“Tropical Storm Eta floods streets in Florida; schools in 12 counties closed Monday” via The Weather Channel — The system was expected to make its closest approach to the southern end of the state on Sunday night, possibly as a hurricane, producing flooding rain, storm surge, strong winds and high surf, according to weather.com meteorologists. But parts of the state were already experiencing the impacts of the storm Sunday afternoon and evening. On Sunday night, rescuers were searching for passengers of a car that drove into a canal in the city of Lauderhill after the driver couldn’t distinguish the parking lot from the canal because of floodwaters, according to WTVJ reported. Lauderhill Fire Rescue personnel rescued the driver, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to the fire department. The National Weather Service office in Melbourne said sustained winds of 48 mph with gusts to 60 mph were being measured as in showers as they moved onshore to Martin and St. Lucie counties. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for eight South Florida counties: Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach.

Latest look at the radar.

Latest look at the models.

Here are the computer models.

Here is a video update.

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With the election behind us, the staff of Florida Politics is now at work on the next edition of INFLUENCE Magazine, slated to debut in early January.

This edition will feature our list of the “30 under 30” Rising Stars of Florida Politics. Your suggestions for the next generation of top operatives, lobbyists, staffers and politicians are welcomed. Please email your nominations to Peter@Floridapolitics.com.

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Congratulations to Florida Times-Union columnist Nate Monroe — recently featured as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Florida politics — on his engagement to Erin Kourkounis.

Congratulations to Nate Monroe and Erin Kourkounis on their engagement. Image via Twitter.

Tweet, tweet:

—@JebBush: Congratulations to President-elect [Joe] Biden. I have prayed for our President most of my adult life. I will be praying for you and your success. Now is the time to heal deep wounds. Many are counting on you to lead the way.

—@MittRomney: Ann and I extend our congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We know both of them as people of goodwill and admirable character. We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead.

—@RepRooney: Congratulations to Pres-elect Biden on a successful campaign. All Americans need to come together to support Pres-elect Biden. Our nation will only be successful if the new admin is. We must work together to enact bipartisan legislation & solve the problems our country faces

—@DonaldJTrumpJr: 70 million pissed off republicans and not one city burned to the ground.

—@EWErickson: Trump is gonna cost the GOP the Senate. His supporters are internalizing that the election in Georgia was stolen, so why bother even trying.

—@FrankLuntz: COVID cost [Donald] Trump the presidency, but it wasn’t inevitable. The White House could’ve used COVID as an opportunity to unite a nation in crisis and address the pandemic with the urgency it needed. Instead, they repeatedly played it down. Americans disagreed with that assessment.

—@Nate_Cohn: I see no effect of 11/4 coronavirus cases on either turnout or vote, controlling for standard demogs, in county-level data (could change w more results). My pre-election prior was COVID cases would help Biden; my postelection hunch was it might have hurt him (WI)

—@ProjectLincoln: The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 11:26 a.m. local, November 7, 2020.

—@JasonIsbell: America just got dropped off at rehab

—@MJS_DC: At what point will it stop feel shocking and noteworthy that the President is speaking coherently?

—@Scott_Maxwell: Imagine having an education secretary who actually cares about public education again.

—@JimVandehei: Americans (Trump, Biden, other supporters) should be proud. A record number voted peacefully in a pandemic. Some Rs and Ds surprised us: Hispanics for Trump; rural whites for Biden. State officials rose to the moment. The system worked. Be humbled, thankful

—@JimRosicaFL: Now that the AP has called the presidency for @JoeBiden, the next question is: … Who’s heading the effort to negotiate a new Seminole Compact next year?

Donald Trump vows to keep fighting, despite an electoral loss. Image via AP.

“Grief, relief, and jubilation: How Joe Biden’s team survived a wild five days” via Natasha Korecki, Marc Caputo and Christopher Cadelago of POLITICO — In the hours and days after Election Day, top advisers and Biden himself were glued to the TV as messages flew across an internal group chat. They knew what the returns were showing, who voted from where and which votes were remaining. On Friday, when Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania and Georgia, several aides said they had never felt such jubilation. Nevada was also clearly headed in Biden’s favor. And yet again, all day, there would be no call. The underlying concern, several people in and around the campaign said, was that each day that passed was another in which Trump would push misinformation in an attempt to discredit the results of the election.

“Kamala Harris invoked joy. Biden asked for reconciliation. Can they get both?” via Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post — “Protecting our democracy takes struggle. It takes sacrifice. But there is joy in it,” Vice President-elect Harris said as she took the stage for the first time since she and President-elect Biden were named the victors in the hard-fought 2020 election. That sentence was the perfect summary of the task that lies before the incoming administration. Biden and Harris must rally an exhausted nation to combat the rising coronavirus pandemic and make real the decency the candidates promised but cannot deliver alone. For one night, at least, they managed to balance solemnity and joy perfectly, and to weave those impulses into a call to action.

“Media captures energy and joy of celebrations in the streets at news of Biden becoming President-elect” via David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun — Watching TV and listening to the radio Saturday morning in the wake of the news that Biden had been declared President-elect after days of counting and waiting was like waking from a fever dream. Since the vote on Tuesday, you could turn on cable TV any time of day or night and see a full team of anchors and analysts on camera with the big blue and red maps front and center and the headline “Too Close to Call.” It was easy to lose track of time. But Saturday morning, when the news on Biden’s victory was announced, you could feel the fever breaking and a new energy burning through the airwaves.

“George W. Bush congratulates Biden on his victory” via Peter Baker of The New York Times — Bush congratulated President-elect Biden on Sunday, becoming the highest-profile Republican to publicly declare the election over in defiance of Trump’s refusal to accept the results. “I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night,” Bush said in a statement released after he spoke with Biden by telephone. “I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency. Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.”

—“Jeb Bush congratulates President-elect Biden” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics

“The hymn Biden quoted during his speech was a nod to his faith and his son Beau Biden.” via Jenny Gross of The New York Times — President-elect Biden closed his Saturday night acceptance speech with a poignant quote from a hymn, “On Eagle’s Wings,” that was composed more than three decades ago by a Catholic priest in memory of his friend’s father. Biden, a weekly churchgoer who often keeps a rosary on hand, said the hymn was dear to his family, especially to his deceased son Beau Biden, and that he hoped it would provide solace to the more than 230,000 families in the United States who had lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. “It captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America,” he said.

Joe Biden quoted a hymn in tribute to his late son, Beau. Image via AP.

“How ‘Obamagate’ and Hunter Biden’s ‘laptop from hell’ fizzled” via Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio of POLITICO — Trump’s eleventh-hour efforts to impart a stain of criminality onto President-elect Biden through a series of vague, circuitous and often false allegations, did little but inflame his committed supporters. And the monthslong investigations by his Republican allies in the Senate failed to gain traction outside of the Trumpworld echo chamber as Trump hurtled toward an Election Day defeat. Now, Trump is facing his own mounting scandals that are likely to dog him post-presidency. In the end, Biden held on to every state Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and added at least four others: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona. He is leading in too-close-to-call Georgia, as well.

