Sunburn – The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics – 8.26.22

Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book defeated Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief to win re-election on Tuesday.

And she did so convincingly.

Many outside of Broward assumed Book would win — maybe not by 21 points, but not in a squeaker either.

That’s not the case, according to a newly published internal poll from the early days of the race. The Clearview Research Poll shows that in early April, it was actually Book who was down double digits in the race for Senate District 35.

Just three in 10 likely Democratic voters in the district knew enough about Book to have an opinion on her, and though she was seen favorably at 23%-7%, her numbers paled in comparison to Sharief, who was known by more than half those polled and scored 44%-7% on favorability.

The same poll showed that if the head-to-head were held in April, Sharief would have trounced Book 41%-17%.

At face value, it means Book was able to convince every single voter who was on the fence — and some on the other side of it — to give her their vote.

Maybe the SD 35 contest ended up being a distraction from Senate battleground races, but it also proved that the Senate Democratic Leader has mettle and that her campaign team literally gave it 110% effort.

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The canvassers and organizers at progressive field organization For Our Future have unionized, joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2304.

In a news release, Executive Director Sky Gallegos said FOF “was proud to voluntarily recognize the union and is thrilled that our staff came together with a strong, collective voice calling for representation.”

She added, “We are a stronger and more productive organization with a unionized field staff. As an organization that fights every day for workers, pro-worker candidates, and shared economic prosperity, it is imperative that we live our values within our own organization.”

The genesis for unionization came from FOF’s Wisconsin troupe, which made the decision in the fall of 2021. In the year since, FOF staff and management and the union worked together to expand the bargaining agreement to include the field staff in all FOF states, which include Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania in addition to Florida.

As of now, about 150 For Our Future staff are eligible to be in the union. The organization said that number will increase significantly as the November election approaches. By Election Day in 2020, For Our Future employed more than 1,000 field staff across the country.

“The bargaining unit at For Our Future is extremely excited to stand in solidarity and so proud to be represented by IBEW Local 2304,” said Aislinn Bauer, a digital organizer at For Our Future-Wisconsin and assistant business representative at IBEW Local 2304. “As a supporter of the labor movement in our work, it is important that we stand together and show that we too, are a part of the labor movement.”

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

Tweet, tweet:

Congressman Matt Gaetz had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven.https://t.co/XPgC0pETkp

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2022

Tweet, tweet:

Congressman Vern Buchanan had over $2.3 million in PPP loans forgiven.https://t.co/bXpwJlWRm4

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2022

—@GavinNewsom: Time to make Ron DeSantis a one-term Governor. I’m pledging $100k right now to @CharlieCrist. Who will join me in helping Charlie become the next Governor of Florida?

@noahpransky: Morning note: @CharlieCrist tells POLITICO he raised $1M in first day as Fla’s gubernatorial nominee. As we said on @NBCLX, the DeSantis $100+M head start might look like chump change by the time this race is over.

—@KirbyWTweets: Worth noting that @GovRonDeSantis, who went to Yale and Harvard Law, still has north of $21k in student loan debt, per his financial disclosure. However, he doesn’t appear to be eligible for forgiveness: his loans are private, and he makes too much as Gov.

—@ChristinaPushaw: I’m not angry about anyone getting a $10K handout for student debt. I’m angry about WHO’S PAYING for it. Massive transfer of wealth from working class to credentialed professionals in top 3-5% of income. Why not make universities pay from their Diversity Equity Inclusion budgets?

—@NilesGApol: Not saying that (Gwen) Graham is a bad choice, but you would think after 2020 that Crist would want to choose a Hispanic running mate

—@Redistrict: Lots of focus on Dems being more engaged/energetic post-Dobbs, which is undeniably true. But to me, the GOP/Trump base appears less engaged than it was last November, which is just as big a part of the story.

Tweet, tweet:

He says he will fight for fluffy omelets and crispy bacon! pic.twitter.com/X9YvWB0POc

— Chuck Clemons (@ChuckClemons21) August 25, 2022

—@ddale8: Laura Loomer, bigot who got more than 44% in a GOP House Primary in Florida this week but lost by more than 6 points, has declared on Telegram that “I actually am the Congresswoman … and everyone knows it,” though you’re not even the Congresswoman when you do win a Primary.

Tweet, tweet:

Which reminds me, Christmas is four months from today.🎄🎅 pic.twitter.com/sp8FxG3k65

— Paul Dellegatto⚡️FOX (@PaulFox13) August 25, 2022

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