Month: August 2022

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is leaning into the culture wars as he weighs a 2024 bid.

The Florida governor and rising GOP star on Thursday suspended a Tampa-area elected state attorney who had signed a pledge not to prosecute those who seek out or provide abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the seminal case that protected the right to abortion.

It’s only the latest item on a growing list of moves designed to win over the Republican Party’s conservative base amid speculation that DeSantis could pursue a bid for the White House in the coming years.

“He is sending a message to Republican voters and to the American people that he is a leader, and he is willing to make very difficult decisions that many other elected officials aren’t, and he is willing to fire people who people think are untouchable , and that is crucial for someone that’s going to run for president in 2024,” said Terry Schilling, the president of the conservative grassroots organization, the American Principles Project.

DeSantis’s office billed the Thursday announcement suspending State Attorney Andrew Warren, a rising star in Florida Democratic circles, as official business. But for many, the episode was merely the latest effort by DeSantis to court a growing national conservative base — something he’s done with increasing vigor in recent years.

Thomas Kennedy, a Democratic National Committee member from Florida and an ardent critic of DeSantis, described the governor’s announcement as a “political stunt,” noting how his press secretary Christina Pushaw teased the announcement the night before as the “liberal media meltdown of the year .”

“The evidence is in their words. You had literally his spokesperson calling it the liberal meltdown of the year,” Kennedy said. “They were looking for a reaction, they got their reaction. Everything they do is a stunt, and it’s aimed at Republican voters in early primary states.”

It was a familiar tactic for DeSantis, whose name has shot to the top of the list of potential GOP presidential candidates over the past two years. In that time, he has defied public health officials’ advice on the COVID-19 pandemic, cracked down on public protests, banned the teaching of so-called critical race theory in public schools and picked a high-profile fight with Walt Disney World, one of the state’s biggest tourist draws.

And for many conservatives, including Schilling, that combative approach to politics and business is exactly what makes DeSantis attractive.

“In reality, we’re reaching a point in time where you can’t really separate politics from doing the right thing,” Schilling said. “Ron DeSantis took on Disney, for crying out loud. This is a guy that’s willing to take on powerful interests if it means protecting the people he’s representing.”

Even during his first bid for governor in 2018, DeSantis drew attention for his controversial, no-holds-barred campaign style. One ad at the time showed DeSantis telling his young daughter to “build the wall” as she played with toy blocks. At another point in the campaign, he has faced criticism after he warned Floridians not to “monkey this up” by voting for his Democratic rival Andrew Gillum, who is Black.

Since then, DeSantis has made a name for himself as a hard-charging culture warrior willing to push the limits of his authority to further his vision of conservatism. While that strategy has made him a much-hated villain to Democrats, it’s won him the praise of many Republicans who have begun carefully eyeing him as a successor to former President Trump.

“Ron DeSantis is a master class in how to speak to the base; how to antagonize Democrats in a way that, I think to a lot of Republicans, looks entirely reason-based,” one Republican donor said. “He’s not doing these inconsistent rants like Donald Trump did. He’s methodical, and that’s why he’s coming up as fast as he is.”

And indeed, DeSantis’s political rise appears very real. Not only has he emerged as one of — if not the most — powerful governors in recent Florida history, but he has asserted himself as one of the most influential Republicans in the country at a time when the GOP finds itself out of power in Washington.

DeSantis has raised more than $100 million for his election campaign, while meeting with influential Republican officials and donors far from his home state. Earlier this year, for instance, he met with top Trump donors in South Carolina, stoking speculation that he may be considering a bid for the White House.

He’s also among only a few prospective Republican presidential hopefuls who have declined to rule out a 2024 campaign if Trump decides to mount another bid for the White House. And in the event that Trump doesn’t run again, early polling suggests that DeSantis would be a heavy favorite to win the GOP nomination.

A Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released this week found that, without Trump on the ballot, DeSantis would lead his closest rival, former Vice President Mike Pence, by a 15-point margin.

“I do think that voters are going to have a hard time choosing between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis because they are so similar in what they offer,” Schilling said. “I don’t think there is a DeSantis without Donald Trump opening that huge door for him and showing what you can actually do through the political lens and at the same time, I’m so impressed with Ron DeSantis. He’s stepped up in ways that no other governor has.”

In the meantime, however, DeSantis is waving off questions about his future political ambitions, saying only that he’s focused on winning a second term in the governor’s mansion in November. His chances, at least for now, appear solid: He’s raised far more money than either of his prospective Democratic rivals — Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) and state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried — and what little public polling there is in the race shows DeSantis with wide leads over both of his potential opponents.

