Last Call for 11.25.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

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

First Shot

Smart & Safe Florida is pivoting from courtrooms to clipboards.

The committee behind the recreational marijuana amendment won’t appeal last week’s ruling that tossed out roughly 200,000 petition signatures — a hit delivered after the DeSantis administration said the forms didn’t meet state formatting requirements.

But the campaign says the setback isn’t fatal. In fact, they insist it barely dents their trajectory toward the 2026 ballot.

In a statement, the campaign said it’s confident it can clear the 880K-plus validated-signature threshold without dragging the dispute into another monthslong appeals process that could chew up precious time before the Feb. 1 deadline.

The group says more than a million petitions have already been submitted, and accuses the Secretary of State of sitting on a backlog of 600,000 uncounted forms.

The state’s public tally currently shows 675,307 valid petitions — a figure that still includes the 200,000 tossed by the ruling. Secretary of State Cord Byrd celebrated the judge’s decision, saying it confirmed his Department’s reading of the petition rules.

Smart & Safe disagrees but says beating the deadline matters more than winning the argument. They’re also planning to reclaim as many signatures as possible — thousands of valid-format cards were rejected only because they duplicated entries from the now-invalid batch.

Supporters whose petitions were caught in the crossfire will be encouraged to resubmit as the campaign shifts fully back into signature-gathering mode heading into its final push.

Evening Reads

—”How Marco Rubio tried to bring a pro-Russia peace plan to middle ground” via David E. Sanger, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Edward Wong

—”After a week of reprimands, some in Congress are having second thoughts” via Matthew Choi of The Washington Post

—“Gov. Ron DeSantis unveils legislative agenda to protect puppies” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics

—”Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick surrenders, appears in Miami federal court” via Shira Moolten and Angie DiMichele

—”In the 2026 Governor’s race, what exactly is Jay Collins doing?” via Kirby Wilson of the Tampa Bay Times

—”Campbell’s says it uses ‘100% real chicken’ after James Uthmeier moves to investigate” via Mitch Perry of the Florida Phoenix

—“How one Florida man made it back home after 172 days in ICE detention” via Ana Goñi-Lessan of USA Today Network-Florida

—“Why don’t Duval schools get all week off for Thanksgiving like others?” via Steve Patterson and Cheryl McCloud of The Florida Times-Union

—”He’s college football’s most hated man — and he’s about to be the highest-paid coach of all time” via Andrew Beaton and Laine Higgins of The Wall Street Journal

—”He hunted alleged groomers on Roblox. Then the company banned him” via David Gilbert of WIRED

Quote of the Day

“The mission is, you legislators, churn this out and then we’ll set a date to come back here and … then we’ll do an even bigger celebration.”

— Gov. Ron DeSantis, announcing a push for harsh penalties against unscrupulous dog breeders.

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.

With VISIT FLORIDA reporting tourism revenues topping $134 billion, Florida taxpayers are saving enough cash for a Grand Fashion — actually, make that a double.

DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson will need a truckload of Pawgaritas when they (fingers crossed) return to Big Dog Ranch Rescue to celebrate new laws cracking down on puppy mills. 

We’d suggest a Pump The Brakes for school zone speeders, but that would simply be swapping out one problem for something worse.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Seminoles at home tonight, continue 3-point barrage

Florida State continues nonconference play as the Seminoles host Cal State Bakersfield tonight (7 p.m. ET, ACCNX).

The Seminoles started the season 4-1, with the only loss coming in a two-point defeat at Florida two weeks ago. Tonight’s meeting is just the second all-time between the two programs and the first since 1974.

FSU has opened the season with some impressive offensive performances. In the season-opening wins over Alcorn State and Alabama State, Florida State topped 100 points. Last time out, they nearly hit the century mark, beating Georgia Southern 98-72. Senior Lajae Jones scored a career high 36 points in the game as he tied a school record with 10 made 3-point shots.

The 3-point shot has been the calling card for the Seminoles under first-year head coach Luke Loucks. FSU ranks second in the nation, averaging 13.8 3-point field goals made per game. No Division I team has attempted more 3-point field goals than the Noles, who average 39 attempts per game.

Florida State will travel to Tampa on Friday to face Texas A&M as part of the Battle in the Bay. The Seminoles will also face Georgia in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 2. Conference play opens on Dec. 30 when Florida State visits North Carolina.

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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.