| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | | Presented by |  | | | |  Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., center, joined at right by Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev. chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, condemns hate speech and misinformation about Haitian immigrants, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo | Good morning and welcome to Monday. Florida Democrats are jumping on former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) fictional and incendiary attacks on Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, saying their words are resonating in Florida as well. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), the first Haitian-American elected to Congress from Florida, said during a press conference outside the Capitol on Friday that a group of congressional Democrats are planning a trip to Springfield in a sign of solidarity, although the date has not yet been set. At Friday’s press conference, members of the congressional Haitian Caucus introduced a resolution to condemn racism against the Haitian community after Trump and Vance spread false claims that Haitians who immigrated to Springfield were stealing and eating pets. The resolution also aims to pressure Republicans to drop the claims amid bomb threats and other fears about violence in the region that have closed schools and canceled community events. “It’s insulting that both Trump and JD Vance would spew out baseless, hateful claims that Haitians eat pets … It’s vile and it’s despicable,” Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), who represents the largest Haitian-American district in the U.S., said in Washington on Friday. “There is no proof of anything he is saying.” Back in Florida, in North Miami on Sunday, the Miami-Dade Democratic Haitian Caucus held a “Haitian Solidarity” rally. A night earlier, the Miami-Dade Democrats paused their Blue Gala on Miami Beach for Haitian leaders to come to the stage, and they heard from North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme about contributions Haitians made to South Florida. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), whose district also has a large concentration of Haitian Americans, said his constituents told him they’re afraid to send their children to school “because of the lies that have been spread about their community.” The same was true for North Miami Vice Mayor Mary Estimé-Irvin, who said she was worried about students’ mental health. “It’s a damn shame we have to introduce this resolution in the first place,” said Frost, who was the lead author of Friday’s resolution. A total of 88 House members signed up as co-sponsors as of Sunday evening, according to Cherfilus-McCormick’s office. All are Democrats. Florida is home to more than half a million people of Haitian heritage, with more residing here than any other state. The island nation has been torn apart by violent gangs, leading the Biden administration in June to make about 300,000 Haitians in the U.S. eligible for temporary protected status. The move allows them to work and to be protected from deportation amid the ongoing strife in Haiti. Cherfilus-McCormick accused the Trump campaign of “playing a dangerous game of divide and conquer,” especially by falsely claiming the Haitians in Springfield were illegally residing there when they are not. “We have very hardworking people who entered into the country wanting to give back to the country that actually allowed them to escape their political struggles,” she said outside the Capitol. The moves in Congress and Florida come as the issue of immigration continues to be central to the 2024 election. Trump said he plans to visit Springfield soon and Vance told CNN that he thought the press too often ignored stories regarding the consequences of more lenient border policies, such as straining public resources. 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.
| | | | A message from Uber: How does Uber expand transit access in Florida?
Every week, Uber helps over 3,000 people get to and from Brightline stations across Florida. On average, riders travel nearly 6 miles to connect to Brightline, extending their reach far beyond the tracks. Learn more about how Uber is working with transit agencies in Florida and across the country. | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | STARTING TODAY — “Victims of Dozier, Okeechobee boys schools can … apply for compensation. Here’s how,” by Brenda Argueta of Click Orlando. “Victims of the Dozier School for Boys and the Florida School for Boys at Okeechobee [can] apply for compensation starting Monday. The program was established in July after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 21 into law earlier this year. The legislation appropriated $20 million from the state’s general revenue fund to compensate living persons who attended the Dozier or Okeechobee reform schools between 1940 and 1975.” (See the list of questions.) DON’T SAY SEX ED — “‘Emphasize abstinence’ in sex ed, Florida tells schools, skip lessons on contraception,” by the Orlando Sentinel’s Leslie Postal. “Florida has told school districts around the state that they may not teach teenagers about contraception, show them pictures depicting human reproductive anatomy or discuss topics such as sexual consent and domestic violence, according to district officials and an advocate for comprehensive sexual health education.” CONTRASTING APPROACH — “Critics see DeSantis double-standard in Florida abortion petition case,” by Lawrence Mower and Romy Ellenbogen of the Tampa Bay Times. “When the casino giant Las Vegas Sands started collecting signatures to change the Florida Constitution two years ago, the signs of fraud were rampant. In its drive to get the required 891,589 signatures, the campaign bombarded local election supervisors with petitions bearing phony signatures and names of dead people. Nearly two-thirds of the petition signatures were tossed out … Fast forward to