| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | | Presented by |  | | | |  Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis arrives with his wife Katie for the inauguration ceremony at the Old Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis was sworn in for a second term on Jan. 3, 2023. | Lynne Sladky/AP | Good morning and happy Friday. Outgoing Chief Financial Officer JIMMY PATRONIS will unveil his first ad of the FL-01 special election during Saturday’s Army-Navy game. And it showcases someone who’ll be right there in the stadium: President-elect DONALD TRUMP. The 30-second ad opens with a video playing on a phone that shows the assassination attempt targeting Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he stood up after a bullet grazed his ear and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Patronis’ voiceover describes the scene before saying, “There’s only one Donald Trump.” Patronis then raises the way that Trump endorsed him over Truth Social, in which the president-elect urged him to run in the district. Patronis calls the endorsement, which helped him gain frontrunner status in the race, the “honor of a lifetime.” “President Trump can count on me and so can you,” Patronis says at the end of the ad. Watch the spot, called "Yes sir." Patronis is running in a deep-red area along the Panhandle that was represented by former Rep. MATT GAETZ, who'd been Trump’s pick for attorney general before dropping out amid opposition from Senate Republicans. The Patronis campaign initial ad buy is roughly $2,000 for the spot airing during the game, according to figures from Medium Buying, which tracks political advertising. The district is in a relatively affordable media market especially when compared to areas like Tampa or Orlando, though because of the geography the market also includes parts of Alabama. Patronis also has the backing of Republican House leaders, including Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE and Majority Whip TOM EMMER. But Patronis isn’t alone in the race. Ten Republicans have qualified for the primary on Jan. 28. GAY VALIMONT, a Democrat who lost to Gaetz by 32 points in November, has mounted a bid to challenge the eventual Republican nominee for the general election on April 1. Patronis’ new ad doesn’t describe his biography, though he’s well known in the Panhandle. He has been chief financial officer since 2017, when then-Gov. RICK SCOTT appointed him, and then successfully ran for the seat twice. He’s also a former legislator and his family owns a famous seafood restaurant in Panama City. Patronis won’t officially be leaving his current post until the end of March, his resignation letter says, and Gov. RON DESANTIS faces a decision to tap his replacement — who’d remain in the job until at least the 2026 elections. Republican state Sen. JOE GRUTERS is already running for the job for 2026 and has Trump’s endorsement, as well as Patronis' backing, but he has a frosty relationship with DeSantis. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
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Learn more. | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | WILL NEED FUNDING — “Florida Supreme Court asks for 50 new judgeships,” reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. “The Florida Supreme Court is asking state legislators to create 50 new judgeships — one of the larger requests in the past 25 years — after undertaking a comprehensive study of caseloads in the nation's third largest state. “If ultimately approved by legislators, it would hand DeSantis a large number of judicial appointments to a governor who has already completely remade the state Supreme Court by installing several conservative justices.” ADDING ON — “DeSantis, Cabinet to consider a new state park and state forest,” reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. “DeSantis and the Cabinet next week will consider buying 2,843 acres in Walton County to establish a new state park. “The new state park in Walton County, to be purchased for nearly $8.4 million, would be along the Upper Shoal River four miles west of DeFuniak Springs. The purchase would provide a buffer to Eglin Air Force Base, located one mile south.” BOOK REMOVAL IT — “Florida to spend up to $15 million on school material review technology for DeSantis laws,” reports Douglas Soule of USA Today Network-Florida. “In a contract signed this September, the Florida Department of Education agreed to pay up to $15.6 million over four years to Maryland-based education technology company Trinity Education Group. The company has been tapped to develop a ‘statewide, centralized, easily accessible’ system for people to review and even object to instructional materials and library books in Florida school districts.” PUSHING FOR DOCUMENTS — “An advocacy group is suing the state of Florida for not releasing what it says is public information about how many times mentally ill people are involuntarily taken into custody,” reports Ana Goñi-Lessan of USA Today Network-Florida. “Disability Rights Florida filed suit this week in Leon Circuit Civil court against the Florida Department of Children and Families. The complaint alleges the department did not publish a required annual report on the Baker Act — the state law allowing for the involuntary examination and treatment of those who may pose a risk to themselves or others — and did not collect data from receiving and treatment facilities.” PRICE DISCREPANCY — “Floridians working for small businesses pay more for health insurance, report finds,” by Jackie Llanos of the Florida Phoenix. “The report from the [Commonwealth Fund, an] independent health care research firm, calculates that small business employees pay $2,235 more in deductibles for family plans than people working in companies with more than 50 employees.” HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS — Some state workers won’t get the same days off for the holidays as most state employees under vacation days DeSantis rolled out this week. According to James Call of USA Today Network-Florida, “state law prohibits [DeSantis] from extending that generosity to a class of workers classified as Other Personal Services — well known in Tallahassee as ‘OPS,’ the part-time employees hired to fill temporary staff shortages.”
| | | | Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | 1980S TERM — “They died in police custody. Their deaths are attributed to a disputed but ‘very real’ phenomenon called excited delirium,” reports Angie Dimichele and Shira Moolten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Since 1994, a total of 53 people have died from excited delirium in Miami-Dade County. Seven have died in Broward since 2000, the earliest date with complete data. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office said it could not provide data specific to excited delirium because it ‘does not keep track of deaths in that format.’ However, at least eight deaths have occurred there since 2014, based on records reviewed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Excited delirium deaths in South Florida and across the country share commonalities: a sweating, agitated, incoherent man detached from reality — often high on cocaine or synthetic drugs — is restrained, sometimes aggressively, by police. During their struggles with police, sufferers of the syndrome become unresponsive and are soon pronounced dead.” — “‘Not a bad American dream story’: A changing North Miami Beach swears in first Black mayor,” reports Raisa Habersham of the Miami Herald. — “Miami judge orders two Alexander brothers be held in accused rape cases in Miami Beach,” reports the Miami Herald’s Jay Weaver and Charles Rabin.
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | | 
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and then-Republican National Committee Co-chair Lara Trump attend the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. | Evan Vucci/AP | REMINDER — Trump and DeSantis are both set to be at the Army-Navy game on Saturday. It's happening as talk keeps swirling about whether DeSantis will have a job in the Trump administration and whether he'll consider LARA TRUMP to replace MARCO RUBIO in the Senate. About that — Trump said in his Time magazine “Person of the Year” interview that his children as well as his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, were “very capable people” who could carry on the future of his political movement. “Lara has been amazing,” he said. “Look, she was the head of the Republican Party. She's a young, a young woman, and she was the head of the Republican Party. And look at the job we did.” And piling on — Rep. LAUREL LEE (R-Fla.) the lone Republican member of Congress who endorsed DeSantis for president in the 2024 GOP primary, supports the governor considering Lara Trump to be the next senator that would replace Rubio, reports Jackson Bakich of The Floridian. “I think she would be a wonderful person for [DeSantis] to consider. He is going to have a lot of really great people to consider, and I think she would be an excellent candidate,” she said. FUNDRAISING FRAUD — “Grand jury indicts Orlando man with defrauding donors of money meant for Trump, DeSantis, other campaigns,” reports Silas Morgan of the Orlando Sentinel. “Jason Pallante, 52, was charged by a federal grand jury with three counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud for using dozens of online websites — a fraction of the 2,000 domains DOJ said he purchased — that he designed to appear affiliated with various political campaigns in 2024 to trick people into donating, according to the indictment. He was arrested Wednesday by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and was booked into the Seminole County Jail.”
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | | | DATELINE D.C. | | COUNTDOWN TO SHUTDOWN — House appropriators are getting closer to a deal on government funding that will include hurricane relief. The White House asked for $98 billion to help with recovery from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as other disasters across the U.S. According to POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes: “Some Republican lawmakers have predicted that the disaster aid will total less than the White House’s request, but not dramatically. There is broad acknowledgment that the emergency funding within the package will not be offset by funding cuts to other accounts, despite deficit hawk concerns.” IN ADDITION TO 1,500 COMMUTATIONS — President JOE BIDEN on Thursday announced he was pardoning 39 Americans who’d been convicted of nonviolent crimes. One was JOSE ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ, 55, of Coral Springs, Florida, who now works in the medical field and has a family. According to the White House: “He was honorably discharged from the Navy and received several medals and awards for his service, including the U.S. Navy Achievement Medal. … Colleagues and friends describe Rodriguez as compassionate, empathetic and dedicated to treating patients.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT — “Questions of 'pay to play' linger over Santa Rosa GOP candidate forum,” reports Jim Little of the Pensacola News Journal. “Some candidates in the special election to fill the seat vacated by Matt Gaetz felt like they had no choice but to donate to the Santa Rosa County Republican Executive Committee to participate in a candidate forum on Monday, which has raised allegations of ‘pay-to-play’ from one local lawmaker. “State Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said he is looking into the situation to decide whether to notify the Florida Division of Elections about the donation request that he believes violated the law.”
| | | | Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today. | | | | | |  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) arrives at a campaign event for then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina on Sept. 21, 2024. | Alex Brandon/AP | STARTING EARLY — House Majority PAC, the main Democratic super PAC for the lower chamber of Congress, is already recruiting candidates to run against Rep. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-Fla.), reports Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics. Luna’s district was the only one where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it was competing in last cycle, and she still won by almost 10 points. Luna reacted to the news in a video on X by saying that she would start her own PAC to run Republicans in Democratic-held seats. HMP also suggested that it might consider backing candidates in the districts of Republican Reps. CARLOS GIMÉNEZ, LAUREL LEE, CORY MILLS and MARÍA ELVIRA SALAZAR.
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — USA Today Network-Florida sorted through Forbes’ list of wealthiest Floridians. Amazon founder JEFF BEZOS and Citadel CEO KEN GRIFFIN made the list. BIRTHDAYS: Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried … Hayden Dempsey, shareholder with GreenbergTraurig ... Mike Stone with WFSU-TV/The Florida Channel … (Saturday) state Rep. David Borrero … former Rep. Sandy Adams ... Florida native Dinah Voyles Pulver, investigative and environmental reporter USA Today … (Sunday) Former Florida Democratic Party chair Terrie Rizzo ... Gabriel Groisman, attorney and former mayor of Bal Harbour.
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