“How Trump’s erratic behavior and failure on coronavirus doomed his reelection” via Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Matt Viser and Michael Scherer of The Washington Post — The story of Biden’s victory is as much the story of Trump’s defeat — a devastating coda for a leader who has long feared weakness and losing above almost all else, but who became the first one-term President in nearly 30 years. Trump was the most unpopular President of modern times: Divisive and alienating, he rarely sought to reach out to the middle, and most Americans strongly opposed his erratic behavior and harder-edged policies. But the President finally lost, aides and allies said, because of how he mismanaged the virus. He lost, they said, over the summer, when the virus didn’t go away as he promised; when racial unrest roiled the nation in the wake of George Floyd’s death and protesters ran rampant through the streets.

“‘This f—ing virus’: Inside Trump’s 2020 undoing” via Natasha Korecki, Alex Isenstadt, Anita Kumar, Gabby Orr, Christopher Cadelago and Marc Caputo of POLITICO — Brad Parscale was on the phone with Trump and top White House officials in mid-February when someone on the line asked the campaign manager what worried him the most. Parscale had just told the President how good his internal poll numbers looked. But now he had an urgent message: The coronavirus could cost him reelection. Trump was perplexed. The economy was strong. The President had built an enormous political infrastructure and was raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. That month, Trump’s campaign conducted a $1.1 million polling project showing him leading prospective Democratic challengers even in blue states. “Sir, regardless, this is coming. It’s the only thing that could take down your presidency,” Parscale said.

“The election that broke the Republican Party” via Tim Alberta of POLITICO — Never has the unprecedented been so utterly predictable. At the conclusion of a campaign that exceeded their expectations in almost every sense — picking up House seats, thwarting an outright Democratic takeover of the Senate, running competitively in every presidential battleground state — Republicans could have walked away from 2020 with some dignity intact. They could have conceded defeat to Biden, celebrated their hard-fought successes elsewhere, and braced for the battles ahead. But that was never going to happen. This is Trump’s party — at least, for another 76 days — and no Republican who hopes to remain relevant after he’s gone was going to deny him the bloody farewell he’s been building toward.

“Donald Trump lost, but Trumpism did not” via The Associated Press — Trump lost. But Trumpism did not. It won in the parts of the country and with the voters whom Trump catered to over four years, constantly jabbing the hard edges of almost every contentious cultural issue into Red America, on the bet that fear and anger were a winning hand. It almost was. Biden defeated Trump to win the presidency and is on pace to win up to 306 electoral votes, a total that would match what Trump exaggerated as a “landslide” four years ago. In a typical election year, such a victory would mean Biden would have carried other Democrats along with him. Instead, several promising Democratic Senate and House candidates, including incumbents, lost.

Shot — “Biden won — pretty convincingly in the end” via Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight — Biden’s win was on the tighter side of the likely range of outcomes polls suggested. Still, it was a thoroughly convincing one judged on its own merits. It’s not a landslide, by any means, but this is a map that almost any Democrat would have been thrilled about if you’d shown it to them a year ago. Biden looks to have reclaimed the three “blue wall” states — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — that were central to Clinton’s loss. He may also win Arizona and, in the opposite corner of the country, Georgia. He also ran far ahead of Clinton in rural northern states such as Maine, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

Chaser — “Why the election wasn’t a Biden landslide” via Annie Lowre of The Atlantic — Why didn’t the pandemic recession precipitate a landslide for Biden? That is a central mystery stemming from a narrow, if decisive, loss for Trump. Even though the unemployment rate is more than double what it was a year ago, even though 1 million Americans a week are applying for jobless aid, even though Congress has failed for six months to pass desperately needed additional stimulus, even though Trump has the worst job-creation record of any President going back to World War II, voters gave the incumbent decent marks on the economy up to Election Day, and he expanded his 2016 vote count by at least 5.7 million.

Joe Biden may have won, but it was not the landslide some people expected. Image via AP

“In Pennsylvania, small shifts in small places added up to a big difference for Biden” via Griff Witte of The Washington Post — It wasn’t Pennsylvania’s major urban centers that set the result in 2020 apart from the outcome in 2016, when the state delivered perhaps the cruelest cut of all to Democratic dreams. It was Erie County and other places like it, where relatively minor shifts across a wide swath of small, industrial cities, growing suburbs and sprawling exurbs added up, and made all the difference. “When this is over, the map in Pennsylvania is going to look almost identical to the one in 2016,” said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. “So what’s different? Not all that much, except on the margins.”

“How wrong were Florida polls on Trump and Biden?” via Langston Taylor of the Tampa Bay Times — When the results of the state’s presidential election came Tuesday night, Trump had beaten not just Biden, not just his own 2016 performance, but also his standing in every major poll taken before Tuesday’s contest. Of the 18 pollsters whose final surveys the Tampa Bay Times collected, none showed Trump ahead by more than two points, and most showed him trailing by multiple points. Still, applying the full margin of error to each candidate would make the average range stretch from a 9-point Trump loss to a 5-point win.

“Rick Scott stands by Trump’s efforts to find votes in battleground states” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Sen. Scott declined to recognize every national media outlet calling the Presidential election for Biden. “The voters get to decide who the President is,” Scott tweeted. “This is a close race, and Donald Trump will and should use every avenue at his disposal to make sure every legal vote is counted.” Trump reportedly has no intention to concede to Biden, and tweeted on Saturday, “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” Decision desks for The Associated Press and every major national news outlet projected Biden as the winner of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes on Saturday. By all counts, that’s enough to put Biden over 270 electoral votes and deny President Trump a second term.

—“‘Stop the steal’: Trump supporters rally outside the Florida Capitol Building” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics

“I counted votes in Michigan. There’s no way to commit fraud.” via Evelyn Smith of The Washington Post — I spent Election Day in a high school cafeteria, helping to count absentee ballots in Ann Arbor, Michigan The next day, I saw the theory proliferating online that ballots had “magically” surfaced in Michigan. Those claims are totally detached from reality, from the painstaking, tedious accounting process for and tabulating every ballot. The count involves so many steps, so many layers of double-checking and supervision, that it would be virtually impossible to fake even a single ballot. It’s dangerous to suggest that anyone could fake enough ballots to change the result. From my experience, it’s also totally absurd.

“Trump supporters in Cocoa Beach call to ‘stop the steal’” via Tyler Vazquez of Florida Today — Even as Democrat Biden accumulated enough votes to win the presidency Saturday, supporters of Trump gathered in Cocoa Beach for a “stop the steal” rally. Around 100 people waving flags and holding signs gathered at State Roads 520 and A1A showed dissatisfaction with the election results, which some described as illegitimate. Trump and his campaign staff have been calling the election results illegitimate and saying many votes were cast and counted for Biden illegally. They have not presented any evidence of large-scale voter fraud.

