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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Today is the 600th day of Donald Trump’s second term and the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Two unforgettable tragedies on the same day.

But let’s not make today about Trump, despite all his efforts to interject himself into the history of that awful day by suggesting he had to be rescued by first responders from Ground Zero.

Remember, he also claimed to have seen thousands of Islamic people celebrating the collapse of the Twin Towers in New Jersey, which was a complete fabrication.

And, in a typical show of his lack of class, he also offered this about his major downtown property:

“40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest—and then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.”

For Trump, it’s always about him.

But about 9/11:

If you are at all like me, you may find it hard to believe it's been 25 years since that shocking day.

It seems like yesterday that I was in the newsroom in Dayton, Ohio, watching the second hijacked jet slam into the Twin Towers, and Tim Gaffney, a reporter who covered the sprawling Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, turned to me and said, “We’re at war.”

And he was right.

And unfortunately, so were the people who said, “This changes everything.”

I remember writing at the time that if that prediction for the future of our country were true, then the terrorists had won.

And to the degree that this disaster ushered in—or at least accelerated—the surveillance state we live in now, and paved the way for xenophobic ICE thuggery, I stand by that prediction.

Our children were teenagers at the time, and for them, 9/11 was a horror that disrupted their childhood and altered their worldview forever, much like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy distorted ours.

It was transformative in other ways, too. At least for a short while.

For a brief time, America felt united.

Nothing like a common enemy to pull a tribe together.

As New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at the time:

Hard to remember that spirit, given the venomous atmosphere of division that clouds our contemporary culture.

I’m in Delaware as I write this, just a mile or so away from former President Joe Biden’s house.

And while we all may wish Biden had played his decision to run for a second term differently, one of his recurring messages still resonates today:

“There is more that unites us than divides us.”

Today is a great time to reflect on that, and how we can use our power as voters to change our country's trajectory for the better.

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Update on the news: Federal appeals court upholds ban on Trump’s mail-in voting suppression scheme

A federal appeals court has shot down the Trump administration’s scheme to disrupt mail-in voting for the midterm election.

An appeal before the Supreme Court is still pending, however.

A three-judge panel on the First Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the White House’s request to reverse a lower court’s block on new Postal Service rules for mail-in ballots, which would have given USPS the authority to reject and return ballot mailings.

The judges’ ruling was direct:

They said there is “no record evidence of past fraud or a likelihood of impending fraud” tied to the November election, and agreed with the district court that the rule may violate the Constitution’s Elections Clause by allowing an executive agency to regulate elections in a way reserved for states and Congress.

Here’s the exact text:

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible to increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

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J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Republicans supporting Herbert Hoover for president nearly a century ago promised voters “a chicken in every pot” if Hoover won the election.

Instead of a chicken dinner, his 1928 election marked the start of the Great Depression.

Now comes Donald Trump promising $5,000 for every adult in the United States if voters return enough Republicans to Congress so the G.O.P. can retain control.

“So if the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said at his “Trump-a-palooza” pep rally in Dallas last night.

“It will be called the Trump Dividend.”

Trump isn’t the least bit embarrassed about this shameless attempt to buy votes. He’s desperate. Democrats are leading in the polls, and if they take over—at a minimum—the House, the investigations into Trump’s criminal conduct will begin with vigor.

Unsaid, of course, is exactly how Trump’s promised largesse would be paid for. There are about 250 million adult citizens in the U.S. If the federal government wrote each a $5,000 check, that would come to $1.3 trillion.

It’s money the government would have to borrow, adding to every single American’s share of the national debt, which now tops $40 trillion, $11 trillion of which has been accumulated during Trump’s two terms—so far.

Can you imagine how Republicans would react if a Democrat promised this kind of giveaway?

Certainly sounds like Trump’s mouth is writing checks his bank account can’t cash. Certainly not his personal bank account.

It’s outrageous, of course. But is it illegal?

Probably not.

While federal laws like 18 U.S.C. § 597 make it strictly illegal to pay people how to vote, legal experts say there’s a crucial difference between illegal vote-buying and campaign promises.

Put another way, it’s not illegal for politicians to make promises they can’t — or don’t even intend to — keep.

And by now we’re used to Trump’s dishonesty.

• He’s the guy who promised Mexico would pay for the wall.

• He continues to lie about how the 2020 presidential election was “stolen.”

• He bragged that the Iran war would be over in a week.

• He lied to Americans about the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, claiming it would be “over like a miracle.”

• And he continues to boast that he’s created the “greatest economy in the world” when, in fact, the numbers show the economy was stronger under both the Clinton and Obama administrations.

And, speaking of the economy, it certainly wouldn’t be stronger with yet another $1.3 trillion in debt layered on top of the trillions in red ink from his atrocious giveaway to billionaires in his Big Beautiful Budget Bill.

It’s tempting to suggest that if he’s going to bribe voters, he should have stuck with chickens. Or Big Macs.

After all, Americans are way too smart to fall for something like this, right? Right?

What do you think?

Leave a comment

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible to increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Republican candidates facing strong headwinds in the upcoming midterms have been urged by their party’s leader—Donald Trump—to make the election all about him.

“I’m not on the ballot, but in a certain way I’m on the ballot, so please go out and vote,” Trump exhorted MAGA faithful at a recent rally.

He’s trying to resurrect his election victory in 2024, but that only works if he’s able to draw to the polls the marginal—often under-informed and infrequent — voters who supplied that margin of victory.

It’s not a great strategy.

Imagine you are a Republican candidate for Congress or a statewide office. Why would you want to link your candidacy to Trump when his ratings in the polls are so far underwater you’d need a submarine to find them?

It would be like tying your political dinghy to Trump’s Titanic and praying for no icebergs.

Which is why many GOP candidates have been revising their websites to minimize Trump, and why at this week’s "Trump-a-Palooza" midterm pep rally in Dallas, many Republicans realized they'd better stay home and campaign instead.

The price tag is more than a little daunting, too. It’s $25,000 a head for congressional candidates. Then there are add-ons:

• Roundtable with Donald Trump: Priced at $250,000.

• Photograph with Donald Trump: Priced at $88,600.

• Meeting with JD Vance: Priced at $75,000.

• Photograph with JD Vance: Priced at $35,000

And where will all that cash go? Ummm. Trump’s not saying.

So, what are the odds Trump’s self-centered strategy will work?

Don’t bet on it.

As political prognosticator Charlie Cook put it:

“…Republicans should brace themselves: The three most plausible outcomes are that it will be bad, really bad, or truly horrible. Conversely, a Democrat should at least briefly consider that the good fortune they may have in November will come compliments of the president, not as a result of much that they have done.”

And as Florida pollster Mark Schulman notes:

You can read Schulman’s full report on his Substack site. It is entitled: Trump’s Misguided Midterm Strategy: Total Control. I’ve also republished it on the Tropic Press website. It’s data-rich and filled with smart analysis.

Mark Schulman

As Schulman also notes, independent voters will play a huge role in this year’s elections, and that’s especially important in Florida. While Republicans have a commanding 1.5 million more registered voters than Democrats, there are a whopping 3.3 million voters registered as No Party Affiliation. How they turn out and vote will be crucial.

Here are the numbers:

National polling shows independents are leaning Democratic. This is from Schulman’s post:

As you can see, these independents favor Democrats 2-1. Couple that with what could be a lower-than-usual Republican turnout, and unexpected things could happen on Nov. 3.

Maybe making it all about Trump will help.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

It’s amazing how Trump administration officials can say the most absurd and outrageous things with a perfectly straight face.

Exhibit A: Solicitor General Dean John Sauer.

It’s his job to present the government’s side of things in disputes before the U.S. Supreme Court. And that’s just what he did this weekend as he hurried off an appeal to keep Trump’s hopes alive of disrupting the midterm elections.

This emergency pleading arose in the wake of a decision by a Massachusetts federal judge blocking the president’s scheme that would require states to turn over their lists of registered voters for federal review. It would also require states to redo their mail-in ballot envelopes to add special barcodes that would allow the Postal Service to toss out ballots, usurping the role of state election officials.

This is illegal and unconstitutional. The states, not the federal government, run elections. Which is why U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued an injunction last week blocking this scheme — her third time doing so — that is now being appealed.

