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Political committee linked to Charlie Crist hauls record $725K in just 7 weeks

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St. Pete Shines, the political committee supporting Charlie Crist should he decide to run for St. Pete Mayor, raised $725,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025 over the course of just 49 days, according to Michelle Todd Schorsch, who chairs the committee.

Crist has not committed to running for Mayor, but has said he’s seriously considering it. Todd Schorsch, who is married to Florida Politics Publisher Peter Schorsch, established the committee in early November. While it does not officially mention support for Crist — the committee was established to support “candidates committed to a brighter future” for the city, she previously told Florida Politics — it is widely expected to fuel an eventual campaign, should Crist run.

Todd Schorsch has been a longtime ally of Crist, serving as a special assistant to him when he was Florida Governor, a role that put Todd Schorsch at the center of Crist’s political career.

Fundraising reports for the committee are not due until Jan. 12. Todd Schorsch self-reported information about the committee’s fundraising activity in a press release Wednesday. The donor list includes big names in the Tampa Bay area and beyond, from various sectors and across political ideologies.

For example, donors include Democrats such as former state Rep. Ben Diamond, former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, and Bob Poe, a former Democratic Party Chair, as well as Republicans such as Brian Ballard, former Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director and former state Rep. Dane Eagle, former gubernatorial Chief of Staff Erik Eikenberg and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.

There are also several big names in business on the donor list, including billionaire investment banker Trevor Burgess, Bill Edwards, Matt Weidner, Steve Yerrid and others. And two sports icons also donated: former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks and Jimmie Giles.

“The diversity of the donors to the committee demonstrates support for a candidate who can unify St. Petersburg’s unique community, while ensuring the needs of all constituents and stakeholders are met and balanced,” Todd Schorsch said.

The $725,000 haul appears to be the largest initial fundraising push in city mayoral election history. The St. Pete Shines committee provided historical fundraising data, which Florida Politics independently verified, noting that the committee’s first fundraising quarter total far surpasses all recent mayoral candidates. It’s more than the $513,000 Seamless Florida raised in its first two months to support former Mayor Rick Baker’s 2017 campaign against then-incumbent Rick Kriseman. And it far surpassed Kriseman’s Sunrise PAC’s $72,200 raised over the course of its entire first year.

Similarly, St. Pete Shines outperformed current Mayor Ken Welch’s PAC’s initial fundraising to the now-defunct Pelican PAC supporting his first mayoral election, which raised just over $25,000 in its first three months. St. Pete Shines also outperformed that committee’s top two months, which saw $233,006 in collection in September 2021 and $178,806 the following month. St. Pete Shines also outraised Welch’s entire 2021 official mayoral campaign, which collected just over $507,000.

“We are excited and humbled by the enormous support from a diverse network of St. Pete stakeholders representing the business community, political interests from both sides of the political aisle, and constituents from all walks of life,” Todd Schorsch said.

“The record support for St. Petersburg’s continued momentum is humbling, and shows that the Sunshine City is the world’s next premier destination, where experienced leadership is needed to ensure our renaissance is sustainable, not fleeting.”

If Crist runs, he’ll challenge Welch, and he’s not likely to be the only one. City Council member Brandi Gabbard has said she is also running. All three are registered Democrats, though the race is nonpartisan. Maria Scruggs, who has run unsuccessfully before, is the only candidate who has actually filed for the race so far.

Welch’s fundraising numbers have not yet been released for his new political committee, The Pelican Political Action Committee. As of September 30, the committee had raised just under $235,000, with the third quarter of 2025 being the top fundraising period, at 142,300 raised. The state revoked his previous Pelican PAC over several missteps, including failing to appoint a Treasurer, failing to file required paperwork and not reporting some contributions.

The new PAC Treasurer, Yolanda Brown, has until January 12 to file its fourth quarter reports.



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President pushes to cap credit card interest at 10% as banks balk

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Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street and the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and to support his second-term agenda.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump’s proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives,” the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long.”

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump’s post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Anna Paulina Luna have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.



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Gov. DeSantis appoints, reappoints 5 to Florida Gaming Control Commission

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Five seats on the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) have been tentatively settled after Gov. Ron DeSantis made appointments and reappointments this week.

DeSantis announced Julie Brown has been appointed as Chair of that board that oversees gambling issues in the state while Peter Cuderman and William Spicola were appointed as general members of the panel. DeSantis reappointed John Michael D’Aquila and Tina Repp as returning board members, a  news release said.

Brown is being elevated on the gaming board as she currently serves as Vice Chair of the panel. Brown is well versed in Florida government service and was the former Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. She’s also a former Commissioner on the Florida Public Service Commission.

Cuderman is also experienced in government work as he’s the previous Director of Legislative Intergovernmental Affairs for the Florida Governor’s office. He’s also the Founding Partner of Fidelis Fund, a Florida-Based private equity company involved with Main Street businesses. Cuderman was also a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corp.

Spicola is a lawyer at the law firm Komisar Spicola, based in Tallahassee. He’s also a member of the Second Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee and a member of the Florida Bar Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee.

Returning to the board is D’Aquila who is the owner and accountant at D’Aquila Advisors based in Jacksonville Beach. He’s also a member of the American and New York Institutes of Certified Public accountants and was a previous member of the Sawgrass Country Club Finance Committee and the Northeast Florida Society of Financial Professionals.

Repp’s return to the board comes as she is a health care fraud investigator for Qlarant. She’s also been a Special Agent for the FBI as she was an investigator of financial crime, government fraud, elder fraud and transnational organized crime.

The FGCC is composed of five members and is tasked with establishing executive and regulatory standards for gambling in Florida. It’s an area that has been elevated in profile in the past couple of years.

The FGCC recapped its 2025 operations and confiscated some $14.47 million in illegal gambling funds and another 6,725 illegal slot machines from illegal gambling operations, according to a news release issued by the agency. Those figures are significantly higher than in 2024.

In that previous year, state gambling regulators confiscated 1,287 illegal slot machines and some $7.11 million in cash associated with those unlawful gambling operations that were seized.

The appointments adn reapppointments by DeSantis still need final approval by the Florida Senate.



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Greenland leaders see red over Donald Trump takeover bid

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NATO allies split.

Greenland’s party leaders have rejected President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for the U.S. to take control of the island, saying that Greenland’s future must be decided by its people.

“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement Friday night.

Trump said again on Friday that he would like to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous region that’s part of NATO ally Denmark, “the easy way.” He said that if the U.S. doesn’t own it, then Russia or China will take it over, and the U.S. does not want them as neighbors.

“If we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said, without explaining what that entailed. The White House said it is considering a range of options, including using military force, to acquire the island.

Officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States met Thursday in Washington and will meet again next week to discuss the renewed push by the White House for the control of the island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO.

The party leaders’ statement said that “the work on Greenland’s future takes place in dialogue with the Greenlandic people and is prepared on the basis of international laws.”

“No other country can interfere in this,” they said. “We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for quick decision, delay or interference from other countries.”

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.



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