Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry, Ryan Ray, and Jim Rosica.
IT’S AP DAY AT THE CAPITOL
At 9 a.m., dozens of journalists with the Capital Press Corps and from around the state will converge on the Capitol’s 22nd floor for the annual Associated Press legislative planning session.
It’s early this year because the 2016 Legislative Session also is early, starting Jan. 12 and not in March as usual.
Years ago, actual “planning” of the AP’s coverage for the legislative session may have taken place at the event, but not so much anymore.
Nowadays it’s an opportunity for various state officials and political candidates to get face time with political reporters, editorial writers and broadcast newsers from near and far for a little “earned media.”
Gov. Rick Scott is scheduled to appear first among a slew of invited guests. He usually uses the opportunity to release his recommended state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Also on the invitee list are Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli. It remains to be seen whether, after last session’s acrimonious conclusion, they’ll do a joint appearance as they did at the last AP get-together.
Also invited are Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner, House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford, and an assortment of U.S. Senate candidates, including Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Congressmen Ron DeSantis, David Jolly, Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy.
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TAKEAWAYS FROM DEBATE NIGHT IN AMERICA
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and three more Democratic presidential hopefuls met Tuesday night at the Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino for the party’s first prime-time debate.
Here are five takeaways from the debate in Nevada.
— CLINTON VS. SANDERS
Buffeted by an email controversy and sagging poll numbers, Clinton was on defense for much of the summer. But from the first moments of the debate, Clinton went on offense against Sanders, who has emerged as her chief rival for the Democratic nomination.
When Sanders said the U.S. should look to countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway on the economy, Clinton replied that while the U.S. sometimes needs to “save capitalism from itself,” America was much different.
“We are not Denmark. I love Denmark, but we are the United States of America,” Clinton said.
Clinton later said the Vermont senator wasn’t tough enough “at all” on gun violence in the Senate and noted he had opposed the 1993 Brady bill and supported 2005 legislation to give gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits. Sanders said it was a “large and complicated bill,” but Clinton wasn’t buying it.
“It wasn’t that complicated to me. It was pretty straightforward to me,” Clinton said.
— ON THE QUESTION OF EMAILS
Clinton had to know she would be pressed during the debate about her use of a private email account and server during her tenure as secretary of state. And she said, again, she had made a mistake in doing so.
But she had to be pleased that the moment moved on to laughs — and a handshake with Sanders.
In perhaps the most memorable exchange of the debate, Sanders dismissed the issue as one not worth voters’ time with a cranky one-liner.
“Let me say something that may not be great politics,” Sanders said, “but I think the secretary is right, and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!”
Clinton and the audience cheered, and she and Sanders smiled and shook hands. “Thank you, Bernie,” she said.
CNN moderator Anderson Cooper tried to refocus the candidates on the matter, but that only gave Clinton the chance to slam the GOP-led congressional committee investigating the matter as “basically an arm of the Republican National Committee.”
“It is a partisan vehicle, as admitted by the House Republican Majority Leader, Mr. (Kevin) McCarthy, to drive down my poll numbers,” she said. “Big surprise. And that’s what they have attempted to do.”
— CLINTON’S FLIP-FLOPS
Clinton had some weak moments, too. She was taken to task for her shifting views on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and her recently announced opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Liberals in the Democratic party are strongly opposed to both.
Clinton defended herself, asserting that everyone on stage had “changed a position or two” during their political careers.
She said when she served as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state, she had hoped the Pacific Rim trade agreement would be “the gold standard,” but in the end she said “it didn’t meet my standard.”
And even though she had said in 2010 she was “inclined” to support the Keystone pipeline, Clinton implied she had stayed neutral on the Canada-to-U.S. pipeline throughout her tenure.
“I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone,” Clinton said in a line that had echoes of John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Kerry famously said he had voted for an $87 billion wartime funding bill “before I voted against it.”
— THE OTHERS SHOW THEY’RE LIKELY ALSO-RANS
The three other Democratic candidates have struggled to gain traction against Clinton and Sanders, and it didn’t look like they established any footing in the debate.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley did the best of the three, stressing his record of promoting liberal causes during his two terms, but he was also forced to defend his record on criminal justice as Baltimore’s mayor.
He also tried to tap into the notion that another Clinton in the White House is one too many. He said the nation “cannot be this dissatisfied” with the nation’s politics and economy “and think that a resort to old names is going to move us forward.”
