Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry, Ryan Ray, and Jim Rosica.
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT APPROVES CONGRESSIONAL MAP via Gary Fineout of the Associated Press – The Florida Supreme Court approved a sweeping overhaul of the state’s congressional districts on Wednesday, a move that will upend the political landscape ahead of the pivotal 2016 elections. The justices ruled 5-2 in favor of the new boundaries for many of Florida’s 27 districts. The ruling signs off on the map that Circuit Judge Terry Lewis approved earlier this year.
The map would likely force Rep. Dan Webster to move districts to remain in office. It also could lead to the end of Rep. Gwen Graham‘s rising career and would make it harder for South Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo to get re-elected.
Justice Barbara Pariente, who wrote the majority opinion, said the ruling should “bring much needed finality to litigation concerning this state’s congressional redistricting that has now spanned nearly four years in state courts.”
But the new map could quickly come under further legal attack. U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown, whose district would be shifted from a north-south alignment to one that stretches from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, has already promised to resume a federal lawsuit against the proposal. She said the map violates federal law.
While the majority of justices approved the map, two dissented from the decision. Justice Ricky Polston sharply criticized the decision because Lewis had relied on a map that was drawn with the help of a firm that works for Democratic candidates. He said that decision violates the standards adopted by voters that were intended to rid the process of partisan influence.
COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF FLORIDA’S CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS via MCI Maps here.
TWEET, TWEET: @kkondik 1. In response to new Florida congressional maps, the Crystal Ball is making the following House rating changes: … FL-2, currently held by Rep. Gwen Graham (D), goes from Leans D to Safe R … FL-7, currently held by Rep. John Mica (R), goes from Safe R to Likely R … FL-10, currently held by Rep. Dan Webster (R), goes from Safe R to Safe D … FL-13, currently held by Senate candidate and Rep. David Jolly (R), goes from Toss-up to Likely D … And — I think that’s it. We’re going to keep Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R, FL-26) at Toss-up even tho his district got even more D
TWEETS
— @Fineout: .@RepJoseOliva jokes (kind of) that Justice Barbara Pariente committed a “tier one violation” in her ruling. (Redistricting humor)
— @Fineout: While @SteveCrisafulli says that #FLLeg has met its legal obligation @BillGalvano says there’s a chance Fla. Senate will go to fed court
— @MDixon55: Never would have guessed Justice Pariente would have penned the majority redistricting opinion. Shocked.
— @RepDennisRoss: I respect Supreme Court’s approving maps & I look forward to running for reelection & working for the great people of Florida’s 15th!
HOW THE REDISTRICTING RULING PLAYED
Associated Press, Florida Supreme Court Approves New Congressional Map – “’Obviously this was a historic win for the people of Florida,’ said Peter Butzin, chairman of Common Cause Florida and one of the groups involved in the lawsuit that triggered the ruling.” South Florida Sun Sentinel, Florida Supreme Court finalizes congressional districts – “In his dissent, Justice Ricky Polston wrote that the court ‘adopts a remedial plan drawn entirely by Democratic operatives,’ a contention that the majority of the court rejected out of hand …” Roll Call, Florida Democrats Make Gains With Court-Approved Congressional Map – “Democrats appear to gain the most with the new map, though they didn’t emerge unscathed … Republicans have their own challenges in the new 10th and 13th districts … Even if Republicans were to lose three or four seats under the new map, the party will likely hold on to control of the state’s congressional delegation, where it holds 17 seats.” Tampa Bay Times, Reaction to Supreme Court redistricting ruling – “Cathy Castor … ‘No matter the shift in district boundaries, I am more committed than ever to standing up to the special interests …’ Vern Buchanan … ‘I’m looking forward to meeting the people of Hillsborough County …’ Ileana Ros-Lehtinen … ‘My love for South Florida knows no boundaries and every part of it is special to me.’” Reuters, Florida Supreme Court approves overhaul of congressional maps – “Corrine Brown … ‘Today’s ruling and the proposed congressional map is a direct attack on minority voters and a clear example of voter retrogression and disenfranchisement …’” National Journal, What Florida’s New Congressional Map Means for 2016 – “The new map will shake up each party’s primaries … Lois Frankel and Ted Deutch will also fall into the same district … promised not to run against each other … pairing is so inconvenient for the two that [Justice] Pariente cited it as evidence that the new map was not drawn by ‘Democratic operatives,’ as state Republicans have alleged.” Panama City News-Herald, 2nd District candidates speak out after court ruling – “Mary Thomas … ‘I am very excited to run in the newly drawn 2nd District … to give the people of North Florida and the Nature Coast a choice to vote for a true conservative …’ Neal Dunn … ‘I will take this as a bit of a break and a bit of good luck. Whatever the lines are, I was going to run, but I’m happy to have these lines.’”
