Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 11.15.22

 Good Tuesday morning.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Republicans will take back the House of Representatives, albeit by an extremely thin margin. The rumor mill is abuzz with hot takes on how Kevin McCarthy can corral enough votes for Speaker to lead a conference of certain extremists who would love nothing more than to make his life a living hell. Nobody is better at covering this soap opera than Jake Sherman and our friends at Punchbowl News, who have reported that the so-called Freedom Caucus is already preparing a list of demands to essentially hold McCarthy hostage in the days ahead.

But there is a group beyond the far-right Freedom Caucus and the run-of-the-mill moderates who the D.C. media is ignoring and could play a pivotal role in deciding the direction of the Republican Party in the years to come: Florida’s 20-member congressional delegation who essentially delivered the majority for Republicans.

It has never been a secret that Florida’s GOP congressional delegation lacked the clout in Washington compared to their Republican colleagues at the state level. However, all that changed earlier this year when Gov. Ron DeSantis insisted on redrawing the Legislature’s map to give Republicans a chance at expanding their majority. Fast forward, and that’s precisely what happened with Florida’s red tsunami delivering four pickups for Republicans, making Florida’s GOP delegation the second largest in the country behind Texas.

So, I ask: What will Florida do with its newfound political power?

Prior to Tuesday’s election, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the dean of the delegation, was already hinting that Florida would be looking to gain influence for the state — and that was BEFORE the Red Wave turned into a Red Fizzle.

One potential line in the sand for Diaz-Balart and Florida Republicans would be to insist they have representation at the helm of committees or leadership positions.

How is it possible that the state with such Republican muscle does not have a Chair leading any committee in Washington? In fact, Florida has not had a Committee Chair since Rep. Jeff Miller chaired the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

That argument could be laid to rest if Congressman Vern Buchanan takes the gavel of the powerful Ways & Means Committee. Buchanan, the co-Chair of the entire delegation, is extremely well-respected by his colleagues and spent the final weeks of the election traveling the state raising money for Florida’s four new representatives. Diaz-Balart has previously said the Committee Chair for Buchanan “is extremely important to us.”

Regarding leadership positions, Congressman Byron Donalds is pursuing his candidacy for GOP Conference Chair, the No. 3 position in the House. While his bid is viewed as a long shot, with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik the heavy front-runner, could congressional leaders still find a place for Donalds, who is viewed as a rising star in some GOP circles?

And what about Florida’s new Fab-Four? Newly elected representatives Cory Mills, Laurel Lee, Aaron Bean and Anna Paulina Luna all possess impressive backgrounds and may rebuff the idea of not having a seat at the table to begin their congressional careers.

This is all to say Florida may never have the political muscle that they have at this very moment.

Will they use it?

___

Veteran lobbyist Cynthia Henderson has joined Converge Public Strategies as a partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Tallahassee-based Florida state government relations practice.

Henderson brings over 20 years of advocacy experience to Converge’s Florida team. Before joining Converge, she maintained a boutique government relations firm after serving as Secretary of Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation and Secretary of Florida’s Department of Management Services.

“Cynthia’s joining Converge is a great merging of interests. She is highly respected, has done it all, and will immediately add value to our firm’s clients. Our firm’s diverse experience and relationships will also serve Cynthia’s clients well,” said Jonathan Kilman, chair and CEO of Converge Public Strategies.

Henderson, an attorney, began her career assisting clients in land development, land use contracts, real estate development, environmental permitting and administrative approvals. While working in state government, she was credited with successful strategic planning, design and procurement of the MyFlorida.com website, the People First online HR system and the MyFloridaMarketplace e-procurement system.

Since leaving public service, she has continued to work on real estate and land matters while lobbying on a broad range of policy and regulatory issues before Florida’s legislative and executive branches. She represents clients on issues relating to health care, technology, environment, water, infrastructure, engineering, entertainment and hospitality.

“I am excited to join a firm that can benefit from my deep lobbying and leadership experience. This collaboration will create an opportunity for me to work with an incredibly strong team of experts in our business, resulting in opportunities for both our clients,” Henderson said. “Converge has taken off quickly in Florida and major markets like New York City and Chicago. As Co-Chair of the state lobbying practice in Florida, I will help lead client growth and service here, while also leveraging the entire Converge platform.”

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@POTUS: The recent elections made an emphatic statement that in America, the will of the people prevails.

Tweet, tweet:

This map of county level swings is fascinating. https://t.co/3R8YWeY9AN pic.twitter.com/aTPSIy4gwV

— Michael Li 李之樸 (@mcpli) November 13, 2022

—@ClayTravis: Republicans received millions more votes — so far — in Midterms. I think we’re underrating how many red voters moved from purple/blue states to red states because of COVID policies. Red got redder & blue got bluer. Net benefit in short term — until redistricting — is for Dems.

—@CesarConda: GOP should be disappointed but not depressed. The GOP future looks bright. We will control the gavels in the House. The Senate Democrats are defending 2/3rds of the seats up in ’24. We made big gains among Hispanics. We need to focus on appealing to independents.

—@MarcoRubio: We should not have a Senate GOP leadership vote until we have a clear explanation for why our 2022 campaign efforts failed AND until we have a clear understanding of the political & policy direction for the GOP Senate moving forward

—@JulieGraceB: Rep.-elect Cory Mills is criticizing Ukraine aid and said he won’t support further spending, one source said.

Tweet, tweet:

pic.twitter.com/xRAZnTDHU8

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) November 14, 2022

— DAYS UNTIL —

FITCon 2022 begins — 2; ‘The Flash’ premieres — 3; The World Cup kicks off in Qatar — 7; The U.S. World Cup Soccer Team begins play — 10; Florida TaxWatch’s Annual Meeting begins — 19; ‘Willow’ premieres on Disney+ — 19; Georgia U.S. Senate runoff — 21; 2022 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit — 21; Cormac McCarthy’s ‘Stella Maris’ releases — 22; ‘Avatar 2’ premieres — 32; final Broadway performance of ‘The Music Man’ with Hugh Jackman — 48; Bruce Springsteen launches his 2023 tour in Tampa — 78; ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ premieres — 94; final performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ on Broadway — 95; 2023 Legislative Session convenes — 112; ‘John Wick: Chapter 4′ premieres — 129; Taylor Swift ‘Eras’ Tour in Tampa — 149; American Association of Political Consultants Pollies ’23 conference begins — 154; 2023 Session Sine Die — 171; ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ premieres — 171; ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ premieres — 199; Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ premieres — 248; ‘‘Captain Marvel 2′ premieres — 255; Dune: Part Two’ premieres — 353; ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Part 2 premieres — 500; ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ premieres — 556; Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games — 619; ‘Thunderbolts’ premieres — 619; ‘Blade’ reboot premieres — 661; ‘Deadpool 3’ premieres — 724; ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot premieres — 822; ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ premieres — 899. ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ premieres — 1,088.

Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Daniel Dean, Renzo Downey, Jacob Ogles, and Drew Wilson.

The post Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 11.15.22 appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..