Shot back Clinton: “I would not ask anyone to vote for me based on my last name. I’d ask them to listen to what I’m proposing, look at what I accomplished in the Senate, as secretary of state, and then draw your own conclusion.”
Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s best moment may have come at the outset, when the former senator explained his decision to switch from Republican to independent to Democratic during his career by saying he was a “block of granite” on the issues.
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb appeared openly frustrated at not having equal time and at times talked over Cooper, the moderator.
Neither had a true breakout moment, raising questions about whether they might make a return appearance on stage during the next debate in Iowa.
— THE BIDEN FACTOR
If Vice President Joe Biden was looking for an opening to join the Democratic field, the debate didn’t appear to give him one.
Clinton made no obvious stumbles in the debate and Sanders played the role of her more liberal counterpart. O’Malley presented himself as a can-do former governor and mayor who has championed an array of progressive causes.
Biden’s name didn’t come up during the debate, and the exchanges during the forum didn’t leave an impression of a party in need of a white knight to ride to its rescue.
After months of considering whether to make a late entry into the race, the debate may have shown that Biden’s window of opportunity has passed.
TWEET, TWEET
— @AmandaBecker: We’re 45 minutes into the first Democratic debate and they’ve been talking about policy the ENTIRE TIME. <3 #DemDebate #DebateMiracles
— @ImAmandaNelson: The difference between the #DemDebate and the GOP ones so marked. Articulate thinkers vs. a bizarre-o clown car.
— @GoAngelo: In case you’re wondering, at this exact point in the last GOP debate, the question to candidates was: What do you think of Trump’s persona?
— @jwpetersNYT: Without questions like “Donald Trump called you ugly/stupid/sweaty…” this debate is incredibly substance-heavy
— @daveweigel: Jesus, watching this debate after slogging through all the Trump debates is like moving from kindergarten into grad school
JEB BUSH GROWS N.H. OPERATION via James Pindell of the Boston Globe
Bush’s campaign is about to undergo a major expansion in the Granite State. Over the next month the campaign will begin a hiring spree for more field staff, and field offices will grow … it is already a month ahead on its voter contact benchmarks.
“The governor is running a real New Hampshire style campaign, not only in terms of retail politics and town hall meetings, but also grassroots organizing,” said Bush senior advisor Rob Varsalone. “We have invested heavily in the grassroots and data infrastructure necessary to run a cutting-edge direct voter contact program that persuades voters and turns them out on Election Day.”
ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: Bush tours Next Step Bionics & Prosthetics beginning 4 p.m. ET at 155 Dow Street, suite 200, Manchester, NH. Press access will be pooled. At 7 p.m., he attends a Town Hall at the McAuliffe- Shepard Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive in Concord.
WHAT MARCO RUBIO OFFERS THE SUPER RICH THAT HIS GOP RIVALS WON’T via S.V. Date of the National Journal
While 1-percenters hoping for lower taxes have reason to like pretty much every Republican running for president, there’s one who should have America’s wealthiest thinking about what to do with their extra thousands, or even millions, of dollars: Rubio … who once called taxing property “immoral” now wants to completely eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends—a mainstay for the richest of the rich … Rubio’s plan is actually most lucrative for those who don’t have to work for a living: those who can get by on so-called “unearned income”—quarterly stock dividends and capital gains made from selling assets at a profit.
Rubio’s plan does increase tax credits for lower- and middle-income families, but those dollar values pale compared with what the country’s richest families would stand to gain … Rubio calls taxes on dividends and capital gains “double taxation,” because corporations pay income taxes before they distribute dividends and because investors who buy stocks do so with money on which they’ve already paid personal income taxes.
MEANWHILE … DONALD TRUMP TO HOST SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Donald Trump will host Saturday Night Live on November 7, a year and a day before Election Day, NBC News reports.
NO SURPRISE — BUDDY DYER LEADING PAUL PAULSON IN 50-31 ORLANDO MAYOR’S RACE via Florida Politics
A new poll … shows Mayor Buddy Dyer leading Republican challenger Paul Paulson by a margin of 50 percent to 31 percent in his quest for a fifth term as Orlando’s chief executive … a little over 52 percent of registered City of Orlando voters had a favorable opinion of Mayor Dyer, whereas 33 percent view him unfavorably. Paulson … had lower “unfavorables,” with 26 percent of respondents expressing a negative opinion, but the poll also found that voters were not as familiar with Paulson. Just over 31 percent said they had a favorable opinion, while 43 percent said they were unsure.
