Saturday is really the peak weekend day.
You wake up fresh off a long work week, you’ve got the whole day ahead of you and another day to cushion whatever bad decisions you might make Saturday evening.
But the time Sunday rolls around and you’re reading this column, Monday is already on the horizon, with a long work week ahead.
Well, except this week, because Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone holiday happy once again and given state employees an extra day off.
DeSantis’ penchant for giving workers extra holiday time has earned him the nickname “DeSanta Claus,” as those benefits usually kick in around Winter.
But with America’s semiquincentennial coming up next year, DeSantis is letting state employees get in the patriotic spirit early.
Maybe he saw this recent report that Florida was in the bottom five in terms of patriotism and wanted to tell the researchers to stick it.
Regardless, those working hard behind the scenes deserve the break. God bless America.
Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.
Winners
Honorable mention: Kat Cammack. Cammack earns a nod this week for forcefully and effectively beating back some horrible vitriol thrown her way following tragic details about Cammack dealing with an ectopic pregnancy.
Cammack told her story to The Wall Street Journal, explaining how she struggled at first to receive care for the life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. That’s due in part to Florida’s strict abortion law, which is punitive and contains few exceptions in the aftermath of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision.
It’s horrible enough that Cammack had to go through this scare for her own health and deal with the impact of a miscarriage. Apparently, many also felt the need to use this opportunity to score political points and attack Cammack, a Republican, over the GOP’s abortion position writ large.
To have people lobbing disgusting attacks at her, some of which she has detailed publicly, combined with death threats that forced her to evacuate her office, just shows how indecent our politics has become.
Cammack also detailed how many critics blamed her directly for the restrictive law. But the Florida law is a state law. Cammack serves in Congress. She had nothing to do with passing the restrictions, and this serves as a lesson about how illiterate many have become regarding basic civics.
Cammack, for her part, isn’t giving in. She has been vocal in pushing back against the poison being thrown her way, showing that the critics aren’t going to be able to shout her down.
Now in fairness, Cammack has engaged in some political positioning of her own. Rather than acknowledge the uncertainty that these restrictive laws can cause in situations like hers, she has been unilaterally blaming “the Left” for misinterpreting the law and pressuring doctors to hesitate while treating her.
There may be a fair point that can happen. But ultimately, certainty in the law is the responsibility of those who pass laws. These laws were pushed by Republicans, with opponents voicing concerns at the time that instances like this could happen. So we would like to see at least an acknowledgement of that rather than a sole focus on left-wing misinterpretation.
But to be absolutely clear, none of that justifies the horrific things that have been thrown in Cammack’s face so soon after such a tragedy. There is room for respectful debate on pointed issues such as these. Her critics have instead been engaged in hate, and we commend Cammack for calling it out.
Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Apalachicola River basin. Residents, fisherman and tourists worried about oil drilling affecting the Apalachicola River basin can worry no more after DeSantis signed legislation banning the practice.
Specifically, the measure (HB 1143) bans oil drilling within 10 miles of national estuarine research reserves in counties that are state-designated rural areas of opportunity. That covers the Apalachicola River area.
The issue arose after the Department of Environmental Protection issued permits to an out-of-state company to drill along the river. DEP recently changed its tune regarding drilling in the area, but it was still unclear what the Governor would do.
And really there was uncertainty throughout this process. Lawmakers during Session went back and forth regarding how expansive of an area the bill should cover. Then, some wondered whether the DEP’s recent actions might give DeSantis an out to veto the bill, saying the issue had been resolved.
Of course, it’s always better to have legislation proscribing a certain activity rather than leave it to the whims of a particular agency at a particular time.
Now, DeSantis has stepped in and stepped up to make this ban a reality and protect the beauty of the region.
The biggest winner: Darryl Rouson. Sometimes, taking the high road pays off.
We gave Rouson massive credit in April when he encouraged his colleagues to vote for a mental health bill despite the House stripping provisions that would have named an addiction research center after Rouson, a former addict.
Those provisions were casualties of the bitter battle between the House and Senate that led to Session being extended for over a month while lawmakers finalized the budget.
Rouson’s Senate colleagues originally refused to go along with the package without Rouson being honored, despite the St. Petersburg Democrat arguing the good provisions in the bill needed to be moved forward. Eventually, the Senate relented and passed the measure without Rouson having his name on the center, based near the University of South Florida.
But with DeSantis signing the package this week, the Governor also announced that Rouson would be honored after all.
“They were trying to get this into statute, and there was a little bit of a hiccup on that,” DeSantis said. “Nevertheless, we’re happy that we were able to work together with the Senate to get this done, and thanks to USF for also working with us on this.”
