
<p>While President Trump and Democratic Party chaos are dominating the news, Florida has been seeing a lot of political action. For me, it Is a tale of two states – the degeneration of my home state of Illinois under woke Democrat rule – especially Chicago, a city I loved – and the commonsense conservatism of my new home in the Sunshine State.</p>



<p><strong>The Governorship</strong></p>



<p>Governor Ron DeSantis will exit office after the 2026 midterm elections. He has hit his two-term limit. (By the way, kudos to Florida for embracing term limits. No problem with booting deadwood public officials holding office for more years than the life expectancy of an alligator. But I digress.)</p>



<p>DeSantis has been a popular governor. ; ; You may recall, he won reelection in 2022 by 59 percent over Republican-turn-Democrat Charlie Crist – the strongest Republican victory in a Democrat winning year. ; ; (Former Republican Governor Crist also made a run for the Sunshine State U.S. Senate seat in 2010 as an independent – receiving 29 percent of the vote against the run-away winner Marco Rubio and the third place Democrat candidate, Kendrick Meek. ; But I digress again.)</p>



<p><strong>Casey DeSantis</strong></p>



<p>Ron DeSantis stepping down does not mean there will not be a DeSantis in the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee in 2027. The governor’s wife, former television anchor Casey DeSantis, has been the odds-on favorite to take over. But a problem has developed. She has been running Florida Hope Foundation – an organization designed to help economically disadvantaged Floridians seek financial independence.</p>



<p>The State reached a settlement with Centene of $67 million for overcharging on prescription drugs. Under the deal, the State would receive $57 million and $10 million would go to Hope Florida. Critics yelled “foul”. An initial investigation uncovered some errors in record keeping, but nothing that would bring down Casey’s plans to run in 2026, according to most political pundits.</p>



<p><strong>Another Political Retread for Governor</strong></p>



<p>Eyeing the Democrat nomination for governor is another Republican-turned-Democrat – former Congressman David Jolly. ; He initially turned on Trump &#8212; and was reward with a contributor job at MSNBC.  ;With the passion of zealot, Jolly has spent the past few years attacking Trump &#8230; Republican leaders &#8230; and the 77 million voters who reelected Trump (and incidentally flipped the House and Senate to the GOP). ;  ;I suspect that Jolly will suffer the same fate as the previous flip-flopper, Charlie Crist. ; Jolly has positioned himself too far to the left for the good people of Florida.</p>



<p><strong>The State Senate</strong></p>



<p>Florida’s Democrat Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo shocked the political establishment when he announced that he was leaving the leadership post and the Democratic Party &#8212; changing his registration to independent. ; In departing the donkey party, Pizzo offered a scathing rebuke of his former political home &#8212; calling it a “dead” party. ;</p>



<p>The party faithful pounced on Pizzo like he was prime beef in a lion’s lair. Florida Democrat state chair Nikki Fried issued a statement calling Pizzo “one of the most ineffective and unpopular Democratic leaders in recent memory, and his resignation is one of the best things to happen to the party in years.” Hey! Didn’t they elect him as their Senate leader? Just asking.</p>



<p><strong>Broward County School Board Removes Offensive Books</strong></p>



<p>One of the most left-wing school boards in one of the most Democrat counties in Florida joined the conservative campaign to remove or restrict books by age group under pressure from Moms for Liberty. ; A number of books dealing with LGBTQ etc., etc. issues that were deemed to be offensive or inappropriate as children’s reading material – especially for the pre-K to third grade students. ;</p>



<p>One book totally dropped was “It&#8217;s Perfectly Normal” by Robie Harris. It delves into all aspects of sexuality and gender fluidity – aimed at children in the earlies grades. Even those on the left seem to be coming to their senses. One can only wonder how so many folks even thought that such material was ever appropriate for young children. This appears to be one example of the success of pushback by parents throughout the nation. Books like “My Shadow is Pink” and “Pride Pup” are drawing national attention.</p>



<p><strong>The Florida Response</strong></p>



<p>Florida is moving in the right direction – literally and figuratively. ; It looks like conservative commonsense will prevail over left-wing craziness for years to come. ; Perhaps that is why the Sunshine State is attracting record numbers of new residents from northern blue woke states.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Florida politics … setting the tone for America