Here’s where it gets darkly amusing. In arguing that the Supreme Court must urgently step in and overturn Talwani’s decision, this is what Sauer argued. He said Talwani's injunction:

How he could address the highest court in the land with this blather while keeping a straight face is incredible. Here’s the truth:

There is no widespread or meaningful voter fraud in the United States. Numerous reviews have established this. This is not a sincere effort to safeguard elections.

The only fraud that is being attempted here is Trump’s illegal and unAmerican efforts at voter suppression. By casting doubt on the security of mail-in voting, and by disrupting it through lawsuits like this, he hopes to discourage voting in the midterms. In his mind, lower turnout means less risk of losing Republican control of Congress.

When Sauer refers to “diluting” the vote, the real effort at watering down the vote is being perpetrated by Trump.

When he refers to the “will of the American people,” that is best expressed by high voter turnout, not lower.

And the cherry on top is his heartfelt expression of concern that unless the court steps in that public confidence in elections will be undermined.

Give me a break. The only efforts at undermining confidence in our elections are being perpetrated by Trump and his flunkies like Sauer.

This is all a bunch of deceptive Orwellian doublespeak.

Now, the Supremes have this test before them. Will they uphold the Constitution—which is their duty—or will they turn the country’s elections over to a would-be dictator?

Not much at stake here, just the future of our democracy. And I’m writing that with a straight face.

Leave a comment

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has initial responsibility for emergency appeals from Massachusetts, directed the challengers to file their response by 4 p.m. EDT today. Stay tuned.

For more background on this, check out this excellent report from Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog:

Trump administration again appeals mail-in ballot dispute to the Supreme Court

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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News item: Aristides Fernandez Garcia is among a group of Cubans captured by ICE, held at Alligator Alcatraz, then shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to a country he had never heard of before—the Central African Republic, a nation so dangerous that the U.S. State Department warns against travel there. Does this make sense?

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Imagine you’re an ICE agent.

Yeah, I know, an unpleasant thought, but bear with me.

You’ve rounded up some undocumented people from—say—Cuba, and now you have to load them on a plane and ship them out of the country because they don’t belong here, never mind all that blather on the Statue of Liberty about the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

So, based on that geography class you endured back in the sixth grade, which destination would make the least sense:

1. Havana, Cuba

2. Mexico City

3. Guatemala

4. Costa Rica

5. Africa

If you picked Number 1, I would redirect you to the question where I said “least” sense. So, try again.

Hint: Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica are close by and all speak Spanish.

OK, you’re not an ICE agent, so you know the correct answer is Africa, which would be an absurd place to send a Spanish-speaking person who didn’t know a single soul on a continent clear across the Atlantic Ocean.

What would they do with themselves when they arrived? Where would they turn for assistance? Who could they call?

Talk about hopeless and helpless.

So, of course, that’s just what American immigration officials are doing, as chronicled in numerous news stories in the past few weeks, including those of Cuban ex-pats in Florida, herded aboard planes in chains and dumped off on the other side of the world.

Why would we do such a thing to anyone? Is this someone’s idea of a cruel, sadistic joke?

The official explanations usually center on several points:

1. Sometimes “illegals” can’t be returned to their homelands because they might be endangered if they showed up there again. And there are laws that prevent that.

2. Sometimes their countries of origin won’t take them back.

3. We have deals with other nations to take refugees off our hands, so it’s all hunky-dory.

On that last point, it can’t be overemphasized that we’re the ones who drew up those deals. You can’t cook up schemes like this and then justify mistreating people because you have deals you, yourself, manufactured.

Sure, it’s not hard to imagine why a refugee from Cuba (or Venezuela or Iran or wherever) might be endangered returning home. We all get that.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we should at least consider the possibility for at least some of these people THAT’S WHY THEY RAN AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Which is why we have all those words on the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Because that’s what America is: A sanctuary for desperate people yearning for a better life.

Message to all you ICE agents. Unless you are of Native American heritage, you are either an illegal immigrant yourself or the offspring of illegal immigrants because there never was a Customs Office processing passports and visas set up by the original inhabitants of this land.

Our ancestors just barged their way in, unannounced, unauthorized. Because they could. And they showed up here for the same reasons as those people you are now deporting.

Which is not to say there isn’t an issue here with illegal immigration, nor that there shouldn’t be a strategy in place to resolve it.

But scooping up people like roadside litter, and using the rest of the world as America’s dumpster, is as thoughtless as it is inhumane.

We’re supposed to be better than this.

Related Reading:

Cuban Man in South Florida Says He Was Deported to African Country He’d Never Heard of Without Being Told His Destination

Is dumping a Cuban person in Africa ‘deportation’?

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

The doldrums of summer are over, and with Labor Day we bolt into the busy autumn news season, the frequent topic of which will be the upcoming elections. But there is much, much more that we will be covering.

Let’s get it started with a quiz.

Which of these stories have you NOT seen in the news recently:

1. Mitch McConnell makes miraculous recovery.

2. Donald Trump admits he lost the 2020 election.

3. Gasoline drops to $3 a gallon.

4. Hurricanes rake Florida.

5. All of the above.

I’m sure you guessed Number 5, and that’s what we will talk about briefly today because we are on the verge of setting a new record.

Despite having had five named tropical storms this hurricane season, we’ve had no hurricanes. If this continues through the end of the week, it will mean that whenever—if ever—the first hurricane spins up, it will be the latest in the modern satellite era.

And as you can see in the above map from the National Hurricane Center, the Gulf and Atlantic are currently storm-free.

Meteorologists began discovering and tracking hurricanes using satellites in 1966, and the latest dates hurricanes formed in that time were on Sept. 11 — in 2002 with Hurricane Gustav, and Hurricane Humberto in 2013.

If the Atlantic and Gulf remain completely free of hurricanes through Saturday (Sept. 12), this year will officially shatter the modern record for the quietest start to any hurricane season.

This is primarily driven by a powerful El Niño pattern in the Pacific Ocean, as we have written about here before.

Numerous sources explain that El Niños create extremely strong wind shear across the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic that tears weather patterns apart before they can strengthen into full-blown hurricanes.

And, yes, this year’s El Niño is more intense because of global warming.

A question you might ask is: Has there ever been a year with no hurricanes whatsoever?

The answer is: Nobody knows. Because before deploying satellites in low Earth orbit 60 years ago, there easily could have been storms that nobody ever noticed.

That said, there were no hurricanes reported in 1907 and 1914, according to the never-wrong internet, but that was before eyes in the sky, so who knows? They easily could have been in the middle of the ocean, and we would have been none the wiser.

The hurricane experts at Colorado State University have been predicting a below-average season, and so far they have been right. Their updated forecast is for a total of 4 hurricanes by the end of the season on Nov. 30, with one of them possibly becoming a Cat 3 or greater.

As noted many times, though, it only takes one Cat 5 in your backyard to ruin your picnic, so we will continue to pay close attention.

As for Mitch McConnell’s surprising recovery and lower gas prices, they could happen, I suppose. Trump acknowledging he’s been lying all along about the 2020 election? That’s definitely not in the forecast.

Leave a comment

Further Reading:

Good news on the storm front as fewer hurricanes are expected this season

‘An Inconvenient Truth’ 20 years later: Inconveniently, too many people still in denial

Welcome to hurricane season. Because of a Super El Niño, there should be fewer storms--unless there aren’t

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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Coming Soon to a Podcast Near You

Watch this space in coming days

for details as we get this

bit of awesomeness rolled out to the launch pad.

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Labor Day traditionally marks the start of the fall election season, and despite Donald Trump’s efforts at voter suppression, Democrats continue to be favored to regain control of at least the House of Representatives and maybe even the Senate.

According to political scientists at Cornell University who have correctly predicted the outcomes of the past 14 congressional elections, Democrats have an 8 in 10 chance of regaining control of the House by winning 226 seats versus Republicans’ 209.

Should that play out, that would give Democrats greater control than Republicans now command with their narrow 218-214 majority.

Read: Midterm forecast strongly favors Democrats to win House majority

The Senate outlook is cloudier. The Cook Political Report notes that of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs, 13 are either solid, likely or lean Democratic. Add those to the 34 Democratic incumbents and it adds up to 47 Senate seats for the Democrats.

Republicans have 16 seats likely going their way, and added to their current 31 seats that also totals 47.

In the middle are six toss-up races that will determine control of the upper chamber of Congress.

