Last Call for 2.19.25 – 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

Federal Judges are allowing a legal challenge to South Florida’s congressional and Florida House districts to move forward.

However, the three-judge panel also said plaintiffs were only allowed to continue a challenge against eight of the 10 districts originally named in federal complaints.

The lawsuit ironically alleges the same motivations behind the cartography that Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed motivated him to veto a congressional map (P 0109) approved by the Legislature before his office submitted it. The map has been in place since 2022.

The lawsuit said Florida’s 26th, 27th and 28th Congressional Districts were all drawn motivated primarily by race. Notably, all three districts are currently represented by Republican Cuban Americans: U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart of Hialeah, María Elvira Salazar of Coral Gables and Carlos Giménez of Miami-Dade, respectively.

The courts will only allow a legal challenge to CD 26, Díaz-Balart’s district. This district notably spans from Immokalee in Collier County to Hialeah and Miami Beach in north Miami-Dade County.

“Taken together and taken as true, the Complaint plausibly alleges that the decision to add and subtract voters from Congressional District 26 to maintain majority-minority districts is akin to the same kind of harm the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits by ‘segregat(ing) voters into separate voting districts because of their race,’” an order from the court reads.

But the court granted a State Department motion to dismiss legal challenges to CD 27 and 28, saying plaintiffs failed to demonstrate “bizarre” and “noncompact” features for those districts.

Plaintiffs have until Feb. 21 to amend the complaint appropriately to drop challenges to CD 27 and 28. But while plaintiffs can no longer challenge those seats, any neighboring districts will be impacted if courts require a redraw on the CD 26 boundaries.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—”The deeply online origins of MAGA 2.0” via Andrew Prokop of Vox

—”Volodymyr Zelenskyy  and Donald Trump trade blows as feud escalates over peace talks” via Andrew E. Kramer, Constant Méheut and Anton Troianovski of The New York Times

—”Who is running the United States, Elon Musk or Trump?” via Tom Nichols of The Atlantic

—”Musk’s companies set to add $613 billion in value since election” via Dylan Sloan of Bloomberg

—”The French billionaire working his Trump ties to spare his luxury empire” via Nick Kostov and Stacy Meichtry of The Wall Street Journal

—”Trump picks U.S. attorney in Miami. As criminal prosecutor, he received poor evaluations” via Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald

—”Gov. Ron DeSantis announces new agreements to fight illegal immigration” via Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics

—”Carolina Amesty’s defense: She’s the victim … once again” via Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel

—“Lauren Melo files to succeed Kathleen Passidomo in Senate District 28” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics

—”Florida’s condo market is in turmoil. What’s next for owners?” via Rebecca Liebson of the Tampa Bay Times

Quote of the Day

“We’re ready to roll.”

— Ron DeSantis, announcing a wave of state agencies signing up to assist the feds in the immigration crackdown.

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 gets an All Hands On Deck for announcing FDLE, FWC, the Florida State Guard and FDACS law enforcement have signed on to help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with illegal immigration enforcement.

Sen. Tina Scott Polsky’s proposal to streamline the voting rights restoration process earns her a Tom Collins, or an Old Fashioned, or a Strawberry Fizz … really anything that can incorporate a dash of Keep It Simple Syrup.

Florida Democrats get a round of Obligatories for pushing a bill to ease the six-week abortion ban despite it standing little to no chance in the GOP-led Legislature.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Hurricanes, Seminoles tip off in Tallahassee

The two ACC teams from Florida meet tonight as both Miami and Florida State attempt to make something of their disappointing seasons (9 p.m. ET, ACC Network).

Miami (6-19, 2-12 ACC) lost the first meeting between the programs this season, 80-65 on Jan. 8 in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes, who saw head coach Jim Larranaga resign at midseason and have won two of the last four conference games after dropping the first 10 in ACC play this season.

Florida State (15-10, 6-8) is in ninth place in the ACC standings after struggling in a 72-46 loss against Clemson on Saturday. Jamir Watkins led the Seminoles with 14 points. In two games against Clemson, Watkins, who averages a team-high 18 points per game, scored just 25 points.

With six games remaining in the regular season, Florida State is battling to stay in the top nine of the standings, which would allow the Seminoles a first-round bye in next month’s conference tournament. 

Miami would have to get hot and get some help from other teams that are losing to make the conference tournament. The top 15 teams earn a spot in the bracket, while the bottom three teams in the conference will sit at home.

Both programs are likely to be coached by new faces next season. FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton, 76, announced earlier this month that he will retire at the end of the season.

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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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