Politics
Ron DeSantis unloads on ‘nominal Republicans’ in Legislature carrying ‘leftist’ agenda
Gov. Ron DeSantis says fake Republicans in the Legislature are holding back his efforts to enact a conservative agenda in the state.
DeSantis said one consequence of the Florida Democratic Party being “on the mat” is that “nominal Republicans” are infiltrating the GOP and diluting the legislative supermajority.
“Most people in most parts of this state have no chance to get elected with a ‘D’ by their name. They know that. Some of them are even switching to become Republicans now,” DeSantis said.
“That has led us to have more Republicans in the Florida House, let’s say, nominal Republicans who are claiming to be part of the party. The problem is, these are folks that they think if they say that they’re for Trump or put a red hat on or do all this, that you’re dumb enough to let them be liberal and basically stab you in the back. But just because they have that ‘R’ by their name, you’re not going to care. That doesn’t work, okay?”
DeSantis’ comments to a meeting of the Republican Party of Florida State Executive Committee were made Monday, and are the latest indication of his frustration with the Florida House, which saw two Democrats elected in November switch to the party before the 2025 Legislative Session began.
The House, he said, “is giving a lifeline to the Democratic Party … to the Left.”
As he has before, he vented about the disagreement with the House over the immigration bill passed in Special Session, saying that although “liberal Republicans” in the Senate were impediments, the real problem was in Speaker Daniel Perez’s court.
“The House leadership did not want to do that bill,” DeSantis said, likening the position to having “stabbed (activists) in the back” because they wanted to give Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson immigration enforcement authority.
DeSantis also took issue with a committee hearing for a “carbon sequestration” bill, wondering why the House is giving that play instead of an “open carry” bill despite having a supermajority.
One piece of legislation he does support: targeting “geoengineering and weather modification,” but he accused the House of “gutting” the bill, apparently referring to an amendment capping fines at $10,000 adopted Tuesday.
“It should be banned. You know, you have people that think they can fight climate change by doing stuff,” he said. “It’s insane.”
DeSantis also blasted efforts to push a constitutional amendment to “abolish the Lieutenant Governor Office.”
“They’ve changed it to where voters don’t even know where the line of succession is,” he said, blasting the “Office of Governmental Efficiency” proposal for exempting the House from scrutiny.
“That is a total, total fraud,” he added about the bill on the House Second Reading Calendar.
DeSantis sees “very little energy” in the House to “defeat the Left.”
“I think it’s offensive to run under the banner of the Florida first model, the Florida success model, the conservative policies that have made the state great, and then use that to attain power and then abuse that power by pursuing a more leftist agenda. That’s fundamentally wrong because they did not tell you that’s what they were going to do,” DeSantis said.
As he wrapped his 20-plus-minute speech, he predicted that soft Republicans would help Democrats make up ground despite the party’s deep issues.
“You are going to have folks —because everyone needs to be a Republican now — they’re not going to follow through on the conservative principles. They’re going to blur the distinction,” he said.
“Instead of the sharp contrast that we’ve drawn between our agenda and the Left and the Democrats, they’re going to blur that distinction. That’s going to cause our voters to lose enthusiasm and then elections, it gives the Democrats a chance to get back. They’re not going to win everything back right away. But over time that’s what happens and the great heights that we’ve reached will become eroded. So that’s the stakes that I see.”
Politics
Florida tops the nation in domestic tourists last year, breaks its own record for a sixth time
Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore has filed to run for Apopka Mayor in 2026.
Moore, who is in her second term on the County Commission, said there needs to be a change in leadership at the city level.
“The city has had a lot of trauma, a lot of problems,” Moore told Florida Politics. “I’d like to get in there and bring the rancor and ill will down, and move toward creating a beautiful downtown together.”
Apopka’s City Election will be held March 10, 2026. The mayoral post will be up, as will City Council Seats 1 and 2. Moore is the first candidate to file for a city office in that election. Mayor Bryan Nelson has not announced if he will seek another term.
Moore announced her candidacy for the city office Monday. With the election in March, the County Commissioner will need to resign from her current term on the Commission, which runs until November 2026. That resignation cannot be revoked regardless of the city election turns out
Moore intends to stay in office until April 2026, when the next Mayor of Apopka takes office. Gov. Ron DeSantis may appoint another Commissioner to serve out her term. That happened in 2018 after Nelson, also a County Commissioner when he first ran for Apopka Mayor, resigned from his county seat. Then-Gov. Rick Scott named Rod Love to serve out Nelson’s term.
Love did not seek election to a full term, and Moore won the District 2 seat on the County Commission in November 2018.
More previously served on the Orange County School Board from 2009 through 2018.