Democrats need to win at least four of those seats to claim the majority. All but one of those toss-up races either have Republican incumbents or have gone Republican in previous elections. So, it will be an uphill fight, but within reach.

As for the Labor Day weekend itself, most of us will be enjoying an extra day off tomorrow. Not so for our fellow Americans laboring in the retail industry, where the holiday that was created to honor workers has morphed into one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

But even if retail employees will be busy selling mattresses and appliances or whatnot, they’ll at least get holiday pay, right?

Not necessarily.

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, holidays are just like any other workday.

Democrats are trying to change that, and have introduced legislation that would require employers to pay time-and-a-half for holiday work. Another reason to root for change in Congress.

Also, this week marks a somber commemoration: It has been 25 years since hijackers carried out a series of suicide attacks, striking the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon. A fourth jetliner crashed in Shanksville, Pa., when passengers overpowered the terrorists. In all, 2,977 people perished on Sept. 11, 2001.

On the bright side, the NFL kicks off its regular season Wednesday when the New England Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks for a nationally televised game. All three Florida NFL teams play the following Sunday.

More items for this week’s calendar in the Onward Thru the Fog section below.

That Was The Week That Was

What’s the future of mail-in voting?

A Boston federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s scheme to impose federal rules on mail-in ballots, but Justice Department lawyers say they may appeal that decision all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

If so, that should play out in the coming week. I had full details on this legal wrangling in Saturday’s newsletter, but in case you missed it, here’s the link:

Federal judge--one more time--blocks Trump mail-in ballot scheme

Jolly closes in on Donalds

We’re eight weeks away from the midterm election, and it appears Democrat David Jolly may be gaining on his gubernatorial race opponent, Republican Byron Donalds.

The Cook Political Report last week moved its prediction for the race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.”

“While Jolly trails Trump-backed Rep. Byron Donalds by more than a 10-1 margin in fundraising, his ability to potentially reach out to independents and disaffected Republicans makes this a unique contest that could possibly become competitive,” the report said.

“Jolly would still need a significant financial boost to mount a statewide television campaign and have a real shot.”

To which Jolly replied:

“But this is a cycle where you can get outspent 10-1 and still win. Now, I will tell you I think that you’re going to see money come in.”

Alligator Alcatraz is the gift that keeps on giving.

Even though Gov. Ron DeSantis’ boondoggle concentration camp in the Everglades has been shut down, bills are still coming in.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management is asking for $250 million at an upcoming Joint Legislative Budget Commission meeting. It turns out that vendors working with Alligator Alcatraz and another North Florida facility have been promised roughly $1.4 billion.

While DeSantis assumed the federal government would cover the costs—and received a partial FEMA payment of $58 million—much of the promised $608 million in federal reimbursements remains in limbo.

Where would the $250 million come from? Florida’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, originally set up for natural disasters like pandemics and hurricanes.

But there’s no emergency like unpaid bills. Thanks, DeSantis.

Why is space a vacuum?

Because Google Maps and Apple Maps suck.

They immediately caved in to Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, and millions of users erupted in protest over their cowardice.

The beneficiary: MapQuest, which has seen millions of downloads as consumers abandon both Google Maps and Apple Maps.

Read: MapQuest doesn’t take a knee to Trump

Leave a comment

Meme of the Week

They said it

"We have a gulf, and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean."

—Donald Trump after signing an executive order renaming Lake Ontario

“President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario. We’re resilient and we’re strong Canadians who are always going to protect our sovereignty, always, and we’ll never ever back down from a bully, ever.”

—Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Letter of the Week

A narcissistic megalomaniac liar with power is not the problem. He can be removed any time. Morons who blindly follow him, either for personal gain or plain irreparable ignorance, are the real dangerous problem.

—Victor M. Santana

Onward

When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)

September 6 is Fight Procrastination Day. I’ve been planning to do this, but keep putting it off.

September 7, as noted earlier, is Labor Day. The holiday originated in the late 19th century when labor union leaders and activists pushed for the creation of the holiday to recognize American workers. There was a parade in New York in 1882 to kick it off, and it became a legal holiday in 1894.

September 8. International Literacy Day. The best way to celebrate this important holiday is to buy a book. You can find a few suggestions here:

Tropic Press Books

September 9. It’s National Teddy Bear Day. It commemorates President Teddy Roosevelt’s decision, while on a hunting trip in 1902, not to shoot a bear cub that had been captured.

September 10 is TV Dinner Day, marking the anniversary in 1953 of the first frozen mass-marketed turkey dinner. The original Swanson meal featured, in addition to turkey, cornbread dressing, peas and sweet potatoes on an aluminum tray.

September 11. Today at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, the anniversary of the dreadful terrorist attacks of 2001 will be remembered.

September 12 is National Chocolate Milkshake Day. According to unnamed sources to whom I have promised anonymity, the best shake in America is made at Shake Shack, followed closely by Culver’s.

Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines

In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.

Curses! Foiled again! Federal judge--one more time--blocks Trump mail-in ballot scheme

Meet the candidates whose fingerprints are all over the Hope Florida scandal

Florida government wants to fool kids about climate change--hopefully it won’t work

MapQuest, unlike some others, doesn’t bow to Trump. You don’t have to, either

This is the clown fiesta you get when the Senate fails to do its job--thanks, Scott and Moody

How badly do we want to change the Supreme Court? Congress may weigh in today. What do you think?

Mail-in ballots in Florida are safe--ignore the White House; ask the supervisors of elections

Conflicting testimony and foggy memories: How the Hope Florida grand jury found wrongdoing but no wrongdoers

Miss Mingo column wins Florida SPJ Best Blog Award

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

A federal judge in Boston has once again blocked Donald Trump’s illegal scheme to disrupt the midterm elections by making it more difficult to vote by mail.

Judge Indira Talwani, for the third time, told the 80-year-old president “no” and issued an injunction prohibiting the administration from implementing a half-baked plan to force states to:

• Redo all their mail-in ballot envelopes.

• Add specific bar codes.

• Submit lists of “approved voters” and ensure that the newfangled bar codes match those names.

A Postal Service whistleblower earlier in the week revealed that the system was likely to malfunction, denying untold thousands of voters the right to vote. And when Judge Talwani pressed government lawyers on this earlier in the week, they couldn’t promise the system would work.

So, on Friday she extended her temporary restraining order into an indefinite injunction.

Just in time, too, as some states, such as North Carolina, are already mailing out ballots and other states, such as Florida, will be doing so soon.

But the drama isn’t over yet. Justice Department lawyers tried to overturn Talwani’s earlier temporary restraining order at an appeals court, and when that failed, they begged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

All that would seem moot now with the judge’s new order, but government lawyers said they might start the appeals process all over again.

It’s a reasonable bet this will land once again at the Supreme Court very soon.

There are a couple of issues here:

First, the Constitution grants the states, not the federal government, the authority to run elections. And it is clear that all this is just Trump’s attempt to suppress voting in the midterms, knowing Democrats and independents use mail-in ballots more than Republicans.

So, it is unconstitutional.

Also, as a practical matter—and Judge Talwani cited this—it’s just too late in the election cycle to be experimenting with new schemes like this, legal, illegal, or otherwise.

Ballots are being mailed already or are being prepared to be sent out. And Trump’s untested screening system at the Post Office is bound to break down.

“Having considered this series of hurdles for officials against the backdrop of an impending election, and mindful of the fact that any minor malfunction will result in the denial of mail ballots, the court concludes that disenfranchisement for plaintiff organizations’ members, regardless of residence, is practically inevitable,” Judge Talwani wrote.

Democrats are grateful.

“We are glad that this court has stopped the Postal Service from impacting who can receive a ballot in the 2026 election,” Jena Griswold, Colorado’s secretary of state, said in a statement. “The Postal Service must stick to its job of delivering the mail, rather than trying to decide who gets to vote.”

That said, The New York Times reports that Justice Department lawyers representing the Postal Service say they were likely to appeal this decision and “start the process again.”

After all, even if Trump’s illegal scheme is blocked, he and his minions at the DOJ are still managing to create doubt about mail-in voting. And that was always the goal.

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

My wife Sandy and I are about to take a road trip, and she noticed an alarming new feature on Google Maps as we were plotting our route:

Google has already changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. They earlier were quick to switch the name of the Gulf of Mexico, too. All in obeisance to Dear Leader Trump.

