Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 6.8.22

By Peter Schorsch   

Good Wednesday morning from London, and happy birthday to the Mary Poppins of Florida Politics, my friend Kathy Mears.

Just read the Wikipedia description of Mary Poppins — “a magical and loving woman who descends from the clouds … She is firm in her use of authority but gentle and kind as well …” — and tell me that does not sound like The Florida Senate’s Mearkat?!

Joining me in wishing Kathy a happy birthday is her beloved boss, Senate President Wilton Simpson:

Happy Birthday to the great Kathy Mears!

In her more than 25 years of service, Kathy has worked at the highest levels in state government in the Florida Senate, Florida House of Representatives, Governor’s Office, and as the Chief Legislative Affairs Officer at Florida State University.

Moving to Florida to work for Speaker (Daniel) Webster when Republicans took control of the House for the first time since Reconstruction, over more than two decades, Kathy has been a driving force in crafting, passing and implementing the conservative policies that have made our state the envy of the nation.

While her professional accomplishments clearly place MearKat in a league of her own, Kathy’s top priority is always her family. For her dozens of nieces and nephews, there’s not a better aunt, cheerleader or friend you could have. Kathy cares deeply for other people and is always looking for the next card, toy, craft project or kind word to make a child, friend, or co-worker feel special.

What’s truly amazing is that on top of everything we have accomplished over the last two years, Kathy made time to tutor. We know that teaching someone to read is a priceless gift that person carries for the rest of their life. For all her successes in the legislative process, she would say the time spent with Ken-moni and Zaryc was most important.

At any given time, Kathy can tell you what’s1happening anywhere in state government, so it still amazes me that my wife Kathy and I were able to pull off the ultimate surprise when we had the idea that I would wear my MearKat tie in my official Senate portrait. It’s fitting to see Kathy have a permanent place in the Chamber she has so greatly impacted.

Thank you, Kathy, for your fighting spirit, strong work ethic, and being the greatest ally a person can have in Tallahassee. Best wishes for a great year ahead!

Cheers, MearKat!

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

Tweet, tweet:

—@SawyerHackett: Fox News ran 1,098 prime-time segments on Benghazi from the day of the attack until the committee hearings, which they carried live for more than 7 hours. Today they announced they won’t cover the hearings on the January 6th insurrection.

—@Sullydish: @DaveWeigel is the best journalist at the WaPo — fair, smart, balanced, relentless. They punish him for a retweeted joke and promote humor-free fanatics who lie and spin and get stealth-edited.

—@MaggieNYT: As (Donald) Trump prepares to possibly announce his campaign in the next two months, multiple sources say the Club for Growth has regularly tested Trump v (Ron) DeSantis in its polls in different states. A Club official insists it’s been to test Trump’s strength in the Party.

—@KyLamb8: A new report authored by the state Auditor General is being purported by some in the media to claim cases and deaths were “undercounted” in Florida. This is absolutely false. The report does not state that. It is being misunderstood and misrepresented.

—@EricHoov: Offices of communications that simply don’t respond to queries should be called something else.