She has also been a music teacher, professional musician and real estate investor and has lived in Apopka for 35 years.
She listed accomplishments during her term in office including a $125 million Orange County Utilities septic-to-sewer program to improve water quality and protect Wekiwa Springs. The county recently celebrated its 500th home conversion as part of the program, which long-term plans to convert 2,000 homes to sewer service.
She said she secured state dollars to improve stacking at the State Park entranceway.
Moore also pointed out that more than 424.7 acres of conservation land in District 2 were preserved, including Greeneyes, Lake Lucie and Sandhill.
Additionally, she supported a rural boundary preservation amendment passed in 2024.
Moore was also instrumental in the Magnolia Park upgrades, including an eco-education facility.
The Commissioner said she had largely focused on infrastructure and will attend a ribbon-cutting at a new bridge next week on U.S. 441. She voted to fund the Accelerated Transportation Safety Program for streetlights, safety improvements and missing sidewalks.
Moore led the effort for the county to fund a Northwest Orange Comprehensive Area Transportation Study.
“I am going to do a lot to increase the pipeline for talent and city involvement,” she said. “It’s been a city really run by one person, and we need to broaden and bring more people to the process.”
For the past two years, Rep. Vicki Lopez made condo reform her top focus in Tallahassee. She’s still pursuing that effort this year, but she’s also carrying legislation to ensure Florida’s waters are as safe as its shores.
One bill (HB 289) has already cleared the House unanimously and awaits a vote in the Senate. Another (HB 481) received uniform support in both of its committees and pends a full vote by the lower chamber.
HB 289 is titled “Lucy’s Law” after 17-year-old Miami high schooler Luciana Fernandez, who died in a September 2022 boat crash that injured several other passengers. If passed, the measure would make it a third-degree felony to leave the scene of a waterborne accident that hurts someone.
Leaving an accident that causes a serious bodily injury would increase the charge to a second-degree felony, while leaving a fatal crash would be a first-degree felony.
Third-, second- and first-degree felonies are punishable by up to five, 15 and 30 years in prison, respectively, with fines of between $5,000 and $10,000.
The bill, which Lopez is sponsoring with fellow Republican Rep. Vanessa Oliver, would also maintain boating safety education requirements and criminalize knowingly providing false information on boat reports as a misdemeanor.
Lopez, a Miami lawmaker, has stressed that the impact of HB 289 will extend far beyond Miami-Dade County’s bounds.
“This will help every single boater and every single person who enjoys the waters throughout our state,” she said.
She commended Fernandez’s family, who spoke to lawmakers during the committee process about the importance of “Lucy’s Law” and turning their pain into a positive change for Florida.
“They seemingly have taken a tragedy and have determined that Lucy would not die in vain, that her memory would (help) all know that it is absolute mayhem on the water,” she said.
HB 289’s upper-chamber companion (SB 628) by Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin has also received nothing but “yes” votes. It has only the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee to clear before going to a floor vote.
HB 481, meanwhile, addresses mooring regulation. The bill and its Senate analog (SB 866), also by Martin, would enable counties with 1.5 million residents or more — Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough and Palm Beach, currently — to regulate vessels that anchor overnight within their jurisdiction, among other things.
Lopez said in a statement that increased congestion in Florida’s waterways, environmental damage and safety risks “demand decisive action,” and HB 481 is just that.
“Current regulation leaves gaps that threaten the well-being of boaters and the health of our marine ecosystem. HB 481 addresses these issues by empowering local governments to establish stricter anchoring zones in heavily impacted regions … reduces anchoring periods in designated areas and expands protections to critical environmental zones and sensitive waterways,” she said.
“This important piece of legislation is essential to preserving Florida’s waterways for generations to come. It reflects our commitment to sustainable marine practices, community safety, and responsible waterway stewardship. By enacting these measures, we send a clear message: safeguarding our natural resources and protecting the boating community are top priorities.”
Lopez has proven an effective, moderate policymaker since winning her House District 113 seat in 2022. In her freshman House term, she passed well over half her bills, including 75% of those she carried this past Session.
Some were ambitious proposals. She was the House sponsor for the Live Local Act, a seismic measure meant to address Florida’s affordable housing shortage that critics argued preempted local growth controls while giving too much to developers.
She also tackled the thankless task of fixing the state’s post-Surfside condo safety law, which still needs more work, and created a pilot program that extended home-hardening grants to condo owners.
Her legislative victories, including nearly $26 million in appropriations, came despite her votes against her party’s six-week abortion ban and proposal to roll back age restrictions on long rifle purchases the Legislature passed after the 2018 Parkland massacre.
She won re-election in November with 55% of the vote.
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Janelle Irwin Taylor and Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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