GWEN GRAHAM STAYING COURSE DESPITE REDISTRICTING DECISION via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics – Graham … said she was “disappointed” by the state Supreme Court’s decision in a redistricting case that could spell the end of her nascent congressional career. But Graham, elected in 2014, said she hadn’t decided which direction her public service will next take. … On Wednesday, she said she “will make a decision about how to best serve the people of North Florida once the map has been completely settled.”
TWEET, TWEET: @MarcACaputo: Rep. Ted Deutch to run for new Broward congressional seat & Rep. Lois Frankel will run for Palm Beach seat … So basically Deutch and Frankel will have swapped districts. It’s a favor to Frankel, who was “freaking out” a source said.
CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING RULING COULD IMPACT REMAINING SENATE CHALLENGE via Matt Dixon of Politico Florida – A group of redistricting plaintiffs believe Wednesday’s landmark ruling from the Florida Supreme Court in their favor bodes well for a separate legal challenge they have against state Senate maps, while some lawmakers see a silver lining for different reasons. “I think it will have a very significant bearing,” said David King, an attorney representing a coalition of redistricting plaintiffs.
Specifically, he noted the justices cleared the plaintiffs’ map drawer, John O’Neill, of having any partisan intent. Because he worked for Strategic Telemetry, a Democratic consulting firm, attorneys for the Legislature cast him as a Democratic operative and said his maps should be deemed at odds with state anti-gerrymandering provisions. A majority of the Florida Supreme Court disagreed, which King says means maps drawn by O’Neill for the Senate challenge should be in the clear.
King also predicted the congressional ruling will end an argument the Legislature and plaintiffs had made over the level of black and Hispanic voting age population that is required in districts protected by state anti-gerrymandering provisions…
JOE NEGRON DESIGNATED, CITES EDUCATIONM EVIRONMENT AS TOP PRIORITIES via Christine Sexton of POLITICO – Negron, who emerged from a drawn-out battle for the presidency of the Florida Senate last month, vowed on Wednesday to use his leadership post to bolster the state’s public universities, reduce the damaging effects of pollution in Lake Okeechobee, and end what he called the criminalizing of adolescence.
… He said he hopes to restore the top award under the state-sponsored “Bright Futures” scholarship program to full-tuition, with a $300 stipend for textbooks, and said he wants to increase an existing recruitment program so universities are not only keeping Florida’s National Merit Scholars within the state but also attracting the top students from other states.
… Negron’s remarks on the environment — and his comment that it was his “personal mission” to work with “farmers, scientists and other legislators” — earned him a standing ovation from the senators in the chamber.
A NEW CHAMPION FOR FLORIDA’S UNIVERSITIES EMERGES via Gary Fineout of The Fine Print – Negron … [As] Senate president … may be willing to challenge the current game plan for Florida’s universities that has been advocated by the governor. Scott‘s foray into Florida’s higher education universe has been one that has created conflicts, controversy and finally acquiescence from GOP legislators and university officials … Negron appears ready to change the conversation away from costs and instead focus on it on long-term goals. He plans … to outline his steps to make Florida’s universities “national destination elite universities” that attract out-of-state students in the way that University of North Carolina and University of Michigan do. “I’m laying down a marker that universities are a priority,” said Negron … “I think Florida has made great progress, but I think when you look At states like North Carolina and Virginia I think we can help our universities get to the next level.”
