
Val Demings is in — Saying she’s ready for a “tough fight,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings of Orlando officially launched Wednesday her campaign to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio next year. “I know how to get through tough times, and I think we would all agree that we’re in some really tough, unusual times right now,” Demings told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday. “But I’m not afraid of a tough fight.”
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Former House Speaker Will Weatherford was elected Chair of the University of South Florida Board of Trustees on Tuesday in a unanimous vote.
The former Wesley Chapel lawmaker was appointed to the board by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January.
Weatherford is the managing partner of Weatherford Capital, a private investment firm he runs alongside his brothers. He served in the House from 2006-14, culminating in a term as House Speaker. Notably, he was the youngest lawmaker in the country to lead a legislative chamber when he took the gavel in 2013.
“It’s an honor to be selected by my fellow trustees to serve in the role of board chair. I firmly believe that the University of South Florida is such a valuable asset to Tampa Bay that the region will only go as far as USF will take it in the future,” said Weatherford, who will take over as chair on July 1.
“In the coming years, we have an exciting opportunity at USF to reach even greater successes in pursuit of becoming a top-25 public university and positioning for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.”
Weatherford is a member of the Florida Council of 100, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and the Jacksonville University Board of Trustees. The Jacksonville University alumnus also recently served as co-chair of the Super Bowl LV Host Committee.
He succeeds Jordan Zimmerman, who recently announced he would not seek another term as chair.
In other notes:
— 70% support same-sex marriage, a record: A new Gallup poll shows record support for same-sex marriage, clocking in at 70%. That’s up 10 percentage points from 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court rule that states must recognize same-sex marriages. It’s good news for Pride Month. Read more here.
— Fake news out, foreign policy in: An Axios analysis of spending on issues and political ads on Facebook finds more money is going toward messaging relating to foreign policy than to “fake news,” a shift from the Donald Trump presidency to Joe Biden’s. Spending is also going to issues surrounding the climate and voting rights. Read more here.
— Trump lost his megaphone when he was booted from social media, but does it really matter? A New York Times analysis of former President Trump’s social media comments before he was banned from Facebook and Twitter on Jan. 8th, and an accompanying interactive display, shows a pervasive echo chamber of support. After his ban, his reach shrunk significantly, yet through his many ardent supporters, comments from his website or other sources still managed to gain the median traction as pre-Jan. 8. Take a look at the report to learn how that happened.
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