“Sole Republican on Palm Beach County Commission: Presidential race isn’t over” via Hannah Morse of The Palm Beach Post — As Democrats across the country erupted in jubilation at Biden’s projected election to the presidency, Hal Valeche, the sole Republican Palm Beach County commissioner in Trump’s home county, said the race is not over yet. “I have heard some very disturbing things over the last few days and I think the President is going to use every potential legal resource to make sure that we get a fair count,” Valeche said. Specifically, Valeche pointed to what he viewed as troubling discrepancies in battleground states, mirroring talking points and lawsuits from the Trump campaign.

“Minorities in Palm Beach County look for big changes under Biden presidency” via John Pacenti of The Palm Beach Post — For Father Frank O’Loughlin, the first thoughts of a Biden presidency were the eventual release of immigrant children from cages. “We reclaimed our souls,” said the director of the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth Beach about Biden winning the presidency. Under Trump, federal authorities separated children and infants from parents and guardians who had entered the United States illegally or were seeking asylum. The children have been kept in detention for the past three years while the Trump administration lost track or deported parents of 545 minors.

“Miamians bang pots, dance downtown to celebrate Biden’s victory. But not everyone’s happy” via Jacqueline Charles, Jimena Tavel, Alex Daugherty and Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald — Biden was projected to win the presidential election Saturday morning and joy spilled into the streets in many major U.S. cities. It did not take long for Miamians to hoot and holler from their balconies in Brickell, to shake their hips on Biscayne Boulevard as they banged wooden spoons on cazuelas, and to lay on their car horns as they greeted revelers cheering the news. Hispanic, Black and white people turned out for the victory party. About 13 miles west in Miami-Dade’s suburbs, a somewhat different mood took hold. A few hundred Trump supporters gathered outside La Carreta restaurant in Olympia Heights to extol the incumbent, praise Trump’s victory in Florida and protest what they consider electoral fraud.

“Black leaders greet Biden win, pledge to push for equality” via The Associated Press — Biden’s victory was celebrated by civil rights activists and Black leaders who warned that a tough road lies ahead to address America’s persistent inequalities and the racial division that Trump fueled during his presidency. Biden will take office in January as the nation confronts a series of crises that have taken a disproportionate toll on Black Americans and people of color, including the pandemic and resulting job losses. Black voters powered Biden’s successful campaign, particularly in critical states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Nine in 10 Black voters nationwide supported him. While Biden enjoyed strong support from Black voters, there was also frustration about the pressure placed on their communities to deliver a victory.

Black voters powered Joe Biden’s successful campaign, particularly in critical states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Image via AP.

“Biden’s youngest brother describes emotional call with family: ‘This is Beau’s moment’” via Antonio Fins, Christine Stapleton, Wendy Rhodes of The Palm Beach Post — The President-elect’s youngest brother said Saturday that the large, extended Biden family was on a call when they learned Biden had won the presidential race. Frank Biden recalled the moment his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, broke the news. “You could hear a pin drop.” But the younger Biden sibling, a Palm Beach County resident, said the family’s initial reaction was not about politics. Instead, they thought of Biden’s late son, Beau Biden, who made his father promise that he would remain in public life before he died of brain cancer.

“‘Welcome back’: America’s allies celebrate Biden win, hope for a U.S. return to global cooperation” via Paul Schemm and Adam Taylor of The Washington Post — Messages of congratulations for President-elect Biden rolled in from around the world on Sunday as allies and adversaries of the United States accepted that the country would have a new leader despite the lack of any sign from Trump that he planned to concede the election. The messages to Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on Sunday followed victory speeches Saturday night in which the Democrats emphasized a more inclusive and less combative approach to U.S. leadership. U.S. allies stressed the need to rebuild ties and multilateral cooperation after Trump’s “America First” approach upended decades of U.S. foreign policy. For traditional allies who endured sharp criticism, unpredictable behavior and new tariffs under Trump, Biden’s election offered a return to normalcy.

“The Irish home of Biden’s great-great-great-grandfather cheers his victory.” via Ed O’Loughlin of The New York Times — When the election was called for Biden on Saturday afternoon, the town of Ballina was ready to celebrate. Pride in the President-elect, considered a native son of this charming town on Ireland’s west coast, albeit five generations removed, runs strong here. The first champagne cork was popped by Biden’s distant cousins in the town’s Market Square, watched by a few hundred delighted townspeople, two hours before CNN made the call. Someone drove up in a cherry red ’57 Buick Electra coupe with Elvis cushions in the back window. Biden’s great-great-great-grandfather Edward Blewitt was born in Ballina and emigrated to Scranton, Pennsylvania, just after the great Irish famine of 1845 to 1849, according to historians.

Donald Trump spent months undermining the electoral process, which fosters distrust among his base voters. Image via AP.

“Trump’s bid to discredit election raises fear that he will undermine a smooth transfer of power” via David Nakamura of The Washington Post — Trump’s bid to discredit the integrity of the U.S. election results and use legal action to block the completion of vote tallies in some states has raised fears, even among his own aides, that he will refuse to concede and seek to undermine a potential transfer of power after Biden’s victory Saturday. Trump associates have said privately that the President is unlikely to formally concede the race under any circumstances in the traditional manner of a concession speech and a phone call to Biden. Experts warned that Trump could work to scuttle cooperation with Biden’s team in ensuring a smooth turnover of the management of the federal government on Inauguration Day come Jan. 20.

“How to build a government: Transition challenges await Biden” via Will Weissert, Zeke Miller, Alexandra Jaffe and Aamer Madhani of The Associated Press — Biden just won the presidency. That may turn out to be the easy part. The President-elect already was braced to deal with the worst health crisis the nation has seen in more than a century, and the economic havoc it has wreaked. Now, he has to build a government while contending with a Senate that could stay in GOP hands, a House sure to feature fewer Democratic allies, and a public that includes more than 70 million people who would prefer that Trump keep the job. There also is the looming question of whether Trump, who has claimed the election was being stolen from him, will cooperate. Traditionally, the transition process relies on the outgoing administration working closely with the incoming one.

“Biden is poised to roll back Trump’s policies with blitz of executive actions.” via Michael D. Shear and Lisa Friedman of The New York Times — President-elect Biden is poised to unleash a series of executive actions on his first day in the Oval Office, prompting what is likely to be a yearslong effort to unwind Trump’s domestic agenda and immediately signal a wholesale shift in the United States’ place in the world. In the first hours after he takes the oath of office on the West Front of the Capitol at noon on Jan. 20, Biden has said he will send a letter to the United Nations indicating that the country will rejoin the global effort to combat climate change, reversing Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord with more than 174 countries. Biden’s afternoon will be a busy one.