— CAMPAIGN FINANCE NOTES —
RPOF HAS A SECOND SLOW FUNDRAISING QUARTER via Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald
For the second consecutive quarter, fundraising for the Republican Party of Florida continued to slump as infighting within the legislative ranks led senators and Gov. Rick Scott to continue to steer donors to separate political committees.
The party, now controlled primarily by House leaders led by incoming House speaker Richard Corcoran, raised a meager $2.2 million in July through September, up from the $1.9 million in the last quarter – the lowest level in six years, but down from the $5.1 million raised during the comparable third quarter two years ago.
The Florida Democratic Party raised $638,000 for the third quarter, by contrast, and spent $484,000.
RICK SCOTT’S LETS GET TO WORK CMTE POSTS 3RD STRAIGHT SIX-FIGURE MONTH
Contributions are still flowing to Gov. Scott’s political committee, which brought in its third straight six-figure haul last month.
The committee, Let’s Get to Work, added $118,300 in September and spent about $83,000, leaving the committee with about $717,000 on-hand at the end of the month. The September numbers represent only about a quarter of what the committee raised in August.
Most of the September money came from familiar names, too. Former Anheuser-Busch CEO August A. Busch III matched his March and June contributions with another $25,000 check, and payday lender Amscott repeated its $25,000 donation from August. Winter Park-based businesses Sungate Real Estate and Hampton Cattle Co., which share an address, combined for $67,000.
The bulk of expenditures went toward political and fundraising consulting. Maryland-based On Message Inc. took in $10,000 of that money. The consulting house has received more than $5.6 million in payments from Let’s Get to Work since March 2014.
SENATE LEADERSHIP STRUGGLE DRIVES CASH DASH via Gray Rohrer of the Orlando Sentinel
A bitter struggle over who will succeed Senate President Andy Gardiner is helping drive a surge of political donations to the two senators vying for the post after the 2016 elections.
Sen. Jack Latvala hauled in $415,000 to his Florida Leadership Committee in September, aided by nearly $55,000 in contributions from taxicab and traditional ride service companies, including a $12,500 check from Orlando-based Mears Destination Services. Taxi and limousine companies are gearing up for another battle over legislation next year dealing with the regulation of Uber and Lyft, phone app companies offering rides to customers.
Latvala’s main rival for the Senate presidency, Sen. Joe Negron drew in more funds, bringing in $525,000 for his Treasure Coast Alliance political committee. Five-figure checks from moneyed interests such as Disney, the Calder Racecourse, Comcast and the Associated Industries of Florida helped his cause.
— “Gardiner: It’s time for Florida Senate to ‘rally around somebody’ ” via Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay Times
STEVE CRISAFULLI CLOSES HOUSE LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE via Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida
With his successor formally in place, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli last month shuttered a fundraising committee that allowed him to give up to five-figure checks directly to legislative campaigns.
Crisafulli closed the committee Sept. 1, two weeks before the state House of Representatives voted to formally designate state Rep. Richard Corcroan as next-in-line to become speaker. Corcoran now has the option to start his own Affiliated Party Committee.
“The speaker decided to close it down in compliance with the law,” said Brian Hughes, who had served as the committee’s spokesman.
LAUREN BOOK POSTS BLOCKBUSTER FUNDRAISING NUMBERS IN SENATE RACE via Florida Politics
It’s been six weeks since Lauren Book announced she would run for termed-out state Sen. Eleanor Sobel’s Senate District 33 seat, and her first campaign finance report showed quite the haul.
RAMON ALEXANDER PULLS IN $13,075 IN SEPTEMBER FUNDRAISING IN HD 8 via Florida Politics
Democratic candidate Ramon Alexander continued to lead the field in the race to succeed Rep. Alan Williams in the heavily Democratic House District 8, raising $13,075 during the September reporting period. Gretna City Commissioner Clarence Jackson came in second for the month, taking in $8,610 while former aide to the Tallahassee mayor’s office Brad Johnson raised $2,305
Deducting expenses, Alexander’s campaign has some $97,436 in cash on hand, better than Williams’ pace in 2008, the last time the seat was open. Johnson reported having $15,711 on hand, with Jackson at around $8,000 while Williams-Cox’s most recent report indicated she has just shy of $5,000 in the bank.