HAPPENING TONIGHT: Negron will also host a fundraising reception in support of his re-election bid. Event begins 5:30 p.m. at the Governors Club Capital Room, 20 2 1/2 S. Adams St. in Tallahassee. RSVP to Ashley Ross at (850) 980-0421 or [email protected].
RICHARD CORCORAN PROMISES BLUE SKIES WITH NEGRON via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics – Corcoran, who will be Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives at the same time Negron is Senate President, called him a “good friend” and “an intelligent and principled leader.” … Corcoran sat in the front row at Negron’s designation ceremony Wednesday. … “I know that, together, we can bring a new spirit of partnership to the Florida Legislature,” Corcoran said.
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MARCO RUBIO RISES, BEN CARSON FALLS FROM FRONTRUNNER STATUS IN A NEW NATIONAL POLL via Ryan Struyk of ABC News – The neurosurgeon garners 16 percent support in a new Quinnipiac University poll … dropping 7 percentage points in the last month to trail frontrunner Donald Trump by double-digits. Trump garnered 27 percent support, while … Rubio took 17 percent … Ted Cruz earned 16 percent. All other GOP candidates earned 5 percent or less. Carson had been neck-and-neck for the lead … But now, he’s locked in a battle with Rubio and Cruz, both of whom are seeing their highest support in months.
TWEET, TWEET: @debitking: So I wake up and @marcorubio is now 2nd in the national polls!!
TWEET, TWEET: @rickklein: new Q poll also shows HRC stronger than ever – 30 points over Sanders nationally, ahead now in head-to-heads vs. GOP
HOW RUBIO COULD FOIL TED CRUZ’S PLOT TO UNITE CONSERVATIVES via Tim Alberta of the National Review – [In] the midst of a chaotic primary fight, and in spite of stubborn threats from outsiders … Trump and Carson, Rubio and Cruz find themselves on rising trajectories that could allow them to consolidate the two traditional wings of the GOP and square off head-to-head for the nomination: Rubio by winning the support of establishment donors … Cruz by collecting endorsements from prominent conservatives … and boasting of his unrivaled ideological purity. As both candidates gain momentum and add to their lists of influential backers — Rubio among establishment figures, Cruz among movement conservatives — a head-on collision appears more likely by the day. Cruz may soon discover … a binary battle with Rubio is a double-edged sword. The bad news? That establishment bogeyman was always expected to be Jeb Bush, a relative moderate in the mold of John McCain and Mitt Romney. He would have been the ideal foil for Cruz and his conservative backers. Instead, it’s Rubio — protégé of Jim DeMint, feller of Charlie Crist — who is gaining a foothold as the establishment’s top contender.
RUBIO’S N.H. SURGE IS RIDDLED WITH DOUBTS via James Pindell of the Boston Globe – As … Rubio has climbed the polls, the Floridian lacks one element that has proved to be pivotal for previous winners of New Hampshire’s presidential primary: a robust ground game that can generate enthusiasm and support when voters go to the polls … underneath the buzz, GOP activists in New Hampshire are grumbling that Rubio has fewer staff members and endorsements than most of his main rivals and has made fewer campaign appearances in the state, where voters are accustomed to face-to-face contact with presidential contenders.
— “Faculty Senate ask about Marco Rubio’s teaching position” via Philippe Buteau of the Florida international University Student Media
— “Franklin (N.H.) mayor Ken Merrifield endorses Marco Rubio for president” via WMUR TV
JEB BUSH RIPS INTO DONALD TRUMP via CNN – Bush ripped into Trump on Wednesday, knocking the Republican front-runner for making controversial statements as a way ‘to get attention.’ In an interview with the Iowa Public Television segment “Iowa Press,” which is set to air in full this weekend, the former Florida governor also tweaked Ben Carson for making an analogy that compared Syrian refugees to rabid dogs.
