Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Don’t expect the Florida Senate to address two issues that drew support from a majority of voters this month — but not enough support to go into the Florida Constitution.
Senate President Ben Albritton, who joined many other Republican lawmakers in opposing ballot proposals that would have allowed recreational use of marijuana and enshrined abortion rights in the Constitution, said the issues won’t be brought up during the 2025 legislative session.
“Number one, they did fail, regardless of a majority or not. It did fail. Our law says 60 percent is the threshold, so they fell below that and failed,” Albritton, R-Wauchula, told reporters after he became president Tuesday during an organization session. “Second of all, I’ve made it no secret that I was opposed to both and worked very heavily to defeat both, in partnership with the governor and others. So you know, at the end of the day, what happened, happened. I’m happy with what happened. They both failed. And as for me, bringing up either of those issues in this body is a no.”
The marijuana proposal, Amendment 3, received 5.95 million votes, or 55.9 percent of the votes cast, while the abortion proposal, Amendment 4, got 6.07 million votes, or 57.17. Constitutional amendments need 60 percent support to pass.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration sparked controversy by running television ads and taking other steps to try to dissuade voters from supporting the proposed amendments. Albritton didn’t question the use of state resources to combat the initiatives.
“Using taxpayer dollars in an effort to educate taxpayers on the issues that we have at hand is a reasonable use of that money,” Albritton said. “Yes, I agree with that.”
NO MORE ‘SHADOW’
A day before taking the House gavel Tuesday, new Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, highlighted to Republican House members their political standing in the state and beyond.
Perez said Florida “now stands at the center of the Republican political universe,” with President-elect Donald Trump the first full-time Florida resident ever elected to the White House. When Trump was elected to a first term in 2016, he lived in New York, but he later became a Palm Beach resident.
As the GOP nears 30 years of control of the Florida House, it also has gained an advantage in the courts.
“For many years, House Republicans had to legislate under the shadow of a liberal activist Florida Supreme Court,” Perez, a lawyer, said. “They had to pay attention to more than just the talking points on a bill. They had to understand every paragraph, every word and every definition, lest they leave even the tiniest crack for a judge to throw everything out and force them to start all over again. The truth is, standing here today, we have more advantages and more blessings than any of our predecessors ever did.”
A short time later, while addressing House Democrats, Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, implored members to continue to stand up for their issues, even as the party came off an election cycle “that was, to say the least, unkind to Democrats across the state.”
“I won’t pretend that the journey ahead of us for the next few years will be anything other than obscenely difficult,” Driskell said. “But I am also confident that if we move forward, steadfast in our resolve, we can fulfill the promise of a better Florida.”
‘THIS LEFTIST JUDGE’
DeSantis expressed displeasure after the U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed a judge for a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases from Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
The Senate voted 49-45 to confirm Embry Kidd, and DeSantis was among Republicans who quickly called out GOP senators who skipped the vote.
“This leftist judge would have been voted down and the seat on the important 11th circuit would have been filled by Donald Trump next year had Republicans showed up,” DeSantis posted on X. “Now, the leftist judge will have a lifetime appointment and the people of FL, AL and GA will suffer the consequences.”
Kidd was among more than a dozen judicial nominees Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., prioritized for advancement before Democrats lose control of the Senate in January.
Among the Republican senators who didn’t vote were Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been nominated by Trump to serve as secretary of state.
Kidd has been a magistrate judge in the federal Middle District of Florida in Orlando since 2019.
President Joe Biden nominated Kidd for the appeals court in May. A graduate of Yale Law School, Kidd previously was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Middle District.
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK: “Yesterday, I and my team @FLSecofState spoke with legislative leaders from Arizona including the Senate President and Speaker of the House about how Florida’s election code allows for the timely and accurate counting of ballots. We are happy to share the Florida blueprint.” — Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd (@CordByrd).
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