Florida in Five: When a plan comes together

Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

Photo credit: Wesley Tingey

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Welcome to another installment of Florida in Five: Five* stories you need to read from the past week in Florida politics.

Republican leaders in Tallahassee are orchestrating a brazen election scheme in central Florida right now.

It involves the race to be state attorney in Orange and Osceola counties. That’s a job that used to belong to Democrat Monique Worrell, who was elected as the region’s top prosecutor in 2020 with 66 percent of the vote. But then Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to unilaterally undo that election by suspending her on a flimsy pretense that failed to survive basic scrutiny.

Worrell is now running to win her job back against Andrew Bain, the guy DeSantis installed in her place. And DeSantis and Republican strategists in Tallahassee know that their only chance to stop her is to have Bain run for re-election with no-party affiliation — and no Republican candidate in the race who might siphon off support.

So they made sure that’s exactly what happened. Party leaders pushed a patsy through the Republican primary, who dropped out of the race as soon as he won the nomination. The Republican Party of Florida immediately announced it would not name any replacement nominee for state attorney, ensuring DeSantis’ hand-picked guy got his one-on-one shot against Worrell.

And now records show the party just booked more than $350,000 worth of television ads attacking Worrell and boosting Bain.

This would all be suspicious enough on its own. But another Republican candidate who ran and lost in that GOP primary predicted it all weeks ahead of time. Thomas Feiter warned well in advance that his opponent was nothing more than a puppet and that some of DeSantis’ top deputies — including the governor’s chief of staff — tried to tempt and then pressure Feiter to get out of the way. He’s even got text messages that help back him up.

Feiter has sued, claiming election fraud. But whether this ploy works will ultimately be up to central Florida voters.

We’ll end this ugly tale with a bit of irony, though: While the Republican Party is now advertising in one key race for a candidate who is not technically a Republican, they are not advertising yet in another key race for a candidate who is a Republican.

That candidate is state Rep. Carolina Amesty (R-Windermere), who is one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republican lawmakers in the state — especially since her recent indictment for forgery.

Amesty represents one of more than half a dozen Orlando-area swing seats potentially in play this November. Television records show that House GOP leaders in Tallahassee recently booked airtime for TV ads in support of the GOP candidates in every one of those races — except for Amesty.

Things could still change, of course. But it’s something to keep an eye on.

*To paraphrase Barbossa, five is more what you’d call a guideline than an actual rule.

And it wasn’t close to worst case

‘It’s gone’: In tiny Gulf Coast community, Helene wiped out homes and businesses (Orlando Sentinel) ($)

See also: ‘For Tampa Bay, Helene was the worst storm in a century (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

See also: Gulfport, like so many Tampa Bay communities, picks up Helene’s pieces (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

See also: Cedar Key on Florida's Big Bend suffers major damages from Hurricane Helene (Palm Beach Post) ($)

The storm after the storm

How Hurricane Helene could have widespread consequences for homeowners (The Washington Post) ($)

See also: Florida homeowners' insurance burden, charted (Axios Tampa Bay)

Remember they said they would fix this?

Unemployment woes: Salesperson’s story triggers wave of requests as Floridians face delays (WKMG)

‘The best people’

Moms for Liberty Co-Founder Would Be ‘Honored’ to Be Trump’s Education Secretary (Education Week)

Another reason to care

Project 2025’s Plan to Crush Unions (More Perfect Union)

See also: Is there hope on the horizon for Florida's public sector unions? (Caring Class Revolt)

Perspectives

Hurricane Helene rattles a Florida complacent to threats of changing climate (Florida Times-Union) ($)

Florida’s sorry pre-K program defies voters, shortchanges kids (Orlando Sentinel) ($)