this election. The state’s handling of the 2-year-old case is raising new questions after the governor’s election police launched an unprecedented investigation into Amendment 4, an initiative DeSantis opposes.” — “Florida doctor faces $10,000 fine, reprimand for not complying with abortion waiting period,” by Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida. STAFF SURPRISED — “High-ranking Florida Medicaid official resigns post,” by Christine Jordan Sexton of the Florida Phoenix. “Deputy Secretary for Data and Finance Tom Wallace stepped down Thursday afternoon, Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida announced in an email Friday morning. Weida advised agency staff to work with Matt Cooper, now acting deputy secretary for data and finance. Weida said Wallace is on annual leave for ‘the next few weeks,’ meaning he will continue to draw his salary. Wallace, hired in 1999, made $183,855 annually, according to state records.” TARDY — “Florida faces $40M in fines for failing to submit Medicaid reports,” by Christine Jordan Sexton and Jackie Llanos of the Florida Phoenix. “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Director of State Demonstrations Group Jacey Cooper sent a letter Thursday to two top Florida Medicaid officials advising them that the state faces fines and being placed under a corrective action plan unless the Agency for Health Care Administration submits the status reports by the end of the year.” EXPANSION UNDER UNIVERSAL SCHOOL CHOICE — “Vouchers ease start-up stress for churches seeing demand for more Christian schools,” by The Associated Press’ Holly Meyer. “It’s not about hurting public schools, said pastor Jimmy Scroggins, whose Family Church in South Florida is hoping to launch three classical Christian schools over the next year. Rather, he said it’s about giving parents more schooling options that align with their Christian values … In addition to discrimination concerns and church-state issues, opponents worry school vouchers take money from public schools, which serve most U.S. students, and help higher-income families already in private schools.” STARVATION CRISIS — “Judge refuses to dismiss case over Florida manatee deaths,” by Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida. “A federal judge this week refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Florida has violated the Endangered Species Act because of sewage discharges into the Indian River Lagoon that have helped lead to manatee deaths. U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza issued a 30-page ruling that rejected a motion by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to toss out the lawsuit filed in 2022 by the environmental group Bear Warriors United.”
| |  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens as Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks during a press conference regarding an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on September 17, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | THIS WEEK — “Florida Attorney General's Office heading out of state to defend Texas library book bans,” reports Douglas Soule of USA Today Network — Florida. “After arguing for more than a year on behalf of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration that school officials can remove any books for any reason, including objections to LGBTQ and race-related content, attorneys for the state now are making the same defense for community libraries — in Texas. The Florida Attorney General’s Office joined 17 other red states in filing a court brief defending a Texas county's removal of 17 books from its library system. They claim that book removals are ‘government speech’ and therefore don't violate others’ First Amendment rights.” — “Floridians advised to plan as chance of storm in Gulf increases,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Dan Sullivan.
| | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | SPELLCHECK — “Some Palm Beach ballots misspelled Tim Walz’s name as ‘Tom,’” by The New York Times’ Patricia Mazzei. “When elections officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., emailed ballots last week to military and overseas voters, they failed to notice a typographical error: The name of Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was misspelled as ‘Tom Walz.’ The office was made aware of the error less than 18 hours after the ballots went out, Wendy Sartory Link, the county’s elections supervisor, said on Sunday.” ‘IT’S A QUESTION OF MONEY’ — “Senate Democrats push leaders to expand map to Florida, maybe Texas,” by the Washington Post’s Paul Kane. “Tired of playing only defense, a small but vocal number of Senate Democrats are pushing party leaders and political operatives to pour money into trying to knock off GOP incumbents in races most view as long shots for Democrats. They fear Democrats are leaving potential pickups on the table, particularly in Florida and Texas, where unpopular incumbents, Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Texas), have not seen anything resembling the financial onslaught faced by GOP candidates in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Arizona … The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has held a strategy of ‘no shiny objects’ for its four years under the leadership of Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), fearful of wasting hundreds of millions of dollars in races that are not ultimately winnable, as happened in a few states in 2018 and 2020.” LATEST FUNDRAISING — “The Florida group behind an abortion-rights ballot measure to report a record cash haul,” reports Patricia Mazzei of The New York Times. “Floridians Protecting Freedom, the organization running the campaign, called ‘Yes on 4,’ said that it collected $7.8 million from Sept. 7 to Sept. 13, the week after the state agency that regulates health care providers — including abortion clinics — published a webpage and later a video on social media and television opposing the ballot measure.”