Of course, things could change before Election Day. But DeSantis’s relative comfort with his reelection has given him an opportunity to lay the groundwork for his political future, Kennedy said.

“He’s making a calculation,” Kennedy said. “The Democrats are in disarray in his perspective of him and so, to him, he sees no reason to compromise.”

“He thinks he can win Florida,” Kennedy added. “And at the same time, he’s trying to position himself as the new Republican leader; the new Donald Trump.”

The New York Police Department (NYPD) said its detectives apprehended three men who fired on a party in Queens late Friday night.

In a media briefing, NYPD Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey said that at approximately 11:35 pm ET members of the violent crime squad were at the area of ​​219th Street and 130th Avenue in Springfield Gardens, Queens.

The detectives were observing a party in the area, including approximately 75 to 100 attendees.

“And, they were observing this party because they believed that there was a potential to be violence involving some of the local street crews,” he explained.

NEW YORK MAN ACCUSED OF CHINESE FOOD DELIVERYMAN MURDER FOUND DEAD IN APPARENT SUICIDE WEEKS AFTER MAKING BAIL

A gun recovered at a Friday shooting in Queens, New York.
(NYPD/Twitter)

The plainclothes detectives were in an unmarked car when a group of unknown men entered the same intersection and pulled out at least three firearms.

They shot the guns into the vicinity of the party and the detectives – realizing that danger was imminent – ​​exited their vehicle.

FIRST TEXAS BUS OF MIGRANTS ARRIVES IN NYC

“Our detectives exchanged gunfire with the group of males and our detectives were able to apprehend three of the males,” Maddrey said.

All three of the men sustained gunshot wounds.

A gun from a Friday shooting in Queens, New York.
(NYPD/Twitter)

One of the shooters was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and the other two went to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

FOUR KILLED, OHIO POLICE IDENTIFY PERSON OF INTEREST IN SHOOTING

Two of the men were known to the department with “past criminal justice encounters.”

None of the NYPD detectives were injured, but were taken to a local hospital to be checked out for tinnitus and other ailments.

A gun recovered at a Friday night shooting in Queens
(Credit: NYPD/Twitter)

Three firearms were recovered from the scene.

Maddrey told reporters that whether any of the recovered guns are “ghost guns” is “still being determined.”

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Whether any civilians were hit in the incident also remains unknown.

“At this time, we don’t know and it’s still an ongoing investigation,” he said.

The lead is a product of a lopsided campaign so far: Ryan spent more than $8 million on advertisements, including $6.5 million on television since May. But until this week, Vance’s campaign had been AWOL from the airwaves for that entire time. Ryan has also remained far ahead of Vance in the cash dash, in part thanks to an aggressive small-dollar donation campaign.

The outcome of the Ohio race has major stakes for the 2022 midterms. The Senate is finely balanced at 50-50, and Democrats have enjoyed a summer of solid polling in top swing-state races despite the challenging political environment. Adding another seriously competitive, GOP-held seat to the list of battleground races in the fall could tip control of the chamber next year.

Ironically, the spate of negative stories surrounding Vance’s campaign in recent weeks — that he is struggling with fundraising and his own party is questioning whether Ryan is out-hustling him on the airwaves — may have had a net positive effect on Vance’s campaign. Fundraising has picked up since, and national Republicans have stepped in to start buying ads in the race.

On Thursday, Vance joined Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, where he raised roughly $300,000 holding a golf fundraiser, according to a person with knowledge of the event.

Donors who had remained on the sidelines since the primary have suddenly started writing checks, the Vance ally said. And following a bitter primary fight, Vance’s past opponents are now stepping up to lend their support. Jane Timken just held a fundraiser for Vance, and the campaign is now scheduling additional events with Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons.

This week, One Nation, the nonprofit part of the outside-spending machine affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), announced a $3.8 million ad buy in the Ohio Senate race. That follows a nearly $1 million television buy that launched this week as a campaign collaboration between Vance and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

In an interview with POLITICO, Ryan said national Republicans are “panicking” about Vance’s prospects and pushed back on the idea that his internal poll represents his campaign’s apogee.

“We have a lot of room to grow,” Ryan said. “In a lot of ways, this race has signed up.” He added: “It’s just going to be about how many more Republicans and independent voters we can pull in the next three months.”