Bravo to all involved, because Rouson deserves it.
Losers
Dishonorable mention: Cory Mills. File this under “questionable political move,” at best.
On the 10th anniversary of the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which barred states from enforcing laws restricting marriage to heterosexual relationships, Mills decided to make clear that gay marriage should be illegal.
“Congress needs to focus on its key things, which is policy, legislation, fiscal responsibility, being good stewards of taxpayers funding, ensuring that we have a great national security platform, our border security, etc. I’ve never been big on trying to go ahead and get involved in social issues,” he told Fox News.
“However, if you ask Cory as Cory, a person who believes that our Constitution was framed upon our Christian-Judeo beliefs, it is very clear that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman.”
Yes, there has been pushback against so-called “woke” culture in recent years. Yes, some social progressives have gone way too far and are turning away or outright attacking voters who have a different worldview.
But are we really doing this in the year 2025?
The gay marriage issue should be settled. Marriage brings with it many legal benefits. You can’t deny those benefits to people who happen to be attracted to members of the same sex.
Everyone is entitled to their personal, moral beliefs. But when you start involving government benefits in an institution, the government can’t wantonly discriminate on who gets those benefits. This is a clear majority position now.
So Mills is just on the wrong side here. But again, he’s also entitled to a bad political take.
What’s notable here is that Democrats are already targeting his seat in 2026. In a second Donald Trump term where Democrats are ready to lash out against his massive overhaul of government, Republicans will likely be on the defensive next year.
And here is Mills just handing a motivating issue to voters. “They took away the right to choose, now Cory Mills wants to take away our right to marry the person we love.” The ads write themselves.
This isn’t just a bad take by Mills, it’s a dumb one if he wants to give himself the best shot to keep his seat.
Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Local autonomy. Home rule has been a touchy subject in Florida in the past few decades. And the state, which has typically won out in the past, is looking to assert its authority once again.
There’s been plenty of discourse this week about DeSantis’ so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” project to house migrants waiting to be deported. The idea is sure to spark outrage or enthusiasm depending on your political leanings.
But one topic that has gotten slightly less attention is the state’s decision to run roughshod over local jurisdictions overseeing the land where this new facility is set to open next week.
Miami-Dade County pushed for patience in launching the project, but the state rushed forward anyway. Officials in Collier County were also out of the loop as the state swooped in to get the project running in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
The land is within Collier County, but is owned by Miami-Dade County.
Too bad, because DeSantis is exercising legal provisions meant to apply in a state of emergency, like a hurricane, to assert authority here. That’s not even mentioning the Native American leaders who are also outraged over how this land is being used.
The city of Miami is also getting a smackdown from state officials. The Commission just voted to delay its elections from 2025 to 2026 to align them with the regular election cycle (and give themselves all another year in office, coincidentally).
Attorney General James Uthmeier says that won’t fly, threatening legal action and arguing the city must put the issue to voters in order to make such a change.
It’s a thorny legal dispute and it’s not clear who will come out on top. But it does appear as though Uthmeier is taking a different, and far more aggressive, position than his predecessors have.
The message, as has been clear under DeSantis’ reign as he routinely removed local elected officials for reasons justified or not, is this: The state is in control, and you will comply, or else.
They love small government, by the way.
The biggest loser: Randolph Bracy, Alan Grayson, Travaris McCurdy. These guys need to take a hint. Voters aren’t interested, so please find something else to do with your time.
Grayson and Bracy finished third and fourth, respectively, in a four-person Democratic Primary in Senate District 15 this week.
The race decided the front-runner to replace the late Sen. Geraldine Thompson in the deep blue district. And voters made clear Bracy and Grayson aren’t appealing choices.
Bracy’s sister, Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, won the contest with nearly 43% of the vote. Lawyer Coretta Anthony-Smith came out of nowhere behind a strong fundraising operation to place second with 28% support.
Grayson, a former Congressman who has now lost two state Senate races and a congressional race in just the last three years, is clearly not making a political comeback.
Bracy has a similar losing streak, losing races in this district twice following his loss for an open House seat in 2022.
McCurdy, who also lost Tuesday in the House District 40 Democratic Primary to replace Bracy Davis, is also a multiple time loser in recent years, getting booted from a different House seat in 2022, then losing an Orlando City Council race before losing a head-to-head contest with RaShon Young on Tuesday.
At some point, when you’ve gone before voters three times in a three-year span and they’ve all said, “No thanks,” maybe you all need to take a hint.
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