|  Florida State Sen. Jason Pizzo is seen during a hearing at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla., Jan. 9, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images | ‘I WOULD LIKE MY CHANCES’ — “Dissatisfied with his party’s potential candidates, Democratic state senator may run for Florida governor,” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man. “State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who assumes the high-profile role of Florida Senate Democratic leader in two months, may run for governor in 2026. He isn’t saying he’s a candidate. And in an interview, he said he’s focused on his two years as party leader in the Senate following the November elections, and on knotty issues facing Florida. But he’s also clearly thought about the opportunity and obstacles presented by the governor’s job voters will fill in 2026, when Gov. Ron DeSantis is ineligible to run again because of term limits.” TRYING TO BUILD ENTHUSIASM — “Golf cart showdown: Democrats seek votes in Trump-loving Villages,” by the Orlando Sentinel’s Skyler Swisher. “Democrats know that if they are to close Trump’s 3-point winning gap in Florida last time around, they need to outperform their 2020 showing in places spanning from deep blue Orange County to GOP strongholds like this one.” — “‘Don’t sleep on Florida this election cycle.’ LGBTQ+ Democrats and allies open South Florida voter mobilization office,” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man. AMERICAN 2100 — “Activist with neo-Nazi ties fronts Marco Rubio-linked anti-immigration effort,” by the Guardian’s Jason Wilson. “The rightwing activist Nate Hochman, who was fired last year by the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, for employing neo-Nazi imagery in a campaign video, is now the face of a Marco Rubio-linked thinktank’s efforts to spread anti-immigrant panic from Ohio to Pennsylvania. Videos featuring Hochman recorded in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, have been boosted on X by a range of rightwing figures including the platform’s owner, the tech billionaire Elon Musk … America 2100 is ostensibly a thinktank, launched by Rubio’s chief of staff, Michael Needham, in June 2023.” CONTENTIOUS CONTEST — “Moderate, conservative forces square off in Pinellas school board race,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Jeffrey S. Solochek. “Less than a week after a primary election that divided them by fewer than 800 votes, Pinellas County school board candidates Stacy Geier and Katie Blaxberg began bashing each other on social media. Geier, who led the field of three in August, criticized Blaxberg as fiscally irresponsible, also accusing her of slandering sitting board members. Blaxberg blasted Geier as an extremist who lacks decorum, at one point calling her “Election Denier Geier” in a post she later deleted.”
| | DATELINE D.C. | | HILL HEARING — “Florida Republican clashes with former US Ambassador over Venezuela sanctions,” by The Hill’s Joanne Haner. “Oil companies, including those led by Chevron and Repsol, have increased pumping in Venezuela after Biden eased sanctions back in 2022. These sanctions were part of an attempt to persuade the Maduro administration to hold free and fair elections. While the United States stands among other nations who recognize presidential candidate Edmundo González as the rightful winner of the election, [GOP Rep. Maria] Salazar claims the stance is not enough, calling for the sanctions to be reinstated. González fled to Spain earlier this month shortly after a local Venezuelan judge ordered his arrest.”
| | TRANSITION TIME | | — Christine Jordan Sexton, former health care reporter for Florida Politics, is now senior reporter for the Florida Phoenix. — Denise Hruby is now climate reporter for the Miami Herald. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
| | | | A message from Uber: Expanding transit access in Florida
Did you know that every week, Uber helps over 3,000 people get to and from Brightline stations across Florida?
Key stat: On average, riders travel nearly 6 miles to reach these stations—extending Brightline’s reach far beyond the tracks.
From MiamiCentral to Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, Uber is making it easier for Floridians to access public transit.
Learn more about how Uber partners with transit agencies to improve access to public transportation. | | | | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | BREW-TIFUL — “Bipartisan brewing: Florida men Bean and Moskowitz craft a beer,” by the Florida Phoenix’s Jay Waagmeester. “Beer is bipartisan, according to U.S. Reps. Aaron Bean, a Republican, and Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat. The two came together to craft ‘Florida Man,’ a kolsch they brewed at the Anheuser-Busch Jacksonville Brewery in competing for the company’s 2024 Brew Democracy Cup in the seventh annual Brew Across America Congressional Brewing competition.” — “Paralympic swimmer returns home to Fort Lauderdale sporting two silver medals from Paris,” by 7News’ Ethan Calloway and Daniel Cohen. BIRTHDAYS: Former Rep. Al Lawson … Hillsborough County Property Appraiser and former state Rep. Bob Henriquez. | | | | 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 | | | | |
