Politics
Last Call for 10.15.26 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
— First Shot —
Democratic CFO nominee Annette Taddeo is in Sarasota this evening with U.S. Senate nominee Angie Nixon, opening a four-day campaign swing through Southwest, Central and South Florida.
The tour comes as polling continues to show a surprisingly competitive race against Republican CFO Blaise Ingoglia. An Oct. 5-7 St. Pete Polls survey put Ingoglia ahead 44.3% to 42%, with 13.8% undecided. The 2.3-point difference was within the poll’s 3.4-point margin of error.
A separate James Madison Institute poll found Ingoglia and Taddeo tied at 43% among likely voters. The CFO contest was the exception in that survey, which gave Republicans roughly 10-point advantages in Florida’s other four statewide races.
Ingoglia, a former state Senator and Republican Party of Florida Chair, was appointed CFO by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year after Jimmy Patronis left the Cabinet for Congress. Taddeo is a former state Senator and former Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party.
After Sarasota, Taddeo heads to The Villages on Friday for a golf-cart caravan and meet-and-greet, followed by a candidate forum at the University of Central Florida with U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, state Rep. Anna Eskamani and Lt. Governor nominee Gwen Graham.
Her weekend schedule includes a Palm Beach County “No Kings” event, a Broward County picnic with sheet metal workers, Black church services in South Florida and a Boca Raton community event.
The itinerary brings Taddeo before several pieces of the Democratic coalition — local party activists, college voters, organized labor, protest attendees and Black congregations — with some of the party’s better-known names helping draw the crowd.
That is a lot of coalition stitching for one long weekend. With less than three weeks until Election Day, polling suggests Taddeo has a live race in which to make it count.
— Evening Reads —
—“The 36 most jaw-dropping moments from Donald Trump’s Montana rally” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—“Secret documents reveal donors behind $330 million for Trump’s ballroom” via Jonathan O’Connell, Sarah Blaskey and Aaron Schaffer of The Washington Post
—“Frustrated with Trump, voters overwhelmingly want change in Washington, an AP-NORC poll finds” via Steve Peoples and Linley Sanders of The Associated Press
—“A lab-leak story you haven’t heard” via Tom Bartlett of The Atlantic
—“‘Nightmare scenario’: Zero-click spyware is infecting phones via targeted ads” via Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman of WIRED
—“Over $600 million in Polymarket election trades took place after races ended” via Kate Knibbs of WIRED
—“What Florida voters need to know about Amendments 1 and 2” via Douglas Soule of WUSF
—“Unplugged: TV debates go dark this election season in Florida” via John Kennedy of USA Today Network-Florida
—“New Florida stormwater rules don’t fix our pollution problem” via Craig Pittman of Florida Phoenix
—“Vince Nowicki questions why Pinellas County left mosque designation out of zoning materials” via Jesse Mendoza of Florida Politics
—“What happens to the Seaquarium if no marina gets approved? A draft lease lays out the plan” via Jenny Staletovich of WLRN
—“Video game reverse engineering community shuts down because AI has made it too easy” via Jason Koebler of 404 Media
— Quote of the Day —
“Let them use the poopy water. Because we’re not doing anything with the poopy water anyway.”
— Byron Donalds, on data center cooling water.
— 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 on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Byron Donalds gets a Dirty Martini for pitching “poopy water” to cool data centers, though his next round of talking points could probably use a trip through the treatment plant.
Bale Dalton owes Republican Mel Martinez an Old Pal for his cross-party endorsement, though the former Senator might want to skip the next GOP alumni happy hour.
With Florida’s stone crab season officially open, order a Stone Sour and keep the little wooden mallet handy for when the waiter explains that three claws constitute dinner.
Ken Welch could use a Corpse Reviver No. 2 with a new poll putting him 21 points behind Charlie Crist, though he may want to ask whether reviving the campaign costs extra.
— Breakthrough Insights —
— Tune In —
Rays fighting from behind
The American League Championship Series continues on Friday with Game 4 of the best-of-seven series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians (6 p.m. ET, TBS/truTV).
The Guardians lead the series two games to one after taking game three on Thursday afternoon, 3-2, thanks to Petey Halpin’s two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to put Cleveland ahead.
Cleveland took Game 1 in St. Petersburg, 7-3, before the Rays bounced back to win Game 2, 3-1, behind six scoreless innings from starter Freddy Peralta. Now, with the series in Cleveland for three consecutive games,
The Rays have advanced to the World Series twice in franchise history. In 2008, Tampa Bay defeated the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the American League pennant before losing the World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the 2020 pandemic season, the Rays beat the Houston Astros in a seven-game series before losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Teams winning Game 3 of a best-of-seven series have historically done very well. In the League Championship Series and World Series, teams that win Game 3 after being tied 1-1 have won the series nearly 70% of the time.
Game 5 is scheduled for Cleveland on Saturday.
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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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