We thought their eagerness to jump on this idiotic bandwagon was odd. So, we looked at Apple Maps, figuring, surely, Apple wouldn’t misbehave like this.

But, no. Apple immediately fell in line with Trump’s directive, too.

I shouldn’t be surprised. Google has already coughed up millions for Trump’s inauguration and atrocious ballroom/bomb shelter. Apple CEO Tim Cook likewise. These corporate titans really know how to take a knee to a dictator, don’t they?

Now, it is crucial to note that Donald Trump does not have the authority to rename oceans or gulfs or lakes. He can make his flunkies in the federal government call them by different names if he wants to. He can rename the United States of America to Trumpville, if he pleases, I suppose. But that doesn’t change anything in the real world.

Unless everyone jumps on board, like Google and Apple have done. Which is appalling.

Turns out a competitor in the map business has decided not to play footsie with the Orange Trouser Stain.

MapQuest still uses Lake Ontario and—bless them—the Gulf of Mexico.

Consumers are rewarding their sanity.

MapQuest is now the No. 1 free map application in the Apple App Store after refusing to fall in line with Trump’s lunatic behavior.

“We were absolutely blown away by the response,” MapQuest General Manager Doug Berger told CNN. “The updated figure is over 1.5 million downloads.”

Consumers are not only rewarding MapQuest for this, they’re having fun with it too.

After announcing that it would not rename the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Ontario, MapQuest also created a Name Your Own Lake application that lets users rename Lake Ontario to whatever they want. Each of us has as much right to rename international bodies of water as Trump does—which is to say none at all—so why not?

I did.

On my MapQuest map, it is now Lake Natalie.

Here’s the link:

https://gulfof.mapquest.com/lakeontario

Here’s the CNN interview with Doug Bergman:

@cnnMapQuest is making an unexpected comeback after defying Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario to "Lake America." MapQuest General Manager Doug Berger told Erin Burnett that usage is "through the roof," with downloads surging to more than 1.5 million. "It was not intended to be a political stance...it's fun that we're talking about geography," Berger added.

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Florida Democrats help defeat Supreme Court Amendment

House Speaker Mike Johnson trotted out a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday that would permanently fix the number of Supreme Court justices at the current level — nine. It was a ploy to undercut efforts to expand the court to dilute the MAGA majority.

The measure failed to achieve the two-thirds vote it would need, actually barely getting a majority, 212-206.

All Florida Democrats in the House voted against it.

If you would like to see future madness on the part of the Republican Party similarly thwarted, remember the choice is yours on Nov. 3.

Poll results

I asked readers their views on expanding the court and/or adding term limits in a poll Wednesday afternoon in advance of the vote in the House. Two-thirds favored the idea of expanding the court, and 99 percent were in favor of term limits, as you can see:

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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Why are they laughing? The mess at the Pentagon is their fault.

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

When this nation’s founders crafted our Constitution, they broke it down into numerous “Articles,” the first of which established a Congress comprising a House of Representatives and a Senate.

The creation of the Office of the President is contained later, in Article II.

There’s a reason why James Madison, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and the gang put Congress first—they believed that the legislative branch should be the core and most powerful institution in a representative republic.

Not the presidency.

In fact, if you read the Constitution, it’s clear that while the president was invested with great powers, many of the chief executive’s prerogatives were subject to congressional oversight—including appointments to Cabinet posts.

Which is why, when you look at the mess at the Pentagon today, you have to ask: “Where was the Senate?”

Sure, it’s Donald Trump’s fault for nominating a lamebrain like Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense, but it was the job of the Senate to ensure that idiots not be allowed to run the essential agencies of our government.

And the Senate failed in that duty.

It was a close call, to be sure. Every single Democrat, including independents who caucus with Democrats, voted against confirming Hegseth. Even three Republicans joined them (Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky), which made it a 50-50 tie.

Then Vice President J.D. Vance broke the tie in Hegseth’s favor.

I’m reviewing all this history (sorry about the Ted Talk) because the Pentagon is in turmoil. Hegseth has been firing or running off all the adults in the room—this week, the Secretary of the Army—and this state of chaos has prompted leaks to the Washington Post of internal warnings against any expansion of the Iran war.

This sort of leaking may be illegal (although no matter what nonsense you hear from the White House, publishing leaks is not).

According to The Hill newspaper:

People familiar with a classified assessment prepared for Hegseth told the Post that several combatant commanders have advised the Defense chief that prolonging operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening the U.S.’s ability to address threats elsewhere, including on U.S. soil.

The warnings appear in the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), detailed by the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, the Post reported Sunday.

Hegseth had issued orders to the leaders of the European, Pacific and Southern Commands, as well as the Navy, to be prepared for extended deployment in the Middle East.

To which, according to the Post, all of those commanders replied with a “non-concur.”

That Pentagon insiders are reaching out to journalists to share this internal turmoil speaks volumes about how screwed up the Pentagon is under Hegseth, who has fired or forced out more than two dozen senior military leaders.

The latest of these is Dan Driscoll, the civilian leader of the Army, who previously had met with Trump and warned him about the clown fiesta in the Defense Department.

According to The New Republic:

Trump was reportedly shocked when Driscoll told him just how many officials had been fired, stepped down, or not selected for promotion under Hegseth—something you’d think the president would already know about. Now, in the midst of a flailing war with Iran, the military is without its highest-ranking civilian leader, two Senate-confirmed head generals, and a confirmed commander.

That’s what you get: When a clown moves into the Pentagon, we shouldn’t be surprised when it becomes a circus.

Sure, it was Trump’s disastrous idea. But look at his track record of incompetent Cabinet choices—Bondi, Noem, Blanche, Gabbard, to name but a few.

This is why the Founders put in place guardrails and gave that gatekeeping responsibility to the Senate.

That weird sound you hear at the Madison Family Cemetery in Virginia is James spinning in his grave.

And by the way, both Florida Senators, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, were among the Republicans voting to confirm Hegseth.

Moody, appointed to the job by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is running to keep her seat in the Nov. 3 election. She faces Democratic State Sen. Angie Nixon. Had Nixon already been in the Senate, none of this would have happened. That’s the difference one Senate seat can make.

Here’s hoping that come Election Day enough Floridians will have the wisdom to prevent future catastrophes like this by sending Moody packing.

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Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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“Vote-by-mail is just as safe and secure as voting in person during early voting or on election day.”

—Collier Elections Supervisor Melissa Blazier

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Are mail-in ballots safe?

Of course, they are. Even the president of the United States votes by mail.

In fact, there’s only one person in America, as far as I know, who gives voice to the phony idea that voting by mail may not be secure and that allowing just any voters to do so constitutes an emergency demanding federal intervention.

And that’s the president.

What’s with Donald J. Trump—I mean, besides the fact he’s the guy who tried to overthrow the 2020 election that he lost bigly?

We know the answer to that, too. He’s terrified that his awful economic and foreign policies—tariffs and wars—that are driving up the cost of everything will sink his party’s chances in the midterm election.

What’s a president to do?

Try to suppress the vote, of course. After all, it almost worked on Jan. 6, 2021, when he stirred up a mob to storm the Capitol. He wants to rig this year’s election by lying about voter fraud, which is virtually nonexistent. He wants to make it harder for Democrats and independents to cast their ballots.

Attacking the credibility of mail-in voting is a core element of that strategy.

Small problem. Nobody with any sense believes him, including the overwhelming majority of public officials of both parties overseeing elections all over the country.

Why?

Because it is their job to ensure that elections are free from fraud and interference. Including interference from the Executive Branch of the federal government, which has no say in elections because they are run by the states.

In Florida, elections are administered by local Supervisors of Elections who, themselves, must stand for election from time to time. There are 67 of them, one for each county.

One such elected official is Melissa Blazier of Collier County, who also serves as a director of the professional organization to which Florida elections officials belong: Florida Supervisors of Elections.

Blazier was interviewed Monday on The Dave Elliot Show and was asked: “How many fraudulent vote-by-mail ballots have you counted in your tenure?”

Her answer:

Blazier noted that before anyone is issued a mail-in ballot, they have to submit extensive “personal identifying information“ before even being sent a ballot, and once the ballot is received, that data is reverified and a real-life human being checks the signature.

In other words, as safe as humanly possible.

And that comes from someone who actually knows what she’s talking about, not the White House.

