Last Call for 9.15.25 – 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

Former House Speaker Paul Renner is rolling out his elevator pitch for Governor, and it leans hard on his service record — in uniform, in the courtroom and in the Florida Capitol.

The new three-minute video from Renner’s nascent campaign opens with the candidate at 23, navigating Navy warships through mine-laden waters during Operation Desert Storm.

“Paul’s faith gave him the courage to fulfill his mission,” the narrator says, noting his return to Afghanistan years later as a military intelligence officer leading counterterrorism efforts.

From there, the script pivots to his tenure as a prosecutor “sending violent criminals to prison and giving justice to their victims,” then to his rise in Tallahassee, where colleagues elevated him to Speaker. Even though the ink on his tenure leading the House is still damp, the ad dubs him “one of the most consequential legislative leaders in Florida’s history.” 

Renner himself delivers the through line: “The fight for freedom, common sense and values we share is an urgent matter. Everything is at stake.”

The spot highlights his work alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis to push through universal school choice, tax cuts, lawsuit reform, immigration crackdowns, abortion restrictions and a slate of culture-war priorities like “canceling DEI.” Environmental notes make a cameo, with a nod to the water quality investments the DeSantis camp has been pumping from the jump.

And it makes clear where he’ll stand in 2026: shoulder-to-shoulder with Donald Trump … who notably is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.

“Paul Renner is the only candidate for Governor who has delivered results,” the narrator declares, “and he did it with character, determination and courage.”

Evening Reads

—”How Donald Trump’s crime crackdown muted other parts of D.C. life” via Emily Badger, Ben Blatt and Alicia Parlapiano of The New York Times

—”Trump has a warning for Spencer Cox” via McKay Coppins of The Atlantic

—“A tragic murder, a baseless smear, and the fight for the U.S. Senate” via Judd Legum of Popular Information

—”You don’t have to say something about every terrible thing” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin

—”The single most important sentence you will read this week” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—“Conservatives are doxxing innocent people over Charlie Kirk” via Taylor Lorenz of User Mag

—”MAHA wants action on pesticides. It’s not going to get it from Trump’s corporate-friendly EPA” via Molly Taft of WIRED

—”For the first time, more kids are obese than underweight” via Pratik Pawar of Vox

—”All the sad young terminally online men” via Derek Thompson

—“HBO, HBO Max rebound at the Emmys while Apple and ‘The Studio’ have a big night” via Rick Porter of The Hollywood Reporter

Quote of the Day

“These ‘wellness’ products are nothing more than vape shop morphine …”

— Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, announcing the first wave of 7-OH seizures.

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.

A Seven & 7 isn’t fancy, but we doubt the people used to getting their 7-OH from the corner store would turn one down now that Wilton Simpson is clearing the shelves.

The DNC gets a Long Time No See for including the Sunshine State in their latest college voter registration push.

Paul Renner is serving up Three-Minute Toddys from campaign HQ … whether people stick around past that is up in the air.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Rays try to hang in wild-card race

The Tampa Bay Rays open a four-game series with the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Steinbrenner Field (7:35 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Net Sun).

With 13 games remaining in the regular season, including the next seven at home, the Rays sit seven and a half games out of the final wild card spot in the American League. While some teams in the AL wild card race have been surging, such as the Cleveland Guardians, winners of nine of their last 10 games, the Rays have struggled.

Tampa Bay has lost seven of its last 10 games, including three straight to Cleveland, and dropped four of six in Chicago against the White Sox and Cubs last week.

The Blue Jays lead the division by four games over the New York Yankees and five and a half games over the Boston Red Sox. Toronto’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is five, and to win the American League East is nine. The Blue Jays have not won the division title since 2015.

Toronto will send Trey Yesavage to the mound to make his Major League debut against the Rays. Yesavage, 22, was a first-round pick last year out of East 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.

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