In his final State of the State address as Governor, a defiant Ron DeSantis defended the controversial Hope Florida charity and proclaimed that he has delivered “big results” during his time in office.

“We have set the standard for the rest of the country to follow. We are the Free State of Florida,” DeSantis said in his 30-minute speech addressing lawmakers on the opening day of the 2026 Session.

DeSantis urged the Legislature to pass bills on illegal immigration, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, expanding gun rights and supporting the state’s rural areas. 

“My message is simple. Get the bills to my desk,” DeSantis said. “In the spirit of 1776, I’m happy to put my John Hancock on those pieces of legislation.”

In the debate on how to provide property tax relief, DeSantis’ tone has, at times, been combative and critical of his own political party.

On Tuesday, his approach was different.

“The Legislature has the ability to place a measure on the ballot to provide transformational relief for taxpayers. Let’s resolve to all work together, get something done and let the people have a say,” DeSantis said. 

DeSantis credited his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, and Hope Florida for helping Floridians get off public assistance to save the state $130 million annually, he said.

“We have proven that a hand up is better than a handout,” DeSantis said.

Following DeSantis’ speech, Democrats struck back to offer their own take on the Hope Florida scandal.

“The Governor remains completely out of touch with reality. Eight years of his ineffective and dangerous leadership has left Florida less affordable and more corrupt,” Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman said. She said millions of dollars were illegally funneled to a political committee controlled by DeSantis’ then Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier. Berman noted that Uthmeier was later appointed by DeSantis to be Florida’s Attorney General.

In the rest of the State of the State address, DeSantis called for oversight on artificial intelligence as he warned about the new technology’s dangers. 

“Artificial intelligence is touted as being the key to curing cancer and expanding America’s military edge over arrivals, and perhaps this will be true. But this technology also threatens to upend key parts of our economy in ways that could leave many Americans out of work and with consumers footing the bill for the cost of power-intensive data centers,” DeSantis said.

“As AI chatbots have already been linked to teen suicides, it can also further devolve our society into a focus not on substance, but on online slop.”

The state has already turned over 20,000 undocumented immigrants to the federal government to be deported, DeSantis said.

Before the history books weigh in on the legacy of the DeSantis administration, the Governor described what he called a fiscally responsible state that promotes school choice and is winning cultural wars.

The state said the state has more than tripled its rainy-day fund and paid off nearly half of the state’s taxpayer supported debt, DeSantis said.

“Because the Legislature has supported efforts to accelerate repayment of this debt, we’ve saved more than $1 billion on principal and interest costs,” DeSantis said. “We’ve defeated attempts to force boys into girls’ sports, to inject gender ideology into elementary schools and deny parents the right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. We have ensured that our schools have a duty to educate, not a right to indoctrinate.”

One of the state’s crowning achievements has been Everglades restoration, DeSantis said.

“Even the flamingos have returned inside the Glades,” DeSantis said. “This has been the largest environmental restoration in the entire country. You can now walk into the swamp, sit on a cypress stump and see nature healing. The ghost of Osceola need cry no more.”

With America’s semiquincentennial upon us, DeSantis weaved in references to the Founding Fathers, a favorite topic of his, throughout the speech.

“We are the keepers of the flame of liberty that burned in Philadelphia in July of 1776,” DeSantis said. “We will not allow the flame to go out. We will answer the call. We will go forward with courage. We will take bold action. We will get the job done.”

Former Republican Rep. Rick Roth added nearly $165,000 last quarter toward his bid for Senate District 26. All but $15,000 came from his bank account.

His lone Democratic opponent in the contest, former Rep. David Silvers, raised about $48,000, all from outside sources.

Heading into 2026, both candidates enjoyed six-figure war chests in the race to succeed Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman, who has represented Palm Beach County in the upper chamber since 2018.

Roth, who represented the county in the House from 2016 to 2024, eschewed his political committee, Palm Beach Prosperity Fund, in amassing funds between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, raising solely through his campaign account.

Beyond the $150,000 self-funded infusion to his campaign, Roth received 44 contributions in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Several came from political committees. He accepted $1,000 apiece from Inverness Republican Sen. Ralph Massullo’s political committee, Better Lives for Floridians, and Conservatives for Effective Government, a PC run by consultant David Ramba.

Friends of Rachel Plakon, the PC of Lake Mary Republican Rep. Rachel Plakon, gave $750. Florida Always First, a PC that backed former Republican Rep. Alina Garcia, now Miami-Dade County’s Supervisor of Elections, kicked in $500.