“Raising taxes on the rich is an easy campaign slogan, but Congress won’t make it easy” via Brian Faler of POLITICO — Democrats have rallied around raising taxes on the rich — though that will likely be easier said than done, even if they manage also to win control of the Senate. The economy will surely still be on the mend, which could give some lawmakers second thoughts about raising taxes — at least immediately. What’s more, some of the ideas Democrats are proposing would be new and complicated, and lawmakers will have to decide if they want to delve into the complexities of things like “mark to market” taxation — an annual tax on unrealized capital gains — that would bring lobbyists out in droves.

“Don’t expect a quick end to Trump’s trade wars” via Gavin Bade and Eleanor Mueller of POLITICO — Biden will face enormous pressure from industry and allies to pull back Trump’s trade wars and ditch his tariffs. But unraveling many of those Trump policies may have to wait. Though the former Vice President said he would immediately reengage allies to combat China, the campaign said that any new trade deals would be considered only after investments in infrastructure and a coronavirus stimulus package. It’s an approach that has buy-in from Democratic trade leaders in Congress, with Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, head of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, saying there’s no need to pretend a new trade deal will be “part of a 100-day agenda.”

“Biden will stop the border wall and loosen immigration again” via Rebecca Rainey and Bryan Bender of POLITICO — The most dramatic reversal in the Biden administration versus the Trump administration will come on Trump’s signature campaign issue from 2016: the border wall. Biden has pledged to put a swift halt to border wall construction and loosen immigration restrictions imposed by Trump. “There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration, No. 1,” Biden told National Public Radio earlier this year. “I’m going to make sure that we have border protection, but it’s going to be based on making sure that we use high-tech capacity to deal with it.”

“A Biden victory positions America for a 180-degree turn on climate change” via Juliet Eilperin, Dino Grandoni and Darryl Fears of The Washington Post — Biden will move to restore dozens of environmental safeguards Trump abolished and launch the boldest climate change plan of any President in history. While some of Biden’s most sweeping programs will encounter stiff resistance from Senate Republicans and conservative attorneys general, the United States is poised to make a 180-degree turn on climate change and conservation policy. Biden’s team already has plans on how it will restrict oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters; ratchet up federal mileage standards for cars and SUVs; block pipelines that transport fossil fuels across the country; provide federal incentives to develop renewable power; and mobilize other nations to make deeper cuts in their own carbon emissions.

“Scientists are relieved about a Biden presidency. They say the real work can start now.” via Stephanie M. Lee, Zahra Hirji, Dan Vergano, Peter Aldhous and Azeen Ghorayshi of BuzzFeed News — For scientists who have watched in horror as Trump relentlessly insulted, undermined, and ignored science, while more than 236,000 Americans died during a historic pandemic, Biden’s victory on Saturday was a long-awaited cause for celebration. “It feels very much like the four-year war on science has come to an end,” Jacquelyn Gill, an ecologist at the University of Maine, said. Even though Biden received a historic number of votes to clinch the presidency, scientists said that the widespread show of support for Trump shows how much work remains to be done.

“What Biden’s victory means for tech” via Christopher Stern of The Information — Even before Biden secured victory in the presidential election, his staff was reaching out to tech industry advocates and executives, seeking their input on how his administration should reshape internet and telecommunications policies, said a person involved in the conversations and another who was briefed about them. The Biden campaign’s outreach marks a significant reversal from the past four years, as the Trump administration often sought photo opportunities with industry executives while ignoring their input on key issues such as trade and immigration policies. After several days of uncertainty as votes were counted in cliffhanger states, the Biden victory provided a collective sense of relief to employees throughout the tech industry, who overwhelmingly supported the Democratic candidate.

“‘Our industry knows Biden really well’: Defense contractors unconcerned as Biden clinches victory” via Aaron Greg of The Washington Post — The defense industry is taking a largely positive view of its prospects under an administration led by Biden, who clinched the presidency on Saturday. Although defense manufacturers have benefited from increased spending, tax cuts and deregulation under Trump, their executives have told investors that they expect the former Vice President and longtime Senator will largely maintain the status quo concerning defense spending. Compared with others who sought the Democratic nomination, notably Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Biden is a known quantity.

“After Trump’s dramatic tilt toward Israel, Biden likely to restore traditional approach” via Steve Hendrix of The Washington Post — Israelis began coming to grips Saturday with the defeat of Trump, who enjoys widespread support here and whose presidency is seen by many as the friendliest to Israel in history. Biden will inherit a Middle East policy that has tilted dramatically toward Israel in the past four years, with the United States moving its embassy to Jerusalem, suspending aid to Palestinians, declaring legal support for Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and backing out of the Iran nuclear deal. Biden could bring U.S. policy back in line with Democratic orthodoxy, for instance, by championing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and opposing the expansion of West Bank settlements. But analysts say he is unlikely to insist on undoing all of Trump’s initiatives.

“Former Wall Street cop Gary Gensler to join Biden transition” via Zachary Warmbrodt of POLITICO — Gensler, a former Obama administration official best known for cracking down on Wall Street banks, will join Biden’s presidential transition team and lead its review of financial regulatory agencies, people familiar with the matter said. Gensler’s involvement will likely calm the nerves of progressives who want Biden to take a hard line with the finance industry. The former Goldman Sachs partner faced off with the banking industry as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2009 to 2014, guiding the agency as it imposed new rules on Wall Street trading after the 2008 financial crisis. Gensler’s work on the transition is expected to focus on agencies including the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC.

Former Wall Street cop Gary Gensler is joining the Joe Biden transition team. Image via AP.

“Will Biden tap Jared Moskowitz to lead FEMA?“ via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — A new President means new job openings in Washington. With Biden the apparent winner of the Presidential election, speculation has already begun who might become part of the administration. Even before the election, many wondered if a job could be waiting for Moskowitz. The most high-profile Democrat in DeSantis’ administration, Florida’s Division of Emergency Management Director, has enjoyed a rarefied level of bipartisan respect in Tallahassee. Leading the state through multiple hurricanes and the logistic response to the pandemic, he’s drawn few criticisms. In particular, he’s shown adeptness at cutting through FEMA red tape to deliver reimbursements to local governments. Could he end up playing a similar support role for a President from his own party on a national stage?

“The destructive power of a lame-duck President” via Oliver Staley of Quartz — In nature, a lame duck is a weakling, a bird that can’t keep up with the flock and is easy pickings for predators. In politics, a lame-duck President is a lot more vigorous. The term, coined in the 18th century to describe stock market victims and applied to outgoing politicians in the 19th, feels particularly inaccurate today. A U.S. President’s power is substantial, particularly when concerns about repercussions or legacy don’t check it. It remains to be seen how graceful an exit Trump chooses to make, but he’ll have ample opportunity to create a mess on his way out should he so desire.

The 2020 election exposes just how deep is the divisions are between red and blue America.