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Dave Elliott, btw, is the best-known talk-radio host in Southwest Florida, and he recently launched his own internet program. I’m honored to be one of his guests from time to time, and the two of us are plotting our own podcast. Stay tuned for more on that. You can hear Melissa Blazier’s full conversation with Dave (as well as my own comments) by clicking the link below and forwarding the audio recording to about the 44th minute mark.

The Dave Elliott Show

Key Election Dates:

• Deadline for counties to send overseas vote-by-mail ballots: September 19, 2026

• Deadline for counties to send vote-by-mail ballots to domestic voters: September 24, 2026 – October 1, 2026

• Deadline to register to vote: October 5, 2026

• Deadline to request that ballot be mailed: October 22, 2026

• Early voting period (mandatory period): October 24 – 31, 2026
  (Contact Supervisor of Elections for optional days of early voting)

• Election Day: November 3, 2026

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Aside from our lame-duck governor, Ron DeSantis, two culprits stand out in the Hope Florida scandal who seem to have, so far at least, avoided the long arm of the law.

They are Attorney General James Uthmeier and U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody. Their fingerprints are all over how the $10 million in Medicaid refunds were “misappropriated”—in a grand jury’s terms.

They weren’t indicted. Nobody was. The grand jury couldn’t figure out who to accuse due to a heretofore underreported case of mass amnesia in Tallahassee.

It should be underscored that neither Uthmeier nor Moody has been elected to the positions they now hold and hope to win in the midterm election. They were given those jobs by DeSantis in a round-robin series of payoffs for their loyalty.

Uthmeier had been serving as DeSantis’ chief of staff when he was appointed to take Moody’s place as attorney general. Moody’s post was vacant because DeSantis had appointed her to fill Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate when Donald Trump named him his Secretary of State.

Everybody got promoted. All after each had played their part in funneling those millions into a charity run by DeSantis’ wife, Casey—Hope Florida—and then quickly diverted through a series of moves orchestrated by Uthmeier and others into, among other things, campaign ads opposing a pair of ballot initiatives that the voters of Florida had said they wanted to decide upon: legalization of marijuana and supporting women’s reproductive rights.

DeSantis didn’t like either of those ideas. No matter what the citizens of Florida thought, he knew better. And while a majority of voters said “yes” to both measures, Florida law requires a 60 percent approval threshold for ballot initiatives to pass, and they fell just short. Those ads, paid for with “misappropriated” funds, may have made the difference.

Said simply, DeSantis and his flunkies took money that didn’t belong to them and rerouted it to defeat a pair of ballot measures that a majority of Floridians wanted. That money should have gone to help poor people. DeSantis didn’t care about that.

Now both Uthmeier and Moody have inherited the stink of this scandal as they face the final few weeks before Election Day.

And it has only come to light because of the tireless work of journalists in the state who refused to let the grand jury’s report remain hidden.

The Democratic caucus in the State Legislature, among others, has condemned this.

Uthmeier’s opponent, former State Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, has also called him a criminal. State Rep. Angie Nixon, running against Moody, has said she will file complaints against them with the Florida Bar. And David Jolly, the Democratic nominee to replace DeSantis, has called for a new investigation.

Uthmeier and Moody may have avoided prosecution for this odious mess—so far, at least—but they still face judgment day at the ballot box come Nov. 3.

With all that in mind, earlier today I emailed you two articles that should by now be in your inbox.

One is from Florida investigative journalist Jason Garcia, who does an admirable job of fleshing out all the details I’ve just skimmed over here, including naming other public officials who were involved and ultimately got better jobs as a reward. I urge you to take a look at it because the more you read, the more details you absorb, the more you will realize the depth of this betrayal of public trust.

Also in your inbox is a guest commentary from a State Senate candidate, David Silverberg, who is running as a Democrat in a heavily Republican district in southwest Florida.

He’s proposed legislation to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future, and in his article you can get further details on all this. He may not be on the ballot where you live, but other Democrats are, and they need to follow suit and deserve your support.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Leave a comment

Here are the links to both of those articles, which you can also find posted on the Tropic Press Website:

Jason Garcia: Conflicting testimony and foggy memories: How the Hope Florida grand jury found wrongdoing but no wrongdoers

David Silverberg: Why it’s more important than ever to introduce the ‘New Hope for Florida Act’

Related:

Hope Florida scandal gives Dems ammo to use against GOP rivals in midterm election

BREAKING NEWS: After months of cover-up, grand jury report on Hope Florida scandal shows millions ‘misappropriated’

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

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The Week Ahead

Will mail-in ballots be allowed in the upcoming midterm election as usual—or will they be disrupted by the Trump administration’s voter suppression schemes?

That’s a question for which more clarification could arrive this week. Or it could be the continuation of more chaos.

In brief:

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to the Post Office restricting the mailing of ballots to only those people on a pre-approved list submitted in advance by the states, many of which said, no, that’s unconstitutional.

Lower courts have agreed with the protesting states, saying Trump can’t do that. It’s been appealed, and last week the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in unhelpfully, not agreeing or disagreeing, only saying it is too soon to rule because the Postal Service hadn’t issued its policy yet.

Now it has. A federal judge has issued a 14-day temporary restraining order, putting implementation of the scheme on hold. Now, the Justice Department says it will appeal that restraining order even before the judge, Indira Talwani of Massachusetts, rules this week on a motion to issue a preliminary injunction.

Should the judge enjoin the government from implementing Trump’s scheme and/or if the appeals court upholds the restraining order, we can expect the Justice Department to race over to the Supreme Court for an emergency ruling.

All this while the clock is ticking down to Election Day and many states need to start printing and distributing mail-in ballots.

It’s a mess and may be messier, and whether we will have a free and fair election is what is at stake. So stay tuned as this plays out over the next few days.

For a more detailed examination of this, check out this story on Democracy Docket.

That Was The Week That Was

Donald Trump broke out his Sharpie again and renamed Lake Ontario after launching an unprovoked trade war with Canada. And the covered-up grand jury report on the Hope Florida scandal finally saw the light of day, handing Democrats a huge campaign issue. You can read those stories later in this newsletter in the section titled “Last Week’s Tropic Press Headlines.” Meanwhile, these stories didn’t break into the daily lineup, but are worth knowing about…

Trump Airport will cost millions more

It wasn’t enough that the Florida Legislature forced Palm Beach County to rename its international airport after the 47th president, and that they gave them $2.75 million of state taxpayer dollars to pay for it.

Now, Palm Beach County officials say they need yet another $2.75 million to finish the job. They need it for signage, printed materials, technology systems and operational materials, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Florida bear hunting dates revealed

Despite protests from conservationists and animal rights advocates, Florida relaunched its bear hunting season last December, the result of which was that 52 black bears were sent to Heaven.

Evidently, not enough bears were “harvested,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, so they’re doing it again.

Permit applications go on sale starting on Sept. 11, the commission announced, with the hunt scheduled for Dec. 4-27. Yep, that means you can go kill a bear on Christmas Day. Joy to the World.

Climate change reshuffles where people are moving in Florida

Some of Florida’s biggest growth spots are now on former citrus groves and cattle pastures in the interior parts of the state far from the state’s famous beachside cities, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

That’s increasingly due to climate migrants escaping coastline risks like hurricanes and flooding, as well as the high cost of homeownership from skyrocketing insurance rates following a series of recent storms.

In mid-hurricane season, state’s emergency chief fired

Kevin Guthrie, who led Florida’s emergency management division, made a last-minute decision to become Lt. Gov. Jay Collins’ running mate right before the August 18 primary election. It cost him his job.

“If people want to choose politics, more power to them,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “I didn’t think necessarily that was something Kevin aspired to, but given he’s doing that, it’s important we have emergency management just focused on emergency management, so I have accepted his resignation.”

Fortunately, this is an El Niño year, and the number of hurricanes is forecast to be below normal. But it only takes one…

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Meme of the Week

Quote of the Week

“I’ve been traveling the state talking about how we’re going to return the Attorney General’s office to the people, refocus on priorities that are going to make people’s lives better, tackling crime, costs, and corruption. My opponent is a criminal. He’s a criminal who should resign. He should come clean and turn himself in.”

—State Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez regarding his opponent Attorney General James Uthmeier

Letter of the Week

Natalie, the human printer, ego fluffer, and adoring codswallop disseminator takes root in the Oval Office as Trump’s newest personal assistant. It’s almost like he’s as jealous of President Clinton as he is of President Obama, and wanted his own Monica.

