By Michael Moline | Editor in Chief
“People said, you know, when he ran, I didn’t advise him to run. It wasn’t because I didn’t think that he could become a good governor. I think he would be really good. He’s got a great record of policy. But, what’s your strategy to get known? How do you get known to people?” — Gov. Ron DeSantis of former House Speaker and GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner
Byron Donalds, Jay Collins, James Fishback, Paul Renner. (Photos via U.S. House, Florida House, Office of the Governor, and Fishback campaign)
Donalds had raised more than $111 million as of Aug. 17. More than $99 million of that came from his political committee, Friends of Byron Donalds. If he does win the GOP primary Tuesday, he will have tens of millions more to spend going into the November general election. His PAC has more than $51 million in cash on hand and another $6.8 million sits in his regular campaign account. No other candidate in the race, Republican or Democrat, comes close.
Florida voters have until 7 p.m. local time Tuesday to cast ballots in the primary elections. As election results become available Tuesday night, the Phoenix will provide updates on key races across the Sunshine State, including for governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House districts that could flip from one party to another.
Morgan & Morgan wants to run advertisements featuring celeb endorsements, but the Florida Bar forbids that. So, the firm has filed a lawsuit asserting violation of the First and 14th Amendments. According to the complaint, the Bar prohibited the firm from running ads featuring former NBA player Shaqille O’Neal, actor and professional stock-car racing driver Frankie Muniz, NASCAR driver Kyle “Rowdy” Busch, and professional golfer John Daly.
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