Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 3.8.22

By Peter Schorsch

Good Tuesday morning

Don’t forget about Election Day

It may be the last week of the 2022 Legislative Session, but keep an eye out for election results tonight as voters head to the polls across the state.

Two state legislative seats will be filled in South Florida just days before Sine Die. Democrat Rosalind Osgood is the favorite to succeed former Democratic Sen. Perry Thurston in Senate District 33. She faces off against Republican Joseph Carter in a heavily Democratic district.

Democrat Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds is likewise favored against Republican Guarina Torres in the left-leaning House District 88. The winner will succeed former Democratic Rep. Omari Hardy. Both Thurston and Hardy ran unsuccessfully for the chance to succeed the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings in the seat in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.

Broward County’s Hillsboro Beach, Pembroke Pines (two City Commission districts), Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Lighthouse Point will also hold municipal elections.

In Palm Beach County, regular municipal elections are happening in Boynton Beach, Greenacres, Haverhill, Highland Beach, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Jupiter Inlet Colony, Lake Clarke Shores, Lake Park, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Loxahatchee Groves, North Palm Beach, Pahokee, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach, South Palm Beach, Wellington and West Palm Beach.

Over in Sarasota County, voters will weigh in on two referendums. One, if passed, would renew a one-mill school tax supporting the Sarasota County School District. The other could return Sarasota County Commission elections to countywide votes instead of single-member district races. The latter race has turned into a bit of a tête-à-tête in Republican circles.

In Central Florida, Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson — a former Representative and former Orange County Commissioner — is in a fierce battle to stay in office in the county’s second-largest city, facing two-term City Commissioner Kyle Becker.

The Apopka mayoral election Tuesday is among four municipal elections throughout Orange County that will feature a Belle Isle mayoral race, and City Council or Commission contests in Apopka, Winter Park, Maitland, and Oakland. Other highly-contested municipal battles include incumbent Commissioner Todd Weaver versus Elijah Noel, and Anjali Vaya versus Kristopher Cruzada in Winter Park, and Mayor Nicholas Fouraker versus Holly Bobrowski in Belle Isle.

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There are clear winners and losers in every Session, while others prove more elusive to pin down.

Once again, Florida Politics is assembling an (arguably) comprehensive look at who walked away from Sine Die 2022 victorious, who tanked, and who landed somewhere between. Of course, lawmakers must pass the one bill: Florida’s upcoming state budget.

Like last year, the 2022-2023 budget is stuffed with billions of dollars in federal aid and weighs in at more than $100 billion. It will undoubtedly create a lot of winners, but with that much funny money at lawmakers’ disposal, a snub is nothing short of a loss.

That said, we are asking you — our loyal Sunburn readers — for your input.

From lawmakers, newsmakers, state workers, and budget writers to lobbyists, advocates, and staff (and maybe a reporter or two), which person, group, or issue earned a coveted spot on the list of “Winners and Losers for the 2022 Legislative Session?”

We’ll have the obvious ones covered, so don’t worry about grading the Governor, House Speaker, Senate President, or other top officials. A few off-the-beaten-path choices are certainly welcome.

Send your suggestions to Peter@FloridaPolitics.com for consideration.

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It’s the last week of the Session, which means it’s time to play Cate Sine Die.

If you need a refresher, here’s how the annual contest works: Guess the date and time of the hankie drop that marks the end of Session and tweet it out with the hashtag #CateSineDie and the name of the charity of your choice. That’s it.

Per “Price is Right” rules, the closest guess wins $500 for their favored charity.

Kevin Cate, who has run the contest for a decade now, put out the call for submissions early Monday, and set a deadline of 1 p.m.

It seems players think Session will end in time for those in The Process to enjoy their Friday night, with the median guess being Friday at 8:15 p.m.

The mode — that means the most frequent guess in statistical jargon — is Friday at 9:43 p.m. While a little late, the bulk of contestants don’t believe Session will go into overtime as it has in many recent years.

Session was extended in 2020, 2019 and 2018, when lawmakers didn’t pass a budget until two days after the 60-day Session was scheduled to end. Lawmakers adjourned on time last year, breaking the streak.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@RyanStruyk: The United States is now reporting 46,229 new coronavirus cases per day, the lowest seven-day average since July 22, 2021, according to data from @CNN and Johns Hopkins University.

—@Zeynep: It’s now a talking point, but it is *absolutely false* that vaccines don’t help lower infection and transmission rates — they do both, just not 100%. Of course, vaccinated people also have much better outcomes, if ever infected. Plus, vaccination clobbers MIS-C rates in kids.

—@Annette_Taddeo: If U.S. was down to its last barrel & VZLA was giving away free oil, we still shouldn’t go to the Maduro regime for help. There are ways to reduce gas prices that don’t involve putting US/FL at the mercy of murderous dictators. Cutting deals w/ dictators will cost > $5/gallon

—@thee_snek: Every American policy poll is like? Would you like *outcome*? Yes — 78% No — 22% Would you like to do the stuff necessary to achieve *outcome*? Yes — 16% No — 84%

Tweet, tweet:

Tweet, tweet:

—@NikkiFried: Nobody should have to work an hour to afford 2 gallons of gas. We need bold actions now, including suspending our state gas tax, accelerating renewables, and demanding oil companies reduce profits during the war in Ukraine.

Tweet, tweet:

—@Robyn_Disney79: I have been saying this … if I could indoctrinate my students, it would be for them to be respectful, do their work, and follow directions the first time. If I can’t do that, there is no way I can make them gay.

—@JKennedyReport: .@WiltonSimpson given a George Strait-signed guitar by @FLSenate. Last presiding officer given a guitar as parting gift was 2004 House Speaker Johnnie Bird. He ran for U.S. Senate that year, lost. Simpson’s running for state Ag Commissioner. Stay tuned.

—@NewWorldsFL: It was our team’s pleasure this morning to visit our friends in the #Florida House of Representatives, where House Speaker @ChrisSprowls announced that New Worlds #Reading has sent free #books and #literacy resources to 100,000 students so far!

—@MDixon55: “You need to call the chicken farmer in Trilby” is a uniquely Florida political line

—@AdamSchefter: NFL’s 2022 salary cap will be $208.2 million.