“How Trump’s Florida victory could influence future Republican campaigns.” via Annie Karni and Patricia Mazzei of The New York Times — The map of battleground states emerging after Election Day did not look good for Trump, with one big, red, exception: Florida, which he won by 3.4 percentage points. On Friday, Susie Wiles, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign who is based in Jacksonville, outlined in a three-page memo how the campaign’s Florida strategy of reaching out to a broad swath of voters needed to serve as a model for other battlegrounds if the G.O.P. wanted to form a consistent, winning coalition. It also offered a preview of how Republicans will seek to replicate the Florida victory in that state’s midterm elections in 2022 and 2024 when at least three local politicians.

“Democrats lose ground with Latino voters in Florida and Texas, underscoring outreach missteps” via Jose A. Del Real and Arelis R. Hernández of The Washington Post — The nuanced and sometimes dissonant political preferences shown by Latino voters in the 2020 presidential election have sparked bewilderment and soul-searching among Democrats as the party lost significant ground with Latinos in Florida and Texas over the past four years. The preliminary results underscored the extent to which the broad range of Latino communities, from Cuban Americans in South Florida to Mexican Americans in Arizona, has been often taken for granted and misunderstood by the Democratic political establishment. In Florida, nearly half of Latino voters cast ballots for Trump, according to network exit polling.

“‘People believe it.’ Republicans’ drumbeat of socialism helped win voters in Miami” via Andres Viglucci, David Smiley, Lautaro Grinspan and Antonio Maria Delgado of the Miami Herald — Two nights before the Nov. 3 election, Rubio stood before thousands of Trump’s supporters and said something he had to know was untrue: “Not all Democrats are socialists. But all socialists are Democrats.” In a state where 1,157 voters are registered to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Rubio’s statement was false. But in Miami, it was too effective not to keep repeating. Republicans’ use of “socialism” rhetoric to browbeat Democrats has been persistent and widespread. But it has been most effective in Miami-Dade County, where exaggerated fears of Democrats ushering in a leftist dictatorship have shifted the political landscape in Florida to the right and left neighbors and families deeply at odds.

“Black turnout, Hispanic shift and white support for Trump in Broward could signal trouble ahead for Democrats” via Anthony Man and Aric Chokey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Black voters in Broward were overwhelmingly supportive of Biden. Hispanic voters’ support for the Democratic nominee eroded. And white voters preferred Trump. The net result was a massive number of votes for Biden, 284,729 more in the deep Democratic blue county than Trump. Although much of 2020′s voting may have been unique to the Trump era, an examination of countywide results and numbers from the 75 precincts containing the highest percentages of Black, Hispanic and white voters, some warning signs emerged for Democrats’ hopes of winning statewide races for Governor and U.S. Senate in 2022 and beyond.

“Charlie Crist thanks constituents with postelection ad buy” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — Crist released an ad thanking constituents for reelection following his victory against Republican challenger Anna Paulina Luna. Crist’s 30-second ad will be broadcast from Nov. 7 through Nov. 13, according to Delta Advertising Analytics. “I know what you’re thinking — the election’s over, so why is Charlie Crist still on my TV. Well, because my mother always taught us to always say please and thank you.” The ad consists of Crist directly speaking to constituents, reassuring them that they will get through COVID-19. “Thank you for voting, even when it wasn’t for me,” Crist says. “At a time when COVID cases are up but our economy is down, I know that by working together, we’ll get through it together.”

To watch the ad, click on the image:

“The man with the plan: Chris Sprowls led GOP surge with out-of-the-box thinking” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — Republicans might be cringing watching the slow crawl presidential results come through in other parts of the nation, but in Florida, there is much for the GOP to celebrate. Aside from Trump’s commanding more than 3 percentage point victory in the state Tuesday night, down-ballot Republicans cleaned up in Florida House races. They might have one man, in particular, to thank: Speaker Designate Sprowls. Republicans netted five seats Tuesday night, growing their majority in the House from 73-47 to 78-42, just outside the supermajority threshold.

“Faced with an onslaught of outside cash, Vance Aloupis outshines 2018 success” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — After winning the House District 115 seat by just 1 point in 2018, Aloupis was forced this year to stare down $1.7 million in a late-cycle ad blitz on behalf of his Democratic opponent. He walked away with a 14-point win Tuesday night. “It only makes you stronger,” Aloupis said. That taxing win over Democrat Franccesca Cesti-Browne has Aloupis ready to unwind the way many winners do: he’s going to Disney World in the coming weeks, with his family by his side. One reality is that Republicans writ-large cleaned up Tuesday night inside Miami-Dade County, and a rising Republican tide lifts all boats, which helped Aloupis’ chances.

“Did mysterious independent candidates swing Florida House, Senate races to Republicans?” via Annie Martin and Ryan Gillespie of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Independent candidates with clear ties to GOP donors and operatives whose names appeared on ballots in two competitive Florida Legislature races received enough votes to swing the outcome of those contests, possibly costing Democrats those seats. That was the case in the tight contest between Republican Fred Hawkins and Democrat Barbara Cady to represent Florida House District 42, which includes parts of Osceola and Polk counties. Hawkins won by fewer than 1,200 votes while NPA candidate Leroy Sanchez received 7,460.

“Jennifer Brahier wins recount by just 3 votes in Pensacola City Council race against incumbent P.C. Wu” via Madison Arnold of the Pensacola News Journal — Brahier, the newcomer challenging longtime Pensacola City Council member Wu, won Saturday’s recount by just three votes in the race for the District 1 seat, though outstanding military votes could still sway the final decision. Brahier was on top after the general election Tuesday by just five votes, and the close margin of victory triggered the automatic recount Saturday, which took 11 and a half hours to complete. The final vote count Saturday was 2,344 votes to 2,341. “I’m thinking it’s an amazing thing to be in the closest content. When we got into this, we were told we can’t beat an incumbent. What are you trying to do?” Brahier said Saturday night after the recount concluded.

“A recount in the Keys didn’t change Tuesday’s upset in County Commission race” via Gwen Filosa of the Miami Herald — The recount in the Monroe County Commissioner District 3 race, just like Tuesday night’s results, came out in favor of the Republican challenger Eddie Martinez over Democrat incumbent Heather Carruthers. The percentages didn’t change. The recount came out to 50.15% for Martinez and 49.85% for Carruthers, said Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Joyce Griffin, who announced Saturday night results. In fact, Carruthers lost one vote in the recount as Martinez won the office by 142 votes. That slim margin triggered a mandatory machine recount. That meant more than 46,000 ballots were fed into the machines at the Supervisor of Elections office in Key West. The recount began Thursday morning.

“Voters approve $15 minimum wage. What does it mean?” via Alexandra Clough of The Palm Beach Post — For the past year, the owners of the Fleet Feet athletic shoe store in Delray Beach have been on a mission. Their goal was not to open another store or hit a particular revenue target but rather to increase their seven employees’ hourly wages. “Our core philosophy as a brand is we put people first,” co-owner Kyle Stump said. “Part of that is paying people and taking care of them.” With Fleet Feet’s seven workers already making at least $14 an hour, Stump said he supported a constitutional amendment passed Tuesday by Florida voters that would make $15 the state’s minimum hourly wage. Stump isn’t alone in supporting higher wagers for hourly workers. Tuesday’s election saw Florida voters approve the measure by 60.8%, squeaking past the 60% required for an amendment to the state’s constitution.