REPUBLICAN FUNDRAISING SHOWS A SERIOUS CHALLENGER IN DEMOCRATIC HD 9 via Florida Politics
Republican House District 9 candidate James Messer filed his first campaign finance report … and it looks like Democratic front-runner Loranne Ausley has a serious challenger in the left-leaning district. After four weeks in the race the Tallahassee attorney amassed $52,000 cash on-hand, a good deal of it coming from fellow attorneys … 157 contributions, including 20 checks of $1,000 – the maximum contribution for Florida House campaigns. Messer’s banner month makes things interesting, but Republicans are at a heavy disadvantage in the Leon County district.
HD 17 CYNDI STEVENSON HAS 5-FIGURE SEPTEMBER via Florida Politics
Stevenson, running in a safe Republican district, likely doesn’t have to worry about a challenger … the HD 17 incumbent’s fundraising machine hums along, with September being her second month over $10,000 raised, and her strongest month yet. A $10,601 September pushes her just shy of $30,000 raised. She’s spent a little more than $4,000 thus far.
HAPPENING TODAY: Republican state Rep. Rene Plasencia is hosting a fundraiser starting 11 a.m. at the Governors Club Library Room. The event, organized by House Majority 2016, is at 202 1/2 South Adams Street in Tallahassee.
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FLORIDIANS DIVIDED ON EXPANDING GAMBLING, SURVEY SAYS via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics
The latest Sunshine State Survey data show “a conflicted populace” on the question of expanding gambling in Florida, with about a third wanting Nevada-style casinos and another 20 percent wanting no gambling at all … results show 34 percent favoring expansion to Nevada-style casinos, 33 percent want it restricted to Seminole Tribe facilities, and 20 percent prefer “no gambling at all” … response was split on a “is the state headed in the right direction or wrong direction” question on casino gambling in the state, with 42 percent saying wrong, 30 percent saying right.
Drilling deeper into the latest data, “37 percent of females think that gambling should only take place in Seminole facilities, (but) 39 percent of men think that Nevada-style casinos should be permitted … Opposition to any casino gambling at all increases with age, and is highest among couples (23 percent), those without Internet access (32 percent) and residents of North Florida (32 percent).”
TOUGHEST STORY YOU’LL READ TODAY — RULE CHANGE WORRIES MANY FOLLOWING ST. MARY’S PEDIATRIC SURGERY DEATHS via John Kennedy of the Palm Beach Post
On the third anniversary of her daughter’s death following heart surgery at West Palm Beach’s St. Mary’s Medical Center, Nneka Campbellurged state officials … to preserve an inspection program that might have saved her child’s life … joined pediatric cardiologists and a nurse arguing against the agency’s plan to repeal a 30-year-old rule that supports quality standards and allows doctor-led inspections at Florida hospitals performing heart surgery on the state’s tiniest patients.
The Health Department said it no longer has the legal authority to enforce the rule … questions about the rule date to at least 2001, officials acknowledge it has not been challenged and agree with doctors that it does improve patient care. Still, Jennifer Tschetter, the department’s chief operating officer, said the agency is concerned that in the fast-changing and competitive world of health care, the state is wrong to suggest it has performance standards when they are not binding.
“We think these standards do have value,” Tschetter said. “They’re just not law.”
GREG STEUBE FILES BILL TO ALLOW GUNS INTO LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS via Ryan Ray of Florida Politics
Rep. Greg Steube called a columnist’s bluff on Tuesday, filing a bill to allow guns into public hearings at the Florida Capitol.
Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel wrote last week that Florida lawmakers were “gun-shy cowards” for proposing to allow guns on college campuses, but not inside the Legislature.
Apparently Maxwell’s ironic pro-gun clarion call got the third-term legislator’s attention, because Steube has taken him up on it.
His just-filed HB 4031 deletes the exemption Maxwell cites above, meaning attendees at legislative hearings could legally pack heat as lawmakers deliberate.
WILL LEGISLATURE AND FLORIDA BAR GET INTO TUG OF WAR OVER OBSCURE COURT RULE? via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics
The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors will consider whether to recommend rejecting a change in evidence law that’s favored by conservative lawmakers and … Scott. It promises to revive, at least temporarily, the debate over “tort reform,” the buzzphrase that Big Business uses to signal it’s getting sued too much and losing too often.
