Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida politics — Week of 3.15.26

Amid years of cost concerns only growing worse amid the war with Iran, and a Florida condo market dealing with particular struggles, it looks like the federal government is set to provide some relief.

According to U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the federal government is set to relax rules that require Florida condo buyers to provide a larger upfront payment than condo purchasers in other states.

Following the Great Recession, rules required Florida buyers to put down 25% of the condo, as opposed to a 10% requirement in other states. Banks would only cover 75% of the costs in Florida, as opposed to 90% elsewhere.

Donalds says that will change by August after he pushed Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner on the issue earlier this year.

“In Florida, you can do the same down payment for a condo like you can anywhere else in America,” Donalds said.

“This is a major step forward for affordability in our state. People trying to get into the game of ownership in our state to be able to put less down to buy a condo.”

Donalds is of course running for Governor in 2026, so he’s got incentive to deliver results for residents here in whatever way he can on the federal level before potentially taking over the executive branch here.

But more to the point, this is going to help Floridians seeking to get into the condo market who may have been prevented in the past.

That is, if anyone can afford a mortgage by August.

Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.

Winners

Honorable mention: Brightline. While airline passengers were stuck dealing with long Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines and shutdown-related airport chaos, Brightline was busy cashing in.

The passenger rail service said it set a ridership record between March 13 and 15, with more than 40,000 travelers riding between Orlando, Miami and stations across South Florida. CEO Patrick Goddard pointed to airport congestion as a big reason travelers are looking elsewhere, and Brightline was more than happy to be that elsewhere.

The timing could hardly have been better. With TSA officers working without full pay, airport staffing strained and wait times swelling, Brightline offered something air travel suddenly could not: predictability. Add in rising gas prices, Spring Break crowds, the Miami Open, the World Baseball Classic, cruise traffic and the Palm Beach Boat Show, and the train found itself sitting in a sweet spot.

Brightline also helped itself with family-friendly pricing, including discounts for children, making the pitch even easier for travelers tired of airports and not eager to burn a tank of gas getting around the state.

For a company that has spent years selling Floridians on the idea that rail can be a real alternative, this was the kind of week that makes the case for them.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Andy Thomson and team. After an election-night lead of six votes in the Boca Raton Mayor’s race, a machine recount cut Thomson’s edge to one. Then the manual recount restored a bit of breathing room, with Thomson officially finishing at 7,572 votes to Mike Liebelson’s 7,567, with Fran Nachlas finishing third with 3,967.

That makes Thomson the new mayor of Boca Raton and the first Democrat to win the post in more than 30 years. (This technically happened last Friday but we were off this past weekend, so we’re counting it).

Just as important, Thomson’s win came in the middle of a broader voter backlash against the city’s pro-development agenda. Boca voters crushed the Terra/Frisbie redevelopment referendum, and Thomson emerged from that same political storm as the candidate still standing.

And Thomson’s team helped make it happen, from Cornerstone Solutions to MDW Communications to the Florida Democratic Party.

Winning by five votes is not exactly a landslide. But it is a win, and in politics that is the only result that really matters.

The biggest winner: Terra Ceia. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation (SB 302) this week locking in new limits on dredging and filling in the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve and undercutting the proposed cruise port near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Manatee County.

The law allows only projects deemed in the public interest, beneficial to the preserve’s health, or tied to boating infrastructure and related needs. DeSantis said plainly that there was no real need to “add another port in the middle of a conserved area.”

That is a huge victory for locals and environmental groups who warned that a mega-cruise terminal next to one of the region’s most sensitive waters was a terrible idea. And let’s not forget Sen. Jim Boyd and Rep. Will Robinson advocating in the Legislature against proposed changes to advance the port plan. Boyd also tacked on the amendment to SB 302 that strengthened protections for Terra Ceia.

The bill does not necessarily end every fight connected to the site, and advocates are still warning that vigilance matters. But the measure sent an unmistakable message that elected leaders are willing to fight against this kind of transformation in Terra Ceia.

Losers

Dishonorable mention: Grady Judd. Depending on your political persuasion, the Sheriff either stepped in it this week with his comments on immigration enforcement, or spoke some much-needed truth to power.

Some cleanup ensued, and the reality is probably somewhere in the middle.

To recap: Judd at a Monday State Immigration Enforcement Council meeting spoke about the policies of the Donald Trump administration, supported by DeSantis, to aggressively round up and deport any immigrants who entered the country illegally, regardless of their criminal history.