—Jeffrey W. Jones

Running Mate Poll Results

We asked readers their thoughts on whether the choice of a running mate was a big influence on the Florida governor’s race. Here are the results from 562 responses. You can read the story here.

Looking Ahead

When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)

August 30. Frankenstein Day is celebrated today, marking the birthday of Mary Shelley, born in 1797, and the author of the 1818 classic: “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.” Frankenstein, btw, is the name of the doctor who created the monster, which, itself, has no name. It is referred to variously as the creature, fiend or wretch. I call him Larry.

August 31. Thomas Edison received a patent on this day in 1887 for his “kinetoscope,” a device to view moving pictures. You can see this and other motion picture artifacts in Fort Myers at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates museum.

September 2 is World Coconut Day, and here in Florida we love our coconut palms. Too bad they’re not native, but they thrive in southern Florida where they are less likely to be damaged by frost.

September 3 is Skyscraper Day. To qualify as skyscrapers, buildings must ascend to 492 feet, and Florida has nearly 100 buildings that height or taller, with Miami topping the list with 72.

September 4. The roll-film camera is born. On this day in 1888, George Eastman patented his camera that he named a “Kodak.”

September 5. Global Handwashing Day. A good reminder given all the food illness outbreaks we’ve been experiencing lately. Thanks again, RFK.

September 6. National Wildlife Day, a time to raise awareness for endangered species of which there are more than 100 in Florida.

Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines

In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read them. Your support allows these articles to be shared. Thank you.

Hope Florida scandal gives Dems ammo to use against GOP rivals in midterm election

Water on the brain: How worried should we be about Trump renaming all these bodies of water?

Candidate slate for governor’s race is now complete. Will their choices matter?

Trump threatens to rename Lake Ontario, but why stop there? How about Lakes Epstein and Natalie for starters?

After months of cover-up, grand jury report on Hope Florida scandal shows millions ‘misappropriated’

While economists have their confabs, Americans face a food, fuel and housing crisis

Abortion ruling--if it gets to Supreme Court--could impact Florida’s restrictive laws

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thank you.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

The grand jury report into the Hope Florida scandal is giving Democrats ammunition to use against their Republican rivals in the upcoming midterm election.

And the Dems have come out swinging.

“This is blatant corruption,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said. “And for 30 years, Republicans have controlled this state, and somewhere along the way, they started acting like taxpayer money was theirs to spend, state government was theirs to exploit, and nobody had the right to question them.”

She added:

“Authoritarianism can look like leaders abusing government power, evading accountability, and treating public institutions like their own. That’s exactly the warning signs we are seeing here.”

David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for governor, also weighed in:

“The scheme defunded healthcare services for poor children to instead advance the political agenda of Gov. Ron DeSantis,” Jolly’s campaign said in a prepared release. “With key leaders in the scheme refusing to answer questions, and no one held accountable, the investigation must be reopened.”

Jolly added: “As governor, I’ve committed to doing that, and I’m asking Byron Donalds to commit to doing the same. The people of Florida deserve transparency and deserve to know if those highest in power in government in Florida indeed laundered money, healthcare money, healthcare funds intended for families and young people.”

Donalds is the Republican nominee who, to be clear, does not appear to have had any role in the misappropriation of $10 million in Medicaid funds that should have gone to needy children but were secretly funneled to political projects of DeSantis and laundered through his wife, Casey’s, Hope Florida charity.

Other Republicans—including those running for election this fall—do not have such clean hands.

Appointed U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, who will be on the Nov. 3 ballot to keep the job given to her by DeSantis, was the state’s attorney general when the Medicaid fund switcheroo was pulled off. James Uthmeier was, at the time, DeSantis’ chief of staff, but soon after was appointed attorney general to fill in for Moody. He’s also running to keep his appointed post.

Former State Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, the Democrat on the fall ballot who will face Uthmeier, is calling the attorney general a “criminal.”

“I’ve been traveling the state talking about how we’re going to return the Attorney General’s office to the people, refocus on priorities that are going to make people’s lives better, tackling crime, costs, and corruption,” Rodriguez said. “My opponent is a criminal. He’s a criminal who should resign. He should come clean and turn himself in.”

As the Florida Phoenix reported:

“Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida,” the grand jury report reads. “This decision was the original misappropriation, and no witness would take responsibility for making the decision or had any memory of who made it.”

And because “virtually everyone involved is a lawyer and acted on the advice of other lawyers,” the grand jury concluded that fact would pose an “impediment to criminal prosecution.”

Rodriguez blamed Uthmeier.

“James Uthmeier was the person with authority here. It was his [political] committee. He directed the money. He directed those involved. And you know, Floridians need leaders who are going to clean house in Tallahassee. To clean house means to break down that wall of silence, the conspiratorial corruption that we have in Tallahassee, that this grand jury report lays out,” Rodriguez said.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, who will face Moody in the U.S. Senate contest, said:

“Think about this: Ashley Moody stole $10 million from children in Florida. Everyone involved in this, Ashley Moody included, should resign. They should resign. Enough is enough.”

Nixon says she is going to file complaints against Uthmeier, Moody, and others with the Florida Bar.

In less than 10 weeks, voters will have their chance to express their dissatisfaction as well.

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

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J.C. Bruce

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“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”

—Donald Trump on Truth Social

By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Donald Trump has this thing about renaming bodies of water.

First, he decided that the Gulf of Mexico should become the Gulf of America because he was sore at our southern neighbor over immigration issues.

Then he popularized internet memes suggesting that the Strait of Hormuz should henceforth be known as the Strait of Trump, as if he had actually taken over that vital waterway in the Persian Gulf instead of actually floundering in an ill-considered war.

Now, he’s threatening to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America because, once again, he’s launched a war—this time a trade war with Canada—for no good reason other than spitefulness.

But while no human on the planet may waste more time posting codswallop on social media than Trump (with the help of his ever-present “personal assistant” Natalie Harp), others have weighed in on this latest round of watery trash talk.

Canada should step in and block Trump from renaming Lake Ontario, some suggest, by preemptively changing the lake’s name itself. One suggestion: Lake Epstein.

But why stop there? After all, there are five Great Lakes. Let’s rename them all.

You can see my suggestions in the proposed map at the top of this column.

I’m with the Canadians in renaming at least one lake after Trump’s close friend and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, just as a reminder of the card Trump is alleged to have sent him, which read: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."

But no renaming of those great bodies of water would be complete without at least acknowledging Epstein’s pimp, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was serving time in a Florida penitentiary until Trump’s personal lawyer and now attorney general, Todd Blanche, arranged her transfer to a cushy Club Fed complete with yoga classes and puppy therapy.

Since we’re on a roll with females in Trump’s wobbly orbit, a few more suggestions:

Let’s name one of the lakes after Stormy Daniels, the porn film star who testified against Trump in the 2024 hush money trial in which she recounted an alleged sexual encounter she had with him at a golf tournament.

Speaking of legalities, no list of lake names would be complete without recognizing the writer E. Jean Carroll, who successfully sued Trump for defamation over her claims that he assaulted her in the dressing room of a New York department store. Trump has already been forced to pay her $5 million, with a further—and much larger— payment in the appeals court process.

Finally, since we’ve already mentioned her in passing, with five Great Lakes surely there should be room for one to be named after yet another headline grabber: Trump’s “human printer,” Natalie Harp, who never seems to leave his side as she pumps out adoring messages for him to keep his ego fluffed.

There you have it, the new lineup of Great Lake Names. Feel free to offer your own suggestions, as well.

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

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J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

The lineup for the midterm governor’s race is now complete as both the Democratic and Republican candidates have picked their running mates.

Democratic nominee David Jolly was out of the gate early with his choice—Gwen Graham—a former member of Congress who also campaigned to be the Democrats’ gubernatorial candidate in 2018 but lost to former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, who, in turn, lost to Ron DeSantis by less than a percentage point.

Graham brings a familiar name to Jolly’s ticket, especially for longtime Floridians, as her dad, Bob Graham, was a U.S. senator and the 38th governor of the state.

Like Jolly, she has a reputation as a political moderate. While Graham is a lifelong Democrat, she voted against Nancy Pelosi for Speaker in 2015, and at that time was ranked the ninth-most bipartisan member of the U.S. House.