Two years ago, the Legislature approved and Scott signed into law the changing of Florida’s standard for allowing expert testimony at trial to the one used by federal courts and most states had … Florida had used the Frye standard … a judge measures whether expert testimony, if it relies on “novel scientific processes or techniques,” is “generally accepted” in the particular scientific community.
Lawmakers changed it to the Daubert standard … stricter scientifically and can often require a kind of ‘mini-trial’ even before an expert can appear in front of jurors. Here’s the rub: Florida courts still are using the Frye standard … It’s a matter of argument whether the change to the expert testimony rule is substantive or procedural.
KEVIN CATE’S 2015 FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE AIDE STUDY: TO CHANGE LAW, BRING SOLUTIONS AND DON’T BE A JERK via Florida Politics
Citizens are twice as important in the lawmaking process as lobbyists or the Governor, less than half of lawmakers operate their own social media all of the time, and newspapers aren’t dead to lawmakers, according to the 2015 CATECOMM Florida Legislative Aide Study.
“Most of the advice from legislative aides to the public is strikingly simple,” said Kevin Cate … “If you want to make or change a law, get off the couch, bring solutions, and don’t be a jerk.”
How important are the following people or groups in the lawmaking process? Ranked “Very Important:” 86%: Citizens; 73%: Legislative Staff; 52%: Business Groups; 44%: State Economists; 39%: Lobbyists; 39%: The Governor or Governor’s Staff; 27%: Reporters; 25%: Family Members of Lawmakers; and 23%: Political Groups (Tea Party, Dream Defenders, Americans for Prosperity, etc.)
BROWARD CO. LOOSENS RESTRICTIONS ON UBER via The Associated Press
Uber says it will begin operating in Broward County again after commissioners approved looser regulations for ride-booking services.
Local media reports that commissioners voted 6-2 for the new regulations during a Tuesday meeting. Uber officials say they plan to turn the app back on Thursday for the county.
Uber previously ceased operations in Broward County July 31. The company said new rules raised substantial barriers for their drivers and made it impossible for the company to continue operating in the area.
Commissioners had previously pushed for more thorough background checks for drivers conducted by the county and commercial insurance. The new regulations call for more basic background checks and letting the drivers follow state law on insurance.
NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS
Doug Mannheimer: Broad and Cassel: E.R. Jahna Industries
Alan Suskey: VIMRO
Paul Wharton: Regional General Hospital
NEW ON THE TWITTERS: Winn Peeples at @Peeps_sr
PERSONNEL NOTE — JUSTIN SAYFIE TO LEAD BALLARD PARTNERS’ FT. LAUDERDALE OFFICE via Florida Politics
Ballard Partners … announced Justin Sayfie is joining the firm as the managing partner of the new Fort Lauderdale office … Sayfie will continue to provide legal services exclusively at Sayfie Law Firm. From 1999 to 2001, Sayfie served as a top advisor to … Jeb Bush.
TWEET, TWEET: @JimRosicaFL: .@BallardFirm spokeswoman confirms “Sayfie Review will remain completely separate and independent.”
TWEET, TWEET: @SaintPetersBlog: So if #Sayfie is going to @BallardFirm, I guess I’m ready to hear offers cc: @CapCityConsult, @JohnsonBlanton, @SoStrategyFL @Fla_Partners
DETAILS ON FRED LEONHARDT CELEBRATION OF LIFE
GreyRobinson is hosting a Celebration of Life to honor partner Fred Leonhardt, who passed away Saturday. Services are Monday, October 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 106 E. Church Street in downtown Orlando. The church is three blocks from the GreyRobinson Orlando office; guests should park in the office garage, then walk to the church. There is also a visitation on Sunday, October 18 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Lee Fellowship Hall, also at First Presbyterian.
SAVE THE DATE: Metz, Husband Daughton law firm is holding a reception on Wednesday, November 4 starting 4 p.m. to help celebrate the move to new offices in The Alliance Center, 119 South Monroe Street, Suite 200 in Tallahassee. RSVP to Abby Wrenn at [email protected] or Hannah Poppell at [email protected].
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend, Pinellas politico Joe Triolo.