To be clear, there’s long been lip service about focusing on the worst of the worst, but plenty of the outrage over the last several months has stemmed from otherwise hardworking migrants being picked up at churches, outside Home Depots, or at courthouses.

Judd’s comments were reported by the Florida Phoenix as a “break” with those aggressive policies, a framing he took issue with in a subsequent news conference later in the week.

“I want to dispel the hyperbole that there is some break from what we should be doing or what the President of the United States and the Governor have asked,” Judd said. “I want to make it abundantly clear that we in Florida law enforcement wholeheartedly support and endorse ICE. We fully cooperate with them, and I might add that they fully cooperate with us. In fact, they are excellent to work with.”

OK, fair enough. But what did he actually say Monday?

“While Congress sits on their hands and does nothing about this, we are on the ground floor with this day in and day out — looking in the eyes of these folks that, yes, came here inappropriately. But some came here inappropriately only to do better for themselves and their family,” Judd said.

“I don’t mean give (non-criminal immigrants) a free pass,” Judd added, as reported by the Phoenix.

“But we already know those people are doing that, and primarily going to Catholic Church … on Sunday. Those are the folks that we need in this country that we embrace,” he continued. “We are a country of immigrants.”

That sure sounds like a push to soften the targeting of immigrants with non-criminal records, or at least a desire to reallocate resources to focus on violent criminals.

And even in his news conference pushing back against the media for its framing, listen closely to what Judd said.

“We in fact support the mass deportation of illegal aliens — those that are criminals, those who have warrants of deportation, those who are here creating havoc and problems. If you’re here illegally, if you take that risk to be here illegally, then you’re going to be deported. Everyone that ICE says deport, we deport, and that’s important.”

Again, he partially emphasizes a focus on “criminals” and “those who are here creating havoc and problems.”

And there’s more. Again, this is in his presser where he sought to clarify his position.

“We can’t deal with 10 to 18 million illegal people all at once,” Judd said.

“All we’re doing is setting priorities and giving an exit ramp to those who came here inappropriately and illegally, but to enjoy the American dream. That’s what we’re saying, and that’s only input and feedback. The immigration enforcement board is going to hear from us because we’re on the ground eyeball-to-eyeball. But to suggest that this is a break — to suggest that we’re opposed — is offensive.”

Look, Judd is always outspoken and always aiming to tell the truth and tell it like it is. But someone clearly gave him a talking to after his Monday comments.

And in the end, Judd still seemed to stand by the framing that most in this country would agree with: Use limited resources on those doing damage to communities or those who have done so in the past rather than rounding up people who have been here for 20 years with no issue.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: James Fishback. Fishback not only lost an arbitration fight tied to his legal war with former employer Greenlight Capital, his own lawyers are also heading for the exits, telling the court they wanted off the case after months of unpaid bills.

According to court filings, Fishback owes his legal team more than $150,000, with most of that balance overdue for months.

Fishback’s campaign has always had a strong whiff of performance art. That’s a charade you can get away with for a while in public discourse, but that doesn’t play in a courtroom.

This latest episode makes him look less like an insurgent and more like a political deadbeat with a social media addiction.

Losing in arbitration is bad. Losing your lawyers because you apparently cannot or will not pay them is worse. Doing both at once is the kind of self-inflicted humiliation that only Fishback seems able to pull off.

The biggest loser: UF College Republicans. The chapter was disbanded by the Florida Federation of College Republicans and then deactivated by the University of Florida after reports that some members engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated the organization’s values, including reports of photos showing two students making a Nazi salute.

That is not edgy. It is not rebellious. It is not a free-speech masterclass. It is a spectacular self-own by a group that somehow turned the basic assignment of “don’t veer into Nazi-adjacent behavior” into a dare.

In a state where Republicans dominate nearly every lever of power, these guys still found a way to get themselves publicly blown up by their own side.

Now, the group is suing, claiming UF violated its rights by shutting it down. Maybe that argument will get some legal attention. Politically, though, it just means the chapter gets to spend even more time in the headlines with the words “antisemitic,” “Nazi salute” and “deactivated” attached to its name.

And of course, perennial legal loser Anthony Sabatini is taking the case, which doesn’t exactly bear well for the organization’s court prospects.

More to the point, what in the world is going on with young Republicans these days?