Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 12.12.23

Good Tuesday morning.

A top-of-the-burn birthday shoutout to Natalie Brown of RSA Consulting — this is her year to shine!

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INFLUENCE Magazine’s recognition of the rising stars of the governmental affairs sector will be unveiled in the January issue.

Right now, we are taking nominations for those who belong on this prestigious list. We are looking for bright shiny faces from the lobbying, fundraising and public affairs arena. This will be a tight list of about 25 individuals, so make your nominations count.

Please email them to Peter@FloridaPolitics.com.

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Happening today — “Bridget Ziegler resignation resolution tops School Board agenda” via Chris Porter of the North Port Sun — The Sarasota County School Board won’t delay in learning whether the majority of Board members want member Ziegler to resign. A Board resolution recommending Ziegler’s voluntary resignation is on the agenda for the Board’s 6 p.m. Tuesday session at the Landings Administrative Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd., Sarasota. The resolution appears as item 1, before public comment. Board Chair Karen Rose asked Superintendent Terry Connor to put the item on the agenda last week. Rose’s request came after details in the investigation of Ziegler’s husband, Christian Ziegler, on a report of a sexual assault complaint, became public.

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“Things are so bad for Ron DeSantis that his top propaganda blog is shutting down” via Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone — The Florida Standard has gone belly up. This particular publication is a favorite propaganda outfit of DeSantis. The Standard, which has operated on extremely friendly, very accessible terms with the DeSantis campaign for months now, has fired all of its staff and will cease operating before the new year. DeSantis had been instrumental in propping up the flailing outlet and the Governor’s Office and campaign had worked closely with the website’s management, even encouraging donors, lobbyists, and communications firms to contribute financially to the publication. Aside from Fox News, The Standard was one of the only outlets to which DeSantis regularly granted interviews.

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Former state Rep. Alan Williams has been tapped to serve as Vice President Kamala Harris’ Senior Adviser for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Williams served in the state House from 2008-16, and during his tenure chaired the Florida Legislative Black Caucus and served as House Democratic Whip from 2012-16.

After hitting term limits, he ran unsuccessfully for Leon County Supervisor of Elections and in 2017 began working as a government relations consultant for the Meenan law firm. When 2020 rolled around, the campaign for then-candidate Joe Biden selected Williams to serve as a coordinated coalition strategic adviser in Florida.

In mid-2021, the Democrat from Tallahassee was appointed to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations.

He held that role until his appointment to the Vice President’s office late last month.

Williams is a graduate of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration as well as an MBA.

— DAYS UNTIL —

2023 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit — 2; Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ premieres — 10; Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’ premieres — 12; Matt Dixon’s ‘Swamp Monsters: (Donald) Trump vs. DeSantis ― the Greatest Show on Earth (or at Least in Florida)’ released — 28; 2024 Florida Chamber Legislative Fly-In and reception — 28; Florida’s 2024 Regular Session begins — 28; CNN to host first of two GOP Primary debates — 29; 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards — 34; House District 35 Special Election — 34; Florida TaxWatch’s State of the Taxpayer Dinner — 36; CNN’s second GOP Primary debate — 40; New Hampshire Primary — 42; Red Dog Blue Dog 2024 — 43; South Carolina Democratic Primary — 53; New Hampshire and Nevada Democratic Primaries — 56; South Carolina GOP holds first-in-the-South Primary — 74; Michigan Democratic Primary — 77; ‘Dune: Part Two’ premieres — 80; Netflix to stream “The Netflix Slam,” Rafael Nadal/Carlos Alcaraz faceoff — 82; Trump’s D.C. trial on charges related to trying to reverse his 2020 Election loss — 83; Super Tuesday — 84; 2024 Oscars — 89; Georgia Democratic Primary — 91; 2024 Leadership Conference on Safety, Health & Sustainability — 149; ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ premieres — 163; ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ premieres — 199; Republican National Convention begins — 217; ‘Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games — 227; Alien: Romulus’ premieres — 248; Georgia Tech to face Florida State in 2024 opener in Dublin — 256; Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stops in Miami — 311; 2024 Florida Chamber Annual Meeting & Future of Florida Forum — 314; Las Vegas Grand Prix — 345; ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ premieres — 430; ‘Moana’ premieres — 563; ‘Thunderbolts’ premieres — 591; ‘Blade’ reboot premieres — 696; ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot premieres — 696; ‘Avatar 3’ premieres — 738; ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ premieres — 871; Untitled ‘Star Wars’ movie premieres — 897; Another untitled ‘Star Wars’ movie premieres — 1,102; ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ premieres — 1,242; ‘Avatar 4’ premieres — 2,201; ‘Avatar 5’ premieres — 2,929.

— TOP STORY —

“Florida releases A-to-F school grades but with no punishment for bad marks” via Leslie Postal of the Orlando Sentinel — Florida released its annual A-to-F school report card Monday, but this year bad marks carry no negative consequences for schools because the state transitioned to a new series of standardized exams and could not fully run grade calculations.

School grades, first issued in 1999, are based on student performance on state math and reading tests. The grades released Monday are for the 2022-23 school year. Schools that improved a grade or maintained an A are eligible, as usual, for extra money from the state, but those with Ds and Fs will not face state oversight or the threat of a state takeover.

“These school grades serve as a baseline for districts and provide a starting point for future achievement,” said Education Commissioner Manny Diaz in a statement. “I look forward to seeing schools rise to the occasion as they continue to provide Florida students a first-rate education.”

The state’s grading formula needs two years of data to be fully calculated, as it looks at both one-year performance and growth from the past year. Because the state does not yet have two years of data from the FAST, its newest standardized test, it could not calculate the “learning gain” portion of the school grading formula this year.

By state law, it also had to issue grades during this transition year that mirrored those issued after the 2021-22 school year. So, in both school years, 32% of schools got As, 25% got Bs, 37% got Cs, 5% got Ds and 1% got Fs.

— THE TRAIL —

“Donald Trump holds massive lead in Iowa five weeks from Caucuses that kick off GOP race: poll” via Paul Steinhauser of Fox News — The former President stands at 51% support among those likely to take part in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, with DeSantis a distant second at 19%, and Nikki Haley at 16%, according to the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. The survey, conducted Dec. 2-7, was released Monday, with five weeks to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses. Trump’s lead over the rest of the field of 2024 GOP nomination rivals — which has expanded by five points since October — is the largest recorded so close to a competitive Republican caucus in the history of the survey, which is considered by many to be the gold standard of Iowa caucus polling.

“DeSantis accuses Trump of ‘cowardice’ for refusing to debate rivals” via Nicholas Nehamas of The New York Times — “Trump denigrates military service by claiming it is ‘braver’ that he debated Hillary Clinton than what soldiers endure on the battlefield,” DeSantis, a former Navy lawyer, wrote on the social media platform X on Sunday. “Debating isn’t ‘brave;’ it’s the bare minimum any candidate should do. Hiding from debates, on the other hand, is an example of cowardice.” The Governor was responding to comments that Trump — who has said he is too far ahead of his rivals in the polls to debate them — had made during a speech to New York Republicans on Saturday. Calling the former President a coward represents something of an escalation for DeSantis as his campaign continues to underperform expectations.

Spotted — DeSantis made an appearance on the Simon Conway Show, talking about liberal universities justifying comments about the genocide of Jews: “There’s a sickness in these universities. You saw it on display there. You’ve seen it on display with these ridiculous protests in favor of Hamas that we’ve seen since Oct. 7. But we’ve got to get smart about how we deal with these universities. We can’t keep funding universities that are creating this type of toxic environment and toxic ideology.”

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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.