Jolly is also a former member of Congress. He was a Republican at the time, but abandoned the G.O.P in 2018 as he grew critical of the party’s direction under Donald Trump.

The Republican nominee for governor, Byron Donalds, is a polar opposite in that regard, who enjoys Trump’s endorsement and says of himself:

“I am everything the fake news media tells you doesn’t exist. A strong Trump supporting, gun owning, liberty loving, pro-life, politically incorrect black man.”

This politically incorrect man has now picked his running mate, Bryan Avila, a state senator from Hialeah who, among his legislative accomplishments, includes his sponsorship of the Stop WOKE Act.

The whole point of lieutenant governor picks in Florida is to broaden the gubernatorial candidate’s potential voting base.

In Jolly’s case, he went mainstream moderate, white, and female.

Donalds went MAGA, Hispanic, and male.

Beyond that, the lieutenant governorship in Florida is largely a ceremonial post unlike the position in a few other states. In Texas, for instance, the lieutenant governor is also the president of the Texas Senate. In Florida, he or she is just a spare part, a fill-in should something happen to the governor.

Given that, does either choice really matter? Historically, not so much, but we’ll see if it makes a difference in this year’s election.

You can learn more about both of these candidates, their bios, political accomplishments, education and other background information on their Wikipedia pages:

Gwen Graham

Bryan Avila

So, here’s a question for you:

Leave a comment

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

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J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

This week, according to Axios, “is shaping up to be a seismic week for global economic policy.”

That’s because two towns in the United States are hosting summits—one, in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for the world’s central bankers; the other in Asheville, N.C., for the finance ministers of the top 20 industrial nations.

For most of us, however, every week seems seismic lately as we make our way to the gas station or grocery store and experience stunning economic deflation of our wallets.

All of this occurring while President Donald Trump—for reasons known only to him and Natalie Harp—has decided to levy 50 percent tariffs on goods entering the United States from Canada.

And, just to be clear, tariffs are taxes. What this means is that Americans and American businesses that need Canadian goods like cars and trucks, adult beverages, dairy products, clothing and—naturally—hockey sticks will have to pay more for them, driving up inflation.

The Canadians, not to be outdone, are figuring out what American goods they want to tax, which will hurt U.S. business exports.

All while inflation is raging, forcing higher interest rates on things like mortgages and other loans, and the cost of living is THE campaign issue going into the midterm elections.

It’s hard to imagine worse timing if you happened to be a president interested in preserving your party’s control of Congress. (Maybe a little less time with Natalie and her printer and more time actually doing your job, Donald.)

So, while the central bankers and the finance ministers have their confabs, the economy they are supposed to preside over is being thrown into chaos. It’s definitely seismic.

Which is why Democrats, such as U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon, are leaning into populist messages focusing on soaring healthcare costs and the price of food, fuel, and housing.

It’s why she also advocates for a $25 minimum wage, Medicare for All, and a wealth tax on billionaires, among other things.

Her Republican opponent, appointed incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody, who Nixon will face off against in November, calls her a communist for those ideas.

I call her smart.

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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The Week Ahead

We celebrate an historic event this week. August 26 is the anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. The amendment prohibits the federal government and states from denying any citizen the right to vote based on sex.

The passage of the 19th Amendment capped decades of struggle led by activists such as Susan B. Anthony to win the right to vote for women.

Incredibly, some states tried other tactics to restrict voting by both women and men through poll taxes and literacy tests until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The struggle to ensure that every American citizen continues to have the right and ability to vote in our democracy continues as President Donald Trump’s undermines public confidence in election results, attempts to limit mail-in ballots, and threatens to send thugs to polling places on Election Day. All while the Supreme Court hacks away at provisions of the Voting Rights Act that ensured fair representation in Congress for minorities.

As the saying goes: The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Which starts with keeping up with current events, precisely what this newsletter is all about. Thank you for subscribing.

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That Was The Week That Was

She’s ever-present, her adoring smile showing up wherever President Donald Trump seems to be, her letters of affection for her boss making cringe-worthy headlines.

The most sensational story of the week centered on 35-year-old Natalie Harp, our 80-year-old president’s constant companion, human printer and ego fluffer, the woman who Trump sneaked off Air Force One in Turkey to avoid Iranian threats while leaving Cabinet members on the decoy jet.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff said out loud what everyone was thinking:

“He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do his job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”

As USA Today reported, “She went from background character in the Trump administration to a national focal point in a blink…”

In case you missed it, here’s a very good summary:

Oh, Natalie!

Angie Nixon’s surprise victory

Angie Nixon was a Black progressive woman working with a shoestring budget and no political party backing, but she proved a candidate can win a statewide election in Florida with a populist message.

Without a single major television buy, Nixon, a state representative from Jacksonville, won by 12 percentage points over Lt. Col. Alex Vindman who was highly favored by the Democratic establishment.

Now she’s the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, and the question is: Can she do it again?

Sources for more information:

Orlando Sentinel: Democrat Angie Nixon stunned politicos Tuesday night. Can she win again?

Tropic Press: Primary turnout was abysmal, which may have helped Nixon but could hurt Dems in November

Here’s how America’s $40 trillion debt can hit your wallet

The U.S. national debt this week topped $40 trillion, raising fresh concerns about how rising federal borrowing could affect Americans’ finances.

Americans don’t personally owe the national debt, but rising debt could pressure lawmakers to raise taxes, cut spending or change federal benefits.

That figure includes debt the government owes itself. Trump’s tax-and-spending law is projected to add trillions to federal deficits over the next decade, while the White House has sought tens of billions of dollars in additional funding tied to the Iran war.

Higher national debt could make mortgages, student loans and small-business borrowing more expensive by putting upward pressure on interest rates, according to a new report from the Conference Board, a nonprofit think tank.

Supreme Court Allows Trump to Move Forward With White House Ballroom

The Supreme Court is letting President Trump move forward with his expensive White House ballroom.

Chief Justice John Roberts ordered a stay in the preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that would have halted work at 11:59 p.m. This means that for now, construction can resume while the high court gives a full review to the lower court’s ruling earlier this month that the ballroom is illegal due to a lack of congressional approval.

Trump Boasts of Declassifying Secrets, but Withholds Key Election Files From Public

The White House in recent weeks has made public a steady drip of previously classified intelligence about foreign threats to elections and other matters, offering President Trump and his allies ammunition for baseless conspiracy theories about potential vote rigging.

But one crucial document has not been among the releases, despite a congressional requirement for it to be: the assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies of foreign meddling efforts during the 2024 election.

The omission of the report on the 2024 election shows the highly selective nature of the Trump White House’s approach to declassification. It is just one example of many where the administration has ignored bipartisan pressure from Congress, including legal requirements, by withholding certain documents from public view even as it publishes hundreds of pages of material it has promised will reveal deep-state coverups of foreign meddling efforts.

Meme of the Week

He Said It

“They say Florida is a red state. I don’t believe that’s true. Working people all over this country — in red states, in blue states, in the North, and in the South — are sick and tired of status quo politics and status quo policies. They want change, real change.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders

Letter of the Week

The problem with judging the electorate's mood by primary results in a closed-state election like Florida's is that, while registered Republicans in Florida outnumber registered Democrats by nearly six to four, one in four Florida voters register NPA and were thus left out of the poll. Another change I've noticed in the political landscape since the 1950s and 1960s is that American cultural values have shifted so far toward the left that the cultural center is now somewhere around traditional progressivism. While far-right MAGA fascists may be correct that "Jews will not replace us," it is likely that progressives already have. Even the word "socialist" may have become politically acceptable!

— Charles G. Masi

Looking Ahead

When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)

August 23. North American Grilled Veggies Day. Just as a reminder, cooking vegetables kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites, in case you’re still concerned about Cyclospora and mounting food recalls.

August 24. British troops invaded Washington, D.C., on this day in 1814, setting fire to the White House and the U.S. Capitol during the War of 1812. There was no East Wing on the White House then. Or now, for that matter, thanks to Trump.

August 25. National Park Service Day marks the 1916 creation by President Woodrow Wilson of the U.S. National Park Service. Despite some rumors, Yogi Bear was not there. He wasn’t born until 1958.

August 26. It’s National Hot Dog Day in addition to Women’s Equality Day.