WHO’S BEHIND THE GHOST COMPANIES FUNDING BUSH’S SUPER PAC via Mother Jones – Russ Choma looks at mysterious donors to Right to Rise … including one that beyond a “six-figure contribution” to the PAC “appears to have no history of doing business anywhere. And its incorporation records reveal no owners, managers, or officers.”
— “Jeb Bush wins at least one supporter in Goose Lake” via Jason Noble of the Des Moines Register
ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: Bush will be in the nation’s capital to take part in the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidate Forum, which begins 9 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. in Washington D.C.
SPOTTED: Possible CD 6 hopeful and Navy reservist Brandon Patty in Tallahassee meeting with donors and legislators ahead of his all-but-certain Congressional run. Sunburn hears a January announcement is likely.
MARK BIRCHER BECOMES THE FIRST REPUBLICAN TO ENTER CD 13 CONTEST via Mitch Perry of Florida Politics – the retired Marine Corps Reserve brigadier general who finished third in the Republican primary in early 2014 … filed paperwork to run for the seat … becoming the first Republican to do so … [Bircher] never ran for political office until he entered the special primary election in late 2013, when he lost out to David Jolly … Kathleen Peters finished in second place. If the odds were formidable against Bircher last year, they certainly will be challenging [now], with the Florida Supreme Court … validating the district’s new congressional lines, making it a much more Democratic-friendly seat … Bircher’s politics can be fairly stated as being very conservative.
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GOV. SCOTT TO LEGISLATURE: FOLLOW TEXAS APPROACH ON ECONOMY via Jeremy Wallace of the Tampa Bay Times – Scott, who holds a law degree from Dallas-based SMU and practiced law in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s … so it was of little surprise to most when Scott spent the bulk of his first few minutes of his unexpected appearance before a key committee of the Florida Legislature … talking about what he learned from watching the Texas economy up close … “What they have done is figure out how to diversify their economy … They went after corporate office moves. They got companies like JCPenny and Exxon and others to move … Here’s our risk: We are very dependent on tourism. We are very dependent on construction. Two very good industries, but we’ve got to think about how we diversify our economy,”
HOUSE’S ATTEMPT TO REGULATE UBER, STOP LOCAL RULES PASSES FIRST COMMITTEE via Michael Auslen of the Miami Herald – Matt Gaetz … is pushing a bill (H.B. 509) that would set minimum insurance and background check requirements for ride-booking companies that want to operate in Florida. It got its first endorsement … passing on a 10-1 vote in the House Highway and Waterway Safety subcommittee. The most controversial piece of the bill from last year remains: that local governments would lose their ability to regulate the companies as they do for taxis, limousines and public transportation. “We don’t want a circumstance where someone who’s wanting to comply with the law and wanting provide a transportation network services inadvertently crosses a county or municipal line and becomes a criminal,” Gaetz said … “You could have disparate insurance requirements, disparate registration requirements … Here we establish one statewide standard for public safety.”
BILL THAT WOULD REGULATE FRACKING IN FLORIDA ADVANCES IN STATE HOUSE via Mitch Perry of Florida Politics – A bill that would create a new regulatory framework [for] fracking passed … The House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee … the study would intend to answer five questions about hydraulic fracturing: What is the effect on the underground structure … What is the impact on ground and surface water … What will happen to the use and reuse of recycled water … What is an appropriate setback from an abandoned well … How far away do you have to be
What to do with well stimulation fluid? The bill would also pre-empt local control, a major factor in why 20 counties and nearly 40 cities in the state have passed regulations banning fracking … also require the companies to inform the state Department of Environmental Protection of chemicals they inject into the ground — but after the fact, not before.