“Local election results again roil Hillsborough GOP” via William March of the Tampa Bay Times — Despite lots of good news for Republicans in Tuesday’s election, failures in local Hillsborough races have set off another round of recriminations in the local Republican Party, including renewed calls for Chairman Jim Waurishuk to resign. But if Waurishuk chooses to run for chairman again, it’s unclear whether any local Republican could mount a challenge, in part because of complex party rules about who is eligible to run and vote. Republicans won convincingly in congressional and legislative races in Hillsborough, with minority access districts among the few exceptions. Trump lost the county, but by a margin of only 7 points, despite a substantial increase in the Democrats’ voter registration since Clinton’s 6-point 2016 win.

“Max Goodman delivers for campaigns on the Gulf Coast” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Ask Goodman about Tuesday’s election results, and he immediately begins talking up his clients. He managed Rep. Vern Buchanan’s successful reelection campaign but credited a larger-than-expected margin of victory to the Congressman’s record. Fiona McFarland flipped a House seat red weeks after polls showed her losing but said that was only because of the candidate’s personal sweat equity. “It was a thrilling night,” Goodman said of the Tuesday results. “But like any good coach would say, it’s about the team and the players.” Still, Southwest Florida’s political class took notice of Goodman’s victories.

“‘Retire Rubio’ effort launched to oust Marco Rubio in 2022” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — Democratic strategists wasted no time eyeing their next prize after Biden was declared President-elect Saturday morning. Democratic strategist Ben Pollara launched the Retire Rubio website, Super PAC, and a revived Twitter account, which seeks to remove U.S. Sen. Rubio from office when he is up for reelection in 2022. Pollara describes the campaign as an effort “to singularly focus on defeating this weak, sad, disappointing and absent Senator in 2022.” The group’s first ad, titled “Little Marco,” features Trump himself questioning Rubio’s electability and former Florida Gov. Bush, also a previous presidential contender, skewering Rubio’s absences in the Senate.

To watch the ad, click on the image below:

“‘You will be caught’: Lincoln Project fires warning shot at Ron DeSantis on Election Day” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics — The Lincoln Project on Tuesday delivered a stern message to DeSantis and Florida Republicans. “If you help Trump’s losing campaign cheat to win, you will be caught.” The political action committee fired the political warning shot via a 70-second digital ad. In it, they accuse Trump‘s “desperate campaign” of cheating in the election. They claim the Trump campaign has ignored military votes, intimidated voters, closed polling places and thrown out mail-in ballots. “This new ad makes clear that DeSantis will face consequences for attempting to help the President steal this election,” said Lincoln Project Co-Founder Reed Galen.

“Florida Democrats are in a fighting mood — among themselves” via Steve Bousquet of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — When Rep. Anna Eskamani of Orlando returns to the state Capitol this month to start her second term, something will be missing: Five fellow Democrats. Riding Trump’s coattails, the GOP also won two open Senate seats and could win a third, pending a recount of Miami ballots. Republicans finished painting the town red by picking off two Democratic members of Congress in Miami-Dade. Now, in the aftermath of their latest drubbing, Democrats blame themselves, with some demanding a party housecleaning. A confrontation is building between the party’s younger progressive wing and older traditional liberals and moderates over the future. Let it rip. These are Democrats, after all. The so-called circular firing squad is practically part of the party’s bylaws.

“After presidential election, Florida Republicans have Georgia on their mind” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — With the presidential election in the rearview, the political world’s eyes have started turning toward two Senate races in Georgia. That includes the gaze of Florida Republicans, who enjoyed a better Tuesday than their Peach State compatriots and who feel anxious to lend a hand. Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said he had four conversations since Tuesday with Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer. “I let him know we will do everything we can to assist them,” Gruters said. “We have a lot of volunteers and donors and will do whatever we can to hold on to those two Senate seats.”

“Danny Burgess, Allison Tant plan reelection bids” via The News Service of Florida — Fresh off their victories, new state Sen. Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican, and new state Rep. Tant, a Tallahassee Democrat, are making plans for 2022 reelection bids. Burgess opened a campaign account to seek another term in Senate District 20, which currently is made up of parts of Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk counties, according to the state Division of Elections website. The district’s boundaries and potentially its number will change before the 2022 elections because of reapportionment. Meanwhile, Tant, a former chair of the Florida Democratic Party, indicated she will seek reelection in 2022 by telling supporters she wants to reuse her campaign yard signs.

C’mon, guys — “‘It’s crap’: DeSantis office ‘leaks’ state records to fuel COVID-19 death ‘conspiracy’” via Ben Conarck and Nicholas Nehamas of the Miami Herald — In late October, Jennifer Cabrera visited Florida’s Capitol and was mysteriously allowed to examine a month’s worth of COVID-19 death certificates. Cabrera then wrote a post on her blog with her husband, Len, claiming that the state is overcounting COVID-19 deaths. The misleading Oct. 30 blog post fed into a narrative pushed by DeSantis and Trump. The Governor, however, rejects the scientific consensus that COVID-19 has killed more than 230,000 Americans, according to spokesman Fred Piccolo.

Ron DeSantis is openly skeptical about the number of COVID-19 deaths in America. Image via Colin Hackley.

“New coronavirus infections are increasing across Central Florida, it’s tied to ‘relaxation’ of precautions, health official says” via Stephen Hudak and Ryan Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel — As the nation was transfixed on vote counting around the nation, new COVID-19 infections climbed in Central Florida this week, including at least 300 new cases in four of the last seven days in Orange County. The new cases were not just the result of increased testing, as positivity rates also climbed outside of the 5% threshold in Orange, which the World Health Organization considers a community having transmission under control. But the overall caseload increase also presents challenges for health officials to effectively trace new infections, to curb potential outbreaks from occurring.

“Tampa Bay braces for another possible surge in coronavirus cases“ via Megan Reeves of the Tampa Bay Times — Tampa Bay is again on the brink of a possible surge in coronavirus patients, with cases rising by the hundreds daily as people return to normal rhythms and the holiday season looms. Florida’s number of cases was higher Thursday than any day since mid-August. Counts are increasing locally, leading to a rise in hospital admissions by about a quarter in the last month, state data shows. At the same time, “pandemic fatigue” is intensifying, health experts say. Some residents are throwing safety guidelines aside and again taking part in activities like dining out, crowding bars and gathering in groups. The holidays are likely to further the problem, as people travel and get together.