On that front, Ryan is still making headway. Retiring Sen. Rob Portman‘s former chief of staff John Bridgeland, a former director of George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy Council, is expected to author an endorsement on Ryan’s behalf in a coming Sunday edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer, as well as tap into his state-based Republican rolodex, POLITICO has learned.

“Tim is spending time in every county in Ohio, including heavily Republican counties in Southwest Ohio,” Bridgeland told POLITICO. “He’s really listening to people, he wants to know what their concerns are. And JD Vance is tearing people apart. And the last thing this country needs right now are more people igniting the worst dimensions of human nature.”

Ryan’s internal polling also shows him making inroads with independents: It showed him up 20 points with those voters. According to the poll, Vance also has 85 percent name identification and a 50 percent unfavorable rating after a bruising and expensive Republican primary. Ryan, who enjoyed a smoother ride to his party’s nomination, finds himself with 80 percent name ID and a 36 percent unfavorable rating).

But Republicans on the ground in Ohio and national operatives in DC say they’re confident the liberal congressman will fall off dramatically as Vance hits the air with positive spots and, especially as Ryan begins to face attack ads in the Republican-leaning state

A person familiar with One Nation’s decision to buy ad time in Ohio said “the cash disparity between the two candidates is a concern,” but they’re expecting a Vance win “if he makes up that gap even somewhat.”

Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC that supported Vance in the primary with $15 million from Thiel, will also spend on Vance’s behalf again during the general election, according to a person familiar with the group’s plan. Thiel hasn’t yet said whether he’ll cut another check, but the super PAC has added new donors and intends to spend seven figures on Vance this fall.

“In terms of what’s coming ahead, I believe he’s probably at his high-water mark now,” said Tony Schroeder, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party, referring to Ryan. “Frankly we’re in a period where people aren’t paying a whole heck of a lot of attention. When the engagement comes around, there’s not going to be anything that’s going to help Tim Ryan.”

Vance has left the campaign trail in Ohio multiple times this summer, including trips to Conservative Political Action Conference events. But besides addressing crowds of activists, the trips have also served as fundraising opportunities. On Friday, before speaking in Dallas at CPAC Texas, Vance headlined the organization’s donor breakfast. He also held one-on-one meetings in the donor-heavy city, as he did when he traveled to Tel Aviv last month for CPAC Israel.

“A lot of this is midsummer bedwetting, to be frank,” said a person close to the campaign, noting how unpopular President Joe Biden remains in Ohio and how closely Republican ads will seek to tie Ryan to the president.

During his speech Friday, Vance urged those in the audience to sign up to make calls and knock doors for his campaign, criticizing Ryan as a “weak, fake congressman.” His comments from him signaled there is still a fight ahead to win voters dissented with Democrats, “whether they are conservatives, whether they vote Republican every time — the people who just want a good life in the country that their grandparents and great-grandparents built .”

A campaign spokesperson said Vance was unavailable for an interview Friday while at CPAC Texas.

Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick said he met Vance for the first time last month when Vance was traveling the state and visiting individually with law enforcement leaders. Levorchick took office in 2011 as a Democrat, but changed his voter registration last year to Republican. An Obama-Trump county, Ottawa broke from its longtime bellwether status in 2020 to support Trump for a second term.

Levorchick said as of now, he plans to cast his vote this fall for Vance, suggesting there is mistrust for Ryan in some law enforcement circles.

“Is he further right than some people may want? Could be,” Levorchick said of Vance. “But when you only have two candidates to pick from, you have to weigh who’s actually better suited to represent you.”

The lead is a product of a lopsided campaign so far: Ryan spent more than $8 million on advertisements, including $6.5 million on television since May. But until this week, Vance’s campaign had been AWOL from the airwaves for that entire time. Ryan has also remained far ahead of Vance in the cash dash, in part thanks to an aggressive small-dollar donation campaign.

The outcome of the Ohio race has major stakes for the 2022 midterms. The Senate is finely balanced at 50-50, and Democrats have enjoyed a summer of solid polling in top swing-state races despite the challenging political environment. Adding another seriously competitive, GOP-held seat to the list of battleground races in the fall could tip control of the chamber next year.

Ironically, the spate of negative stories surrounding Vance’s campaign in recent weeks — that he is struggling with fundraising and his own party is questioning whether Ryan is out-hustling him on the airwaves — may have had a net positive effect on Vance’s campaign. Fundraising has picked up since, and national Republicans have stepped in to start buying ads in the race.