BILL TO EXPAND EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES PASSES FINAL SENATE COMMITTEE via Florida Politics – SB 672 … now on its way to the Senate floor … would expand the one-year Personal Learning Scholarship Account program, making it a permanent part of the state budget. The bill seeks to expand the program to cover additional 3- and 4-year-old Florida children diagnosed on the autism spectrum and those with muscular dystrophy … allow for the creation of a “Center for Unique Abilities” in institutes of higher education … Charter schools and school districts will also be offered incentives to create programs and maintain uniform policies.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS via Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools
SOCIAL SERVICES FUNDING DISCUSSED – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding and caseloads will be on the agenda for the Social Services Estimating Conference beginning 9:30 a.m. in Room 117 of the Knott Building.
DIGITAL CLASSROOM UPDATES – The Florida Senate Education Pre-K-12 committee will hear updates in the state’s Digital Classroom program, which funds purchases of technology, and the CAPE Digital Tools & Industry Certification Program, which provides incentives for schools to earn software programming certificates. Meeting begins 10 a.m. in Room 412 of the Knott Building.
SENATE BUDGET SUBCOMMITTEES MEET – Five Senate budget subcommittees will meet at 3:30 p.m. to review the governor’s budget proposals for fiscal year 2016-2017. Criminal and Civil Justice meets in Room 37 of the Senate Building; education meets in Room 412 of the Knott Building; General Government meets in Room 110 of the Senate Building; Health and Human Services meets in Room 401 of the Senate Building; and Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development meets in Room 301 of the Senate Building.
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HAPPENING TODAY: Senate President Andy Gardiner joins State Sens. Bill Galvano, Wilton Simpson, Lizbeth Benacquisto, Don Gaetz and Tom Lee for a fundraising reception to support state Rep. Matt Gaetz in his bid for Senate District 1. Event begins 12 p.m. at the Governors Club Capital Room, 20 2 1/2 S. Adams St. in Tallahassee. RSVP to Ashley Ross at (850) 980-0421or [email protected].
HAPPENING TODAY: House Majority 2016 is hosting a joint fundraiser for state Reps. Ben Albritton and Larry Metz to support their re-election efforts. Event begins 12:30 p.m. at the Governors Club Library, 20 2 1/2 S. Adams St., in Tallahassee.
NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS
Melissa Acheson, Christoper Finkbeiner, The Rubin Group: Max Scholar; Hartman & Tyner; South Central Florida Express; Veyo
Melanie Bostick, James Eaton, Jennifer Green, Thomas Hobbs, Liberty Partners of Tallahassee: Wexford Health Sources
Ron Book, Kelly Mallette, Ronald L. Book: RLKT DB Holdings
Larry Cretul, Kirk Pepper, Capitol Insight: Chief Executive Officers of Management Companies; Florida Municipal Power Agency
Rob Fields, One Eighty Consulting: Column Technologies; Nexus IS; STRATIS
Brittany Finkbeiner, Dean Mead: Manatee County Board Of County Commissioners
Rudy Garcia, Florida Governmental Affairs: Preferred Medical Plan
Patrick Sheehan, The Gregson Group: Eastwood Environmental
Susan Lane Swayze: Susan B. Anthony List
SOUTHERN STRATEGY GROUP SETS HOLIDAY MOOD WITH FIRST-EVER TAMPA CHRISTMAS PARTY via Florida Politics – Known for its festive, politically timely Christmas Cards, Southern Strategy Group … is adding a more personal “jingle and mingle” this year with its inaugural Tampa Bay Christmas Party, scheduled Monday, Dec. 7, … begins 5:30 p.m. at the Fifth Third Building, 201 East Kennedy Blvd., Suite 1450 in Tampa. During the festivities, SSG will be accepting monetary Christmas donations for Tampa-based nonprofit Onbikes, whose mission is to bring bicycles to foster children in the community.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rep. Keith Perry, Politico Florida’s Bruce Ritchie, and Carrie O’Rourke.