“Residents say they — and Medicare — were duped by community COVID-19, antibody testing” via Mike Diamond of The Palm Beach Post — Susan Kerr, a 71-year-old resident of Delaire Country Club, was initially pleased her Delray Beach community arranged for drive-thru COVID-19 testing on July 9. Nearly 300 members and 60 employees took advantage of the opportunity. Phoenix Health, the wellness event coordinator, administered a nasal swab for COVID-19 and blood work was taken for an antibodies test. Phoenix and its partner agreed to accept whatever insurance paid; no one would receive a bill and there would be no site fee to Delaire. But two to five weeks went by before most residents got their test results, making them meaningless, and some, including most Delaire employees, never got results at all. At least three other South Florida country club communities experienced similar problems with the Phoenix-Alliance partnership.

“Geraldine Thompson tests positive for COVID-19” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — That means she will have to miss events scheduled to honor July Perry, a victim of the Ocoee massacre, including a last Masonic rites ceremony and the unveiling of a sign designating a portion of State Road 438 named for Perry. “Unfortunately, my recent diagnosis means that I cannot attend today’s events. I am experiencing moderate symptoms and will be quarantining at home,” the Central Florida Democrat said. “I have worked on appropriately honoring July Perry for almost two decades and am deeply saddened that I cannot be present for the road designation, which resulted from legislation I introduced last Session.” As far as Thompson’s health, the news release only noted the mild symptoms she suffers.

Geraldine Thompson has canceled several events after testing positive for COVID-19.

“Appeals court to take up challenge to mask mandate” via Jim Saunders of The News Service of Florida — The Alachua County case, which will be heard Nov. 23 by a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, could serve as a test for mask requirements that have been approved in various parts of the state. Opponents have filed a series of lawsuits challenging the requirements, with at least three cases landing at the Tallahassee-based appeals court. Along with the Alachua County case, the other appeals involve Leon and Gadsden counties. Circuit Judge Donna Keim in May refused to grant a temporary injunction to block the Alachua County order. That prompted plaintiff Justin Green, who operates a nursery business, to appeal. Green’s attorneys argued, in part, that the order violates privacy and free-speech rights.

A woman places American flags representing some of the 200,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in the U.S. on the National Mall in Washington. Image via Reuters.

“Nursing home COVID-19 cases rise fourfold in surge states” via Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of The Associated Press — Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to erect a protective shield around nursing homes, coronavirus cases are surging within facilities in states hard hit by the latest onslaught of COVID-19. An analysis of federal data from 20 states finds that new weekly cases among residents rose nearly fourfold from the end of May to late October, from 1,083 to 4,274. Resident deaths more than doubled, from 318 a week to 699, according to the study by the University of Chicago health researchers Rebecca Gorges and Tamara Konetzka. Equally concerning, weekly cases among nursing home staff in surge states more than quadrupled, from 855 the week ending May 31 to 4,050 the week ending Oct. 25.

“How North Dakota became a COVID-19 nightmare” via Renae Moch of The Washington Post — As COVID-19 surges across the country, one state stands out. In North Dakota, infections are, alarmingly, occurring at more than six times the national rate. How is the disease spreading so quickly through a small, rural state? And what lessons can North Dakota offer as we head into a winter season that Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, has warned will bring “a whole lot of hurt?” As the lead public health-official for the city of Bismarck and Burleigh County, North Dakota, I’m sadly familiar with the ways our state has failed to take this deadly virus seriously and what it means for our communities.

“Biden has ambitious plans to curb the coronavirus. But they could face big hurdles in a divided country and Congress.” via Yasmeen Abutaleb and Laurie McGinley of The Washington Post — Biden made his election bid a referendum on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But as he inherits the worst crisis since the Great Depression, a raging pandemic on top of a teetering economy, his plans to turn that around are set to collide with new political realities. The closeness of the results underscores voters’ deep divisions about how they think the virus should be handled.

“Wilton Simpson names Aaron Bean, Kathleen Passidomo to Florida Senate Leadership Team” via Kevin Derby of Florida Daily — Simpson tapped state Sen. Bean to serve as President Pro Tempore for the next two years. State Sen. Passidomo, who is next in line to be Senate President after the 2022 elections, will take over the Rules Committee. This new assignment should let Passidomo work with her expected partner in legislative leadership. Earlier this week, state Rep. Paul Renner who is expected to become House speaker after the 2022 elections, was named House Rules Committee chairman.

Appointed — Robbie Roepstorff to the Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees, Carey Baker and Ed Kelley to the Local Government Efficiency Task Force.

Happening today — The Revenue Estimating Conference meets to consider “outlooks” for the Education Enhancement, the State Schools, and Tobacco Settlement Trust Funds as well as general revenue, 9 a.m., 117 Knott Building.

“Last call for shots” via Christine Sexton of The News Service of Florida — The Trump administration announced in October that it had inked agreements with Walgreens and CVS to provide the yet-to-be approved COVID-19 vaccinations free of charge to residents ages 65 and older and staff. Nursing home providers must sign up for the vaccinations through the National Healthcare Safety Network website. Assisted-living facilities must sign up for the vaccinations using a form available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The sign-up is mandatory but not binding; providers that indicate they want the shots can cancel later. However, facilities that do not sign up by the Nov. 6 deadline won’t be given another opportunity, according to the CDC.

Bonnie Glick, the second-highest-ranking official at USAID, is the first to go in Donald Trump’s expected purge.

“Democrats’ big-budget plans in growing doubt” via Caitlin Emma of POLITICO — If Democrats ultimately pull off a majority in the upper chamber, they’ll still have internal party squabbles to overcome as they hammer out spending deals and other major fiscal legislation. The party’s progressive wing is eager to make a forceful push for military funding cuts and other ambitious policy plans that set more moderate members on edge. Before Election Day, Democrats were projecting confidence and assuming they were on track to expand their majority in the House and gain control of the Senate. But the prospects for reconciliation look much slimmer following a shocking underperformance from Democrats that has rocked the House caucus and sparked angst over what went wrong.

“Matt Gaetz tests positive for COVID-19 antibodies” via Ledyard King of USA TODAY — U.S. Rep. Gaetz has tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, indicating that he had the coronavirus at one point. News of Gaetz’s results comes a day after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows confirmed he has the virus. The United States is approaching 10 million cases and 240,000 deaths from the pandemic. The outspoken Trump ally from the Florida Panhandle told USA TODAY Saturday morning that he has tested “positive for antibodies” though not the live virus. In a series of texts, Gaetz wrote that he has “no symptoms.” He said he has no plans to quarantine and does not know where he picked up the antibodies.

“Palm Bay developer charged with bribery withdraws Plantation Circle rezoning bid” via Rick Neale of Florida Today — The developer accused of scheming to bribe Palm Bay City Council officials to rezone his Plantation Circle property for commercial use has withdrawn his rezoning request. Brian West faces charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of unlawful use of a two-way communications device stemming from a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation. West pleaded not guilty after his arrest last month, and prosecutors have since dropped three additional charges of unlawful use of a two-way communications device. A docket sounding in his case will take place Dec. 11 at the Moore Justice Center in Viera. According to West’s FDLE arrest affidavit, “the rezoning of the property would increase the property’s value by an estimated $1 million.”

