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Sunburn – The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics – 7.27.21

Another outstanding performance from Peyton Johnson!

By Peter Schorsch    

Good Tuesday morning.

Blaise Ingoglia makes a good showing at the 2021 WPT Championship. Congrats!

Blaise Ingoglia’s WPT run ends with $17K payout — Part-time lawmaker and full-time card shark Ingoglia spent the weekend competing in the World Poker Tour’s main event at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Oklahoma. Nearly 1,000 hopefuls entered the tourney, and the Spring Hill Republican outlasted most of them and peppered out mini-updates on his success to his social media followers on Saturday and Sunday. He was one of 35 contestants to make the third day, but he busted on Monday, finishing 27th. “It was a great run,” Ingoglia said on Facebook. “Thank you to everyone following the updates and for the words of encouragement.” He won’t be walking away with the $559K grand prize, but he isn’t going home empty-handed. The No. 27 payout is a cool $16,950.

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Outstanding — A top-of-Sunburn congratulations also to Peyton Johnson — daughter of our good friends Robert and Alia Faraj Johnson — whose golf skills (with a crazy good score of 131, too) helped her advance in the Drive, Chip and Putt 12-13-year-old girls’ division. Founded in 2013 by a partnership of the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and The PGA of America, Drive, Chip and Putt is a nationwide junior development competition that focuses on the three fundamental golf skills. Next up for Peyton, the subregional qualifier at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra on Aug. 14. Keep swinging!

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Michael Rubin is the new president and CEO at the Florida Ports Council.

Rubin has spent the past 20 years working as FPC’s vice president and has served as interim president and CEO since earlier this year.

“Throughout the years, Mike Rubin has demonstrated the leadership needed in today’s commercial environment to enhance prosperity of Florida’s seaports,” said Manuel Almira, FPC board chair and Port of Palm Beach Executive Director.

In the new role, Rubin will draw on his two decades of experience creating and developing economic development and international trade policy, including the creation of Enterprise Florida, international export promotion programs and seaport development financing legislation.

“Florida’s 15 public seaports have a long and rich history as a leading economic driver. Despite the economic challenges our seaports experienced during COVID-19, Florida continues to be a top maritime trade state and continues to be the cruising capital of the world. I look forward to leading the Florida Ports Council as we seize upon opportunities that ensure Florida’s ports are the global leaders of tomorrow,” Rubin said.

Before joining the Florida Ports Council in 1998, Rubin was a Florida House Commerce and Economic Development Committees staffer.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Rollins College and his law degree with honors from Florida State University.

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One of Jacksonville’s best young lobbyists is moving on to his next challenge.

Matt Brockelman takes his expertise to VyStar.

Matt Brockelman, formerly of The Southern Group, is taking his talents to the banking and financial sector. Monday is his first day with VyStar Credit Union, which serves Northeast Florida and is expanding throughout the state.

Brockelman will enter VyStar already familiar with how to navigate the C-suite.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end,” the new executive posted to Facebook. “Along those lines, I have an exciting life update to share: today, I start a new chapter in my professional career as I join VyStar Credit Union as its VP of Government Affairs.”

“I’ll be responsible for developing and implementing local, state, and federal lobbying efforts for the major credit union, which is already a household name regionally and soon will be nationally. I’m grateful to Brian Wolfburg and the leadership team for entrusting me to establish this new department for VyStar and its members, and I can’t wait to meet all my new co-workers and build an effective, top tier advocacy team for the financial institution,” Brockelman noted, before acknowledging the transition.

The Southern Group founder Paul Bradshaw extolled Brockelman in a statement.

“Matt’s been a great partner and friend, and he will be sorely missed. VyStar is lucky to get him, and I’m sure he’ll succeed there as he continues a career arc that is promising and almost limitless,” Bradshaw told Florida Politics.

This latest move continues a sterling career trajectory for the former University of North Florida student body president. He served in the Jacksonville Mayor’s Office as a staffer, then as a lobbyist for UNF, before beginning a strong run at The Southern Group.

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Jake Farmer snags a top job as Walgreens’ lobbyist.

Jake Farmer is leaving the Florida Retail Federation to become Walgreens’ new regional director of state and local government relations for the Southeast.

Farmer has spent the past four years at FRF, first as the trade group’s legislative and communications director and then as their director of government affairs.

“If you know me, you know that I love my job, the people I work with, and the members I’ve represented at the Florida Retail Federation … it has been an honor to be a part of the FRF team for the past four years,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

“I look forward to continuing to be a part of #TeamRetail in Florida as well as in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina & North Carolina. Onward & Upward!”

Before joining the Florida Retail Federation in 2017, Farmer worked as a legislative aide to then-Rep. Jay Fant, a Jacksonville area Republican. He has also served as an executive assistant to the director of the Republican Party of Florida.

Farmer is a graduate of Florida State University, where he earned a degree in political science. During his senior year at FSU, he interned in the office of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

Outside of work, Farmer volunteers at Young Life, a Christian ministry that reaches out to middle school, high school, and college students across the country and world.

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Correction — In yesterday’s Sunburn, we said Steve Bousquet worked at the Tallahassee Democrat. That was incorrect. We regret the error.

 — SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

@WHCOSVaccinations picking back up — about 790k in past 24 hours per @CDCgov report. Might be the biggest 24-hour period since early July. Thanks to everyone involved.

@FrankLuntzThe most common reason people don’t get vaccinated is “we don’t know the long-term side effects.” All doctors should repeat @BrianCCastrucci‘s answer: Severe vaccine reactions happen within days, they don’t take years We’ve been vaccinating people for several months. It’s safe.

@rwesthead: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in early May blocked cities and counties from requiring people to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID. The state accounts for 1 in 5 new infections in the U.S.

@AnnaForFlorida: We are now living through a pandemic of the unvaccinated, but no one is safe. More people will die if we don’t take this seriously. GET VACCINATED.

@ShevrinJones: With #COVID numbers spiraling out of control in Florida, today would be a good day for @GovRonDeSantis to issue a Public Health Emergency so we can get the necessary resources needed to hospitals and communities who are being gravely affected.

@ALorenzoTV: .@AdventHealth: has 946 COVID-19 patients in their hospitals across Central Florida. This exceeds the peak of about 900 they recorded in January.

@MajEbola: We’re up to 174 COVID patients admitted this AM. ~20% increase from Friday. City says we’d help if we could, but lack manpower and no public health emergency declared. So, Jax hospitals are bursting at the seams with COVID pts, short-staffed, and State says: you’re on your own.

@JamesPindell: In personal news: I am now in quarantine because my six-year-old came in direct contact with another either 5 or 6-year-old at camp who tested positive for COVID over the weekend. Yes, that young.

@Emilylgoodin: House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy told me “we’ll see” when asked if (LizCheney and (AdamKinzinger will be punished for serving on Jan 6 committee. I asked him the last time he talked to either of them: “Couldn’t tell you.” He called them “(NancyPelosi Republicans.”

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