On Thursday, Vance joined Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, where he raised roughly $300,000 holding a golf fundraiser, according to a person with knowledge of the event.

Donors who had remained on the sidelines since the primary have suddenly started writing checks, the Vance ally said. And following a bitter primary fight, Vance’s past opponents are now stepping up to lend their support. Jane Timken just held a fundraiser for Vance, and the campaign is now scheduling additional events with Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons.

This week, One Nation, the nonprofit part of the outside-spending machine affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), announced a $3.8 million ad buy in the Ohio Senate race. That follows a nearly $1 million television buy that launched this week as a campaign collaboration between Vance and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

In an interview with POLITICO, Ryan said national Republicans are “panicking” about Vance’s prospects and pushed back on the idea that his internal poll represents his campaign’s apogee.

“We have a lot of room to grow,” Ryan said. “In a lot of ways, this race has signed up.” He added: “It’s just going to be about how many more Republicans and independent voters we can pull in the next three months.”

On that front, Ryan is still making headway. Retiring Sen. Rob Portman‘s former chief of staff John Bridgeland, a former director of George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy Council, is expected to author an endorsement on Ryan’s behalf in a coming Sunday edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer, as well as tap into his state-based Republican rolodex, POLITICO has learned.

“Tim is spending time in every county in Ohio, including heavily Republican counties in Southwest Ohio,” Bridgeland told POLITICO. “He’s really listening to people, he wants to know what their concerns are. And JD Vance is tearing people apart. And the last thing this country needs right now are more people igniting the worst dimensions of human nature.”

Ryan’s internal polling also shows him making inroads with independents: It showed him up 20 points with those voters. According to the poll, Vance also has 85 percent name identification and a 50 percent unfavorable rating after a bruising and expensive Republican primary. Ryan, who enjoyed a smoother ride to his party’s nomination, finds himself with 80 percent name ID and a 36 percent unfavorable rating).

But Republicans on the ground in Ohio and national operatives in DC say they’re confident the liberal congressman will fall off dramatically as Vance hits the air with positive spots and, especially as Ryan begins to face attack ads in the Republican-leaning state

A person familiar with One Nation’s decision to buy ad time in Ohio said “the cash disparity between the two candidates is a concern,” but they’re expecting a Vance win “if he makes up that gap even somewhat.”

Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC that supported Vance in the primary with $15 million from Thiel, will also spend on Vance’s behalf again during the general election, according to a person familiar with the group’s plan. Thiel hasn’t yet said whether he’ll cut another check, but the super PAC has added new donors and intends to spend seven figures on Vance this fall.

“In terms of what’s coming ahead, I believe he’s probably at his high-water mark now,” said Tony Schroeder, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party, referring to Ryan. “Frankly we’re in a period where people aren’t paying a whole heck of a lot of attention. When the engagement comes around, there’s not going to be anything that’s going to help Tim Ryan.”

Vance has left the campaign trail in Ohio multiple times this summer, including trips to Conservative Political Action Conference events. But besides addressing crowds of activists, the trips have also served as fundraising opportunities. On Friday, before speaking in Dallas at CPAC Texas, Vance headlined the organization’s donor breakfast. He also held one-on-one meetings in the donor-heavy city, as he did when he traveled to Tel Aviv last month for CPAC Israel.

“A lot of this is midsummer bedwetting, to be frank,” said a person close to the campaign, noting how unpopular President Joe Biden remains in Ohio and how closely Republican ads will seek to tie Ryan to the president.

During his speech Friday, Vance urged those in the audience to sign up to make calls and knock doors for his campaign, criticizing Ryan as a “weak, fake congressman.” His comments from him signaled there is still a fight ahead to win voters dissented with Democrats, “whether they are conservatives, whether they vote Republican every time — the people who just want a good life in the country that their grandparents and great-grandparents built .”

A campaign spokesperson said Vance was unavailable for an interview Friday while at CPAC Texas.

Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick said he met Vance for the first time last month when Vance was traveling the state and visiting individually with law enforcement leaders. Levorchick took office in 2011 as a Democrat, but changed his voter registration last year to Republican. An Obama-Trump county, Ottawa broke from its longtime bellwether status in 2020 to support Trump for a second term.

Levorchick said as of now, he plans to cast his vote this fall for Vance, suggesting there is mistrust for Ryan in some law enforcement circles.

“Is he further right than some people may want? Could be,” Levorchick said of Vance. “But when you only have two candidates to pick from, you have to weigh who’s actually better suited to represent you.”