“Biden can save us from the precipice” via Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post — Biden may have won the presidency, but Democrats plainly lost the election. The blue tsunami predicted by some pundits and pollsters turned out to be a shallow, baby wave of tepid water. The anticipated mandate was little more than a list of spoiled hopes and dreams that liberalism would finally have its day in America. “Landslide” is still just a song. The United States is a center-right nation, which people living outside the Washington-New York-West Coast bubbles have always known. Trump won in 2016 in large part by making average Americans feel like he understood them. Several caucus members began complaining about some of Biden’s unhelpful lefty messaging as the votes were telling the broader story.

“Win or lose, Trump has once again left the elites flabbergasted” via Gary Abernathy of The Washington Post — To be surprised by how the night unfolded is to have believed, without evidence, that pollsters had corrected their 2016 errors and that Biden’s victory was assured. Regardless of the outcome, polling itself was possibly Tuesday’s biggest loser. Nationally, so many questions were awaiting answers. Would the aggressive get-out-the-vote ground game of the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee overcome being vastly outspent on traditional television advertising? Were “shy” Trump voters a real phenomenon that pollsters failed to measure? Did the enthusiastic multitudes who turned out for Trump’s final swing-state barnstorming tour reflect growing momentum? Tuesday’s returns seemed to answer each question: Yes.

“Yes, Trumpism was repudiated” via Matt Bai of The Washington Post — From the first reporting of the election returns Tuesday, a narrative took hold among commentators and disappointed liberals: Win or lose, they said, the electorate hadn’t repudiated Trump and his Party in the way he deserved. As the scope of Biden’s win becomes clear, however, that narrative should be revised. Because if this election wasn’t the categorical repudiation a lot of us expected (and badly wanted), then it was an emphatic rejection nonetheless. When all the votes are finally counted and recounted, when all the president’s craven lawyers have finally sued themselves out, Biden will likely end up with 306 electoral votes, slightly more than Trump won four years ago. He will have close to 51 percent of the popular vote, making him only the fifth Democrat in the past century to break 50 percent.

“Biden is already showing he is the right President for the moment” via Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post — As ugly as this election has been, a win is a win: Come Jan. 20, Biden will be our 46th president. But he will enter office with a specific set of challenges: a deeply polarized and intensely passionate electorate; a Senate that appears likely to remain in Republican control, with a majority leader who will be as determined to thwart Biden’s agenda as he was Obama’s; a graceless predecessor who is trying to foment unrest. No one will be surprised if Trump refuses to even show up for Biden’s inauguration. The bigger question is whether his Republican enablers can turn their attention to the interests of the country as it turns the page.

“Biden’s victory can benefit Florida. Here’s how” via the Miami Herald editorial board — Biden is President-elect. Harris will be our glass-ceiling-shattering Vice President. Bottom line: The nation’s long nightmare under Trump is not over. It’s simply entering a new phase. Biden and Harris won no thanks to Florida, a purple state that swung red. We can only hope that, with environmentally aware leaders in the White House, we can drive a stake through the heart of the perennial push to drill for oil off Florida’s coast. And maybe the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — will get a reprieve. Miami-Dade County leads the nation in enrollees, which should send a message to Floridians in Congress that it’s not as bad as the Trump White House and its legislative enablers made it out to be.

“Adiós, Trump. I won’t forgive or forget what you did to my Miami” via Fabiola Santiago of the Miami Herald — Adiós, Trump. You came to Miami and used our love of homelands lost, our wounds as exiles to manipulate our people into thinking you’d be a messiah for the Americas when you were only thinking about your interests all along. You and only you, first and foremost. You divided family, neighbors, friends, colleagues. I’ll never forget that the last time I saw a co-worker with whom I shared good times and good work. His look of disgust, then avoidance of me. He didn’t like my columns exposing your racism and anti-immigrant agenda. He died, and that’s how you left things between us.

“As Florida goes red, Duval tilts blue — with a few caveats” via Nate Monroe of The Florida Times-Union — Biden on Tuesday became the first presidential candidate since the mid-1970s to win Duval County, the culmination of years of demographic changes in the city and a determined effort by local and state Democrats since 2008 to flip what was once a reliably Republican well of voters. Biden carried the city by a little under 19,000 votes, a relatively comfortable margin and an improvement from Andrew Gillum‘s strong Duval performance in 2018. That represents real progress for Duval Democrats, which as a local party looked all but dead last year, when the city’s Republican Mayor cruised to reelection without Democrats even fielding a candidate. Still, both Biden and Gillum lost their respective races, and in Biden’s case, decisively.

“Here’s to record turnout, winning candidates and flawless local elections” via the Pensacola News Journal editorial board — As votes were still being counted in our nation’s razor-thin presidential election, our dutiful supervisors of elections here in Escambia and Santa Rosa County marked another flawlessly executed election and one in which they processed record numbers of votes in national, state and local races. From mail-in and early voting all the way through Election Day, Escambia Supervisor David Stafford and Santa Rosa Supervisor Tappe Villane proved once again why they are the best in the business. Major applause and thanks are due to all the tireless elections staff, poll workers, and volunteers who delivered a smooth and steady election for local voters. Our local elections offices truly set the gold standard among all those in the state of Florida and beyond.

— Biden won’t take over for more than 2 months, but he’s already getting to work. He’ll be announcing his own coronavirus team today that will draft a new plan to combat the COVID crisis. And maybe that’s just in time. Florida appears to be entering what could be described as a third wave of the disease.

— The only Democrat holding statewide office is accused of selling out to “Big Sugar.” Orlando Attorney John Morgan was the driving force behind the constitutional amendment to increase Florida’s minimum wage and he says Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried let him down.

— Florida marks the Ocoee Election Day Massacre, where a White mob went on a rampage when a Black man tried to vote in the presidential election of 1920.

— And finally, checking in with a Florida Man who picked the wrong place to rub one out.

To listen, click on the image below:

Joe Biden will be bringing his dog Champ with him into the White House, restoring a presidential tradition. Image via Twitter.

“Christmas came early: Miracle pop-up bars bring holiday cocktails, ugly sweaters to South Florida” via Phillip Valys of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — As results poured in on Election Night, Death or Glory co-owner Annie Blake stood inside her Delray Beach cocktail bar, up to her eyeballs in tacky Christmas decorations. Blake kept the TV off and distracted herself by hanging dollar-store tinsel, followed by a pair of inflatable humping reindeer. Blake has transformed her classy drinking den into the pop-up Christmas bar Miracle three weeks earlier than usual. Although the bar usually unveils its Miracle pop-up after Thanksgiving, Blake raced to bring it back sooner, convinced that locals like her craved a Christmas-size distraction from the COVID-19 pandemic, economic woes, and a hotly contested election.