions,’ he wrote.”
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | |  Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to members of the media at the US Department of Justice building in Washington, DC, on August 1, 2023. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images | DOCS CASE DELAY — “Appeals court timeline suggests months more of delay for Jack Smith’s documents case against Trump,” by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein. “The federal court that will hear his appeal — the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals — laid out a schedule Thursday that requires Smith and Trump to file legal briefs through mid-October…. Barring an effort by Smith to demand an expedited schedule, the 11th Circuit’s timeline suggests the effort by prosecutors to resuscitate the case is likely to stretch past the 2024 election. A Trump victory in the election is seen as a likely death knell for the case, as Trump’s Justice Department leaders would be expected to unravel the prosecution.” ‘ON TOP OF THE BALL’ — “Sheriff vows safety ahead of Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago,” by South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Abigail Hasebroock. “‘There’s a lot of apprehension out here right now about presidential visits and dignitaries, given what happened,’ [Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric] Bradshaw said during a news conference Thursday, referring to the assassination attempt of Trump on July 13. ‘Look, we’re well-trained at this. … We’ve never had a glitch.’ Bradshaw urged people not to ‘think for a minute’ the Secret Service is nothing short of ‘excellent.’ ‘We know what each other is doing every second,’ Bradshaw said, adding: ‘We’re on top of the ball game, and things will go very smooth.’”
| | DATELINE D.C. | | FLORIDA CONNECTION — “New Secret Service director got his start fighting drug crimes as a South Florida police officer,” reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Shira Moolten. “The acting Secret Service director taking the helm of a department grappling with its failures after the Trump assassination attempt got his start as a local police officer fighting drug crimes during the crack cocaine epidemic. Ronald Rowe always wanted to be in the Secret Service, assistant West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Spataro recalled Thursday, ever since the two went through the police academy together in 1995. Now, the former patrol officer will take charge of the entire organization, replacing Kimberly Cheatle after calls for her removal and a tense appearance before Congress culminated in her resignation Tuesday.”
| | TRANSITION TIME | | — President Joe Biden has nominated former Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) to be a governor on the United States Postal Service Board of Governors. — Hilary Lane has joined Ballard Spahr’s Privacy and Data Security and Media and Entertainment Law groups as partner. She joins the firm from Holland & Knight, where she was a partner in the firm's Tampa office.
| | | | The space economy is already woven into our lives in ways we don't always appreciate, creating a global backbone for communications, media, data, science and defense. It's also becoming an increasingly competitive zone among nations - and a venue for complex and important public-private partnerships. Join POLITICO on July 30 for a conversation about what Washington needs to understand is at stake – which sectors of the global economy see their growth arc in space, and what the role of government leaders is in both growing and regulating the explosion of orbital ideas. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — “Florida tennis star to carry flag for Team USA in Olympic Opening Ceremony. Who is Coco Gauff,” by USA Today Network — Florida’s Samantha Neely. BIRTHDAYS: Former Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli ... Former state Rep. Richard Stark … Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum … (Saturday) Retired Admiral Craig Faller, former commander of U.S. Southern Command … (Sunday) Bill Cotterell, columnist and former state government reporter ... Juan Guaidó, Venezuelan opposition leader. | | | | 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 | | | | |
