Sunburn â The morning read of whatâs hot in Florida politics â 5.10.21
Good Monday morning.
Cody McCloud, press secretary to Gov.
Ron DeSantis, is exiting the comms shop to become Legislative Affairs Director at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
State Rep.
Ben Diamond is entering the race for Florida’s 13th Congressional District â a seat being vacated by incumbent
Charlie Crist, who
jumped into the 2022 gubernatorial contest Tuesday.
The St. Petersburg Democrat is set to make the announcement today at USF St. Pete, where he will be joined by several local politicos, including Pinellas County Commissioners
Pat Gerard and
TALLAHASSEE A divided federal appeals court Thursday overturned the conviction of former Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown on fraud and tax charges, ruling that a juror was improperly removed from her trial because he said the “Holy Spirit” told him Brown was not guilty.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 7-4 decision, ordered a new trial for Brown, who was convicted in 2017 on 18 felony counts related to an alleged charity scam.
Brown’s appeal focused on whether U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan was justified in replacing the juror known as Juror 13 with an alternate because of the statement about the Holy Spirit.
TALLAHASSEE Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 15 bills, including measures that will help upgrade Florida’s much-maligned unemployment system, regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes and limit contributions to political committees supporting ballot initiatives.
Lawmakers passed the bills during the legislative session that ended last week, and DeSantis’ office announced the signings about 5:30 p.m. Friday without comment.
The changes to the unemployment system were part of a broad Department of Economic Opportunity bill (HB 1463) that received unanimous approval in the House and Senate. The bill calls for moving to a cloud-based online system that “provides for rapid provisioning of additional data processing when necessary.”
Last Call for 5.3.21 â A prime-time read of whatâs going down in Florida politics
Last Call â A prime-time read of whatâs going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Charlie Crist is set to make a â
major announcementâ tomorrow at 11 a.m. in St. Petersburg â possibly his entry into the 2022 race for Governor.
For the past few months, the former Republican Governor and 2014 Democratic nominee has floated the idea of making another run.
Though there have been whispers heâd make another bid for a year or more, the first indication from the man himself came earlier this year.
Heâs since ramped up the rhetoric, issuing news releases critical of Gov.