Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

Rep. Debbie Mayfield hasn’t given up on running for Senate District 19.

The longtime Republican lawmaker is petitioning the Florida Supreme Court to intervene and reverse the disqualification the Florida Department of State issued earlier this week.

The petition argues that Secretary of State Cord Byrd overstepped his authority when rejecting Mayfield’s paperwork, as past court rulings stated that the Secretary plays a “purely ministerial” role in the candidate qualification process.

“This is because it is well-settled that the Secretary serves a purely ministerial role in processing the Qualifying Paperwork and has no authority to determine whether the Qualifying Paperwork is accurate or whether there are grounds to challenge Mayfield’s eligibility to run in the Special Election for SD 19,” the petition reads.

The petition comes after the State Department informed Mayfield Tuesday that she could not seek election in SD 19 because she had previously represented the district for eight years, from 2016 through last year.

The law has been interpreted as applying to continuous service, not cumulative. The suit specifically notes that former Rep. James Grant’s candidacy was challenged in 2018, but courts ruled that because of a break in his tenure over an election dispute, the clock had been reset on term limits for him to hold his House seat.

The SD 19 Special Primary is scheduled for April 1. Ballots from overseas voters are expected to be sent out by Feb. 14.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—“White House preparing order to cut thousands of federal health workers” via Liz Essley Whyte and Betsy McKay of The Wall Street Journal

—”Donald Trump wants L.A. wildfire aid to create a model for disaster blackmail” via Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone

—”IRS workers involved in 2025 tax season can’t take buyout until after the taxpayer filing deadline” via Fatima Hussein of The Associated Press

—”The blatant lie behind Elon Musk’s power grab” via Eric Levitz of Vox

—”Musk’s DOGE is feeding sensitive federal data into AI to target cuts” via Hannah Natanson, Gerrit De Vynck, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of The Washington Post

—”Trump’s assault on USAID makes Project 2025 look like child’s play” via Russell Berman of The Atlantic

—”Trump digs In on Gaza takeover and Palestinian resettlement” via By Aaron Boxerman of The New York Times

—”The U.S. is having its mildest COVID winter yet” via Francesca Paris of The New York Times

—”Ron DeSantis avoids taking stand on Trump move to end temporary protections for Venezuelans in U.S.” via Anthony Man of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

—”Debbie Mayfield asks Florida Supreme Court to intervene in disqualification from SD 19 Special Election” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics

Quote of the Day

“It is still lore back in Florida when she went into lawmakers’ chambers and said, this amount of fentanyl will kill you.”

— U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, on now-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t worried about the feds gutting disaster response — in fact, he’d prefer the FEMA Martinis to stop flowing in favor of a boring old block grant.

How about a Kind of Blue for the House Democratic Caucus’ new leadership team? Note how the drink is actually quite red … just like the Florida House.

Hold off for now, but if Mayfield’s court petition gets her onto the SD 19 ballot, she’s due for a Buzzer Beater.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Gators aim for No. 1 Auburn

The Florida Gators travel to Auburn to face the top-ranked Tigers on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Florida (19-3, 6-3 SEC) is ranked sixth in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll and is coming off an 86-75 win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in Gainesville. Playing without leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators got 21 points from Will Richard, including five three-pointers and 19 points from Alex Condon. The victory came on the heels of a loss to #8 Tennessee last Saturday.

Saturday’s matchup in Auburn is the Gators’ second game this year against a team ranked at the top of the poll. Florida dominated then-number one Tennessee 73-43 on Jan. 7 in the most impressive victory of the season. 

Auburn (21-1, 9-0) has won 14 straight games since the Tigers’ only season loss on Dec. 4 against Duke. Auburn opened the season ranked #11 and rose to the top spot in mid-January. Five Tigers average double figures in scoring, led by Johni Broome (18.1 points per game). Tahaad Pettiford is one of the best sixth men in the nation, averaging 11.5 points off the bench.  Auburn ranks eighth nationally, averaging 85.1 points per game. Broome ranks fifth in the nation, grabbing 10.9 rebounds per game. 

After Saturday’s game, Florida has eight more regular-season games on the schedule, but none against ranked teams.

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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.

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The “2025 State of the Port” address outlining major expansion projects for Jacksonville’s port showed substantial growth potential for the logistics and transportation hub.

Officials with JAXPORT, such as Eric Green, CEO of the government authority over the port, addressed a crowd of several hundred people Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, hosted by the Propeller Club of the United States.

“From the addition of new trade lanes to the completion of major growth projects, 2025 is shaping up to be a transformational year for JAXPORT,” said JAXPORT Chair Wendy Hamilton. “CEO Green has a clear vision for the continued growth and development of JAXPORT — strengthening the supply chain and creating an environment where the port’s customers and partners can thrive.”

According to JAXPORT officials, the seaport’s cargo activity accounted for more than 228,100 jobs along Florida’s First Coast region in 2024. Seaports along Northeast Florida’s coast also generated $44 billion in annual economic output.

Meanwhile, JAXPORT is adding new and modified service routes for shipping to increase access to more global markets. Green said careful growth is key to the continued growth.

Among planned growth is a $72-million expansion of a container terminal expected to be completed in the Spring. Another $70 million is being spent on adding new cranes that will arrive this year. And a private investment of $120 million will fund a 340,000-square-foot auto processing facility on Blount Island.

Jack Kiely of Hylant Marine on Jacksonville’s Southside and a client executive with the Propeller Club said the annual State of the Port address has become a must-attend for anyone in the maritime industry in Northeast Florida.

“It’s a large maritime industry, not only in Jacksonville but in the Southeast,” Kiely said. “It (JAXPORT) is one of the largest ports in all of the country. And we’re gaining more… . We’re really growing.”

Beyond the hard numbers and statistics, Kiely said the State of the Port event is a chance for industry insiders, who are usually spread throughout the region, to socialize and connect.

“It’s a good spot for everyone to come together and communicate and collaborate and try to see what we can do better,” Kiely said.

Green agreed.

“Our mission is to be an economic engine and job creator for the community,” she said. “We achieve this through strategic growth across our lines of business and major initiatives to expand our capabilities across our key cargo types – containers, autos and breakbulk. Public and private investments in our terminals ensure JAXPORT continues to generate business growth benefitting our region and state.”

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