Industry interests gave too. Roth received $1,000 from Clewiston-based Berner Oil Inc., Delray Beach-based plant nursery Atchison Exotics Inc. and the Palm Beach Kennel Club. Perry Farms, based in Moore Haven, gave $750.

Roth spent $2,668 in Q4, leaving himself with about $288,000 by New Year’s Day. The lion’s share of his spending, $2,266, went to St. Petersburg-based Direct Mail Systems for advertising.

He also spent about $300 on a licensing fee and $30 on checks. The rest covered bank and donation-processing fees.

Silvers, who represented Housed District 89 from 2016 to 2024, collected $11,000 through his campaign account and $36,800 through his political committee, Friends of David Silvers, in Q4.

He also spent $30,300, leaving about $195,000 in his coffers by the quarter’s end.

His biggest gain, a $20,000 check, came from motorsports driver and auto magnate Rodin Younessi. His second-biggest gain, a $5,000 contribution, came from Miami-headquartered Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits.

Silvers received $3,500 from firefighter unions, $2,000 from the Florida OBGYN PAC and $1,000 from the International Longshoreman Association. Humana Inc. gave $2,500.

From the government relations sector, Silvers took $1,000 apiece from Capitol Alliance Group, Rubin Turnbull & Associates, TSE Consulting LLC, Florida Partners LLC, Lewis Longman & Walker, Lisa Miller & Associates and Venture PAC, a political committee run by Jones Walker LLP Director of Strategy and Management Chris Moya.

His Q4 spending went almost exclusively to consulting, including $15,000 to Tallahassee-based ENH Industries Inc., $10,000 to Tampa-based Renaissance Campaign Strategies and $5,250 to West Palm Beach-based Cornerstone Solutions.

The rest covered bank fees.

A third candidate, Republican lawyer Stephen Iacullo, filed for the SD 26 race Oct. 23, 2025, but did not file his Q4 campaign finance report by Monday’s deadline, according to the Division of Elections website.

SD 26 covers a southern portion of Palm Beach County, spanning the inland municipalities of Belle Glade, Golf, South Bay and Wellington; coastal Briny Breezes, Delray Beach, Highland Beach and Ocean Ridge; and a northern part of Boca Raton.

The 2026 Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.

Former Tampa City Council member Mike Suarez is by far the top fundraiser so far in the race for House District 64.

Suarez raised nearly $32,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, more than twice what his closest opponent raised in the same period. But that candidate, Luis Salazar, didn’t enter the race until about halfway through the period.

Still, Suarez maintains about $29,000 in his coffers, compared to just shy of $10,000 for Salazar.

Both are Democrats. They also face fellow Democrat José “Dante” Sánchez-Sánchez, but he has not yet filed a campaign finance report despite the passage of Monday’s filing deadline. One Republican is running, Amaro Lionheart. He also has not yet filed a finance report.

The candidates are vying to replace term-limited Rep. Susan Valdés, who is now a Republican but was elected as a Democrat.

The district has a voter advantage for Democrats, who make up more than 37% of the electorate. Republican voters, meanwhile, account for nearly 29% of the district’s voters, according to the most recent L2 voter data.

Suarez brought in 82 contributions last quarter, averaging about $386 each.

Top donors cutting maximum $1,000 checks include Travis Mitchell & Associates, a local government relations firm; Parkway Corporation CEO Robert Zuritsky and its Chair, Joe Zuritsky; Blue Sky Communities President Shawn Wilson; developer Bernard Arenas; Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen’s Hillsborough Together political committee; developer Jonathan Levy; contractor Joseph Williams; the Florida Insurance Council/ The Travelers Companies; the Tower Hill Insurance Group; and Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties, which is Jeff Vinik’s events operations firm.

Suarez’s top expenditure, at nearly $6,500, was to Tampa-based Womack Strategies for political consulting, run by communications strategies Michael Womack. Suarez also spent $3,885 on his campaign kickoff expenses at Florida Avenue Brewing Co. and paid campaign staffer Sebastian Leon about $2,100.

Salazar raised $15,497 from the time he entered the race in late October through December, and spent about $5,500 during that same period.

Salazar is running a grassroots campaign, with 335 contributions averaging less than $47 each. He only took in two top-dollar $1,000 contributions and just a handful of $500 checks.

His top expenditure was nearly $1,500 paid to Alex Honda for consulting, followed by $704 paid to Mark Hanisee, a former Pinellas County Democratic Party Chair, also for consulting fees.

“Our campaign is powered by people, not special interests,” Salazar said. “The fact that over 400 individuals chose to invest in this movement so early on says everything about the hunger for change. I am humbled and energized by the support.”