August 27. Mars Attacks. On this day in 2003, we had a close encounter with another planet when Mars came within 34.6 million miles of Earth. It was the nearest the Red Planet had been in 60,000 years. Important to note, Mars is not our nearest planetary neighbor. Venus comes closer in its orbit at 24 million miles. But oddly, when Venus and Mars are further away in their orbits around the Sun, sometimes Mercury is actually closer than either of them.

August 28. Happy birthday, St. Augustine. It was on this day in 1565 that the United States’ oldest continuously occupied European-established city was founded on the northeast coast of Florida. You will note there were several qualifiers there, since long before the so-called New World was “discovered” by Europeans, people actually lived here whether the Euros knew it or not.

August 29. Hello, Goodbye. The Beatles played their final ticketed concert to a paying public at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on this night in 1966. Shortly thereafter, John Lennon told his bandmates he was calling it quits.

Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines

In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.

It’s primary election day. What you need to know before you vote

How can we ‘86’ these attacks on the First Amendment?

Primary turnout was abysmal, which may have helped Nixon but could hurt Dems in November

Donalds kept House re-election campaign alive during run for Governor

The November lineup is set as Florida voters nominate Donalds, Jolly, Moody and Nixon

As Florida’s primary nears, Trump hints at using ‘emergency’ powers for the general election

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Only about one in four registered voters turned out for this week’s primary election in Florida, which wasn’t a surprise, but may have heavily influenced the results in at least one critical race.

Low voter turnout is common in primaries and tends to give an advantage to candidates appealing to more passionate political leanings.

Said another way, voters in the middle of the political spectrum, moderates of both major parties, tend to be underrepresented in primary elections compared to the general elections in November.

This is especially so in so-called “closed primary” states like Florida, which by law requires that voters belong to either the Democratic or Republican parties to vote in those primary elections. This despite the fact that all taxpayers foot the bill.

Even conservative-leaning states such as Texas are more progressive in this regard, allowing all registered voters to participate.

So, there was diminished incentive for Florida's more than 3 million voters unaffiliated with either major party to vote this week, but it is reasonable to expect that come November they’ll show up for key gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and congressional races.

But their moderating influence wasn’t felt in this primary, which may have been an assist to State Rep. Angie Nixon, the Democratic Socialist firebrand from Jacksonville who staged an upset win—by a wide margin—over her more well-funded opponent, former army officer and Trump whistleblower Alex Vindman.

Vindman had outraised Nixon by a wide margin, but, shockingly, left millions unspent by election day, forgoing an opportunity to make his case to voters in a race where both candidates were not particularly well known.

Vindman spent much of his campaign focusing on what he assumed would be his eventual November rival, incumbent U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, instead of Nixon.

Moody will be on the ballot this fall, but Vindman will not. He would have been better advised to understand that Nixon’s anti-establishment message would resonate, and that he needed to take her candidacy more seriously.

Not the first time hubris has doomed a campaign.

But while the highly personable Nixon scored a big primary win, political prognosticators question whether she will be able to prevail against Moody, who was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Ron DeSantis when Marco Rubio vacated the job to become Secretary of State.

The Center for Politics in Virginia, which publishes Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, immediately changed its outlook for the Florida senatorial race from “likely Republican” to “safely Republican.”

Here’s what the prognosticators had to say about Nixon’s victory and the possible consequences for down-ballot candidates in Florida come November:

Florida’s Democratic primary for Senate produced a significant surprise. State Rep. Angie Nixon (D), a legislator from the Jacksonville area and Democratic Socialist, defeated former National Security Council member Alex Vindman by a 56%-44% margin.

In January, we moved our overall rating for the Senate race from Safe Republican to Likely Republican. That change was predicated, to a large extent, on the fact that Vindman seemed to be in the driver’s seat of his primary. And if he proved anything like his twin brother, Rep. Eugene Vindman (D, VA-7), on the fundraising front, he would have no problem raising enough money to at least keep what has otherwise become a daunting state on the board. Indeed, ahead of this week’s primary, Vindman had raised about $16 million, while Nixon had raised less than $1 million. In a big state like Florida, Vindman could at least have run a statewide campaign.

If the current political mood was similar to what Trump’s first midterm saw, Vindman probably would have been better positioned. His endorsements from figures like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D, MD-8) and author Mary Trump suggested that he was a good fit for older, high-information “#resistance” voters. In fact, according to Redistricter, residents older than 65 collectively accounted for nearly 30% of the population of the 15 counties that Vindman carried; senior citizens made up just 18% of the population of the counties Nixon won.

Nixon, who ran as a more strident progressive, seemed to have more credibility with grassroots Democrats. She also received some prominent outside endorsements, including from members of the progressive “Squad” and, notably, YouTuber Ms. Rachel. Orlando-area Rep. Maxwell Frost (D, FL-10) was one of her more visible backers; outside of her home county, Jacksonville’s Duval, she carried the core Orlando metro counties by better than 2-to-1. One thing that may have hurt Vindman, even in a state where many residents were not born there themselves, is that he really did not have much connection to Florida before deciding to run there. In another Florida primary … the GOP race for the open, dark red FL-19 got national attention for attracting a litany of candidates from out of state, but the candidate who won the nomination, media company owner Jim Schwartzel, is actually from the area.

But Democrats now enter the general election with a more progressive and lesser-funded nominee against appointed Sen. Ashley Moody (R). Moody is running to serve out the final two years of the term that now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) won in 2022. She has been criticized by some for running a low-key campaign, but she lacks any obvious baggage and is essentially a generic Republican in a bright red state.

This was always going to be a heavy lift for Democrats, but following the primary, we are moving Florida’s Senate race back to Safe Republican from Likely Republican.

For Senate Democrats, the silver lining of this change might be that Florida now looks less attractive to donors. While it is impossible to precisely dictate where donors send money, those contributions would presumably be more likely to end up in more competitive states.

However, having to run with a weaker Senate nominee may make life a little harder for some down-ballot Democrats in Florida’s more marginal districts. That said, a much different kind of candidate, party-switching former Republican Rep. David Jolly, is the Democratic nominee in the state’s other top statewide race (the state’s gubernatorial race remains rated Likely Republican in our ratings).

It bears noting, of course, that the reason the Crystal Ball forecasters had to change their Florida outlook is that they got it wrong in the first place. They, like Vindman, underestimated Nixon’s appeal.

Voter registration odds are, of course, against any Democrat running statewide in Florida, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats 5.6 million to 4 million.

That said, there are several factors to consider that mitigate against this election being a foregone conclusion, in my opinion:

• There are 3.3 million voters registered as No Party Affiliation who will enter the voting pool come November. How they will lean is yet to be determined.

• Ashley Moody is relying on her loyalty to Trump. But Trump’s popularity has been sinking. Said another way, she may have tied her political future to a sinking ship even in heavily Republican Florida.

• Voter turnout will be a huge factor in November as it is in every election. Will Trump in the dumps dampen Republican voter turnout?

• Finally, as we saw this week, it is a mistake to underestimate Angie Nixon.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters — especially Democrats and independents — as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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Florida voters have spoken.

This November, the headline election matchups will be:

FOR GOVERNOR

Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples won the Republican nomination for governor with just under 50 percent of the primary vote on Tuesday. He vastly out-fundraised and outpolled his other Republican opponents, and had Donald Trump’s endorsement.

He will face David Jolly, a former Republican congressman turned Democrat, who had no serious opposition in the primary as his main opponent, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, dropped out for health reasons.

Donalds is an ardent Trump acolyte; Jolly is positioning himself as a moderate Democrat.

Donalds won 48% of the vote in a crowded primary field of 10 Republicans, and while Jolly faced five opponents, it wasn’t close, as he easily beat back his challengers, winning 61% of the vote.

Among the defeated Republicans were former House Speaker Paul Renner, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, and investor James Fishback.

As Christine Sexton of Florida Phoenix reports:

None of them could get enough traction to mount a serious challenge to Donalds, who won the president’s endorsement, but never Gov. Ron DeSantis’.

DeSantis, who for a while touted First Lady Casey DeSantis as a potential gubernatorial nominee before the Hope Florida Foundation scandal, never endorsed any of the Republicans in the primary.

Collins finished in second place with more than 25% of the vote. DeSantis named him lieutenant governor in August 2025 but he did not become a Republican gubernatorial hopeful until earlier this year. Collins sold himself as someone who would continue DeSantis’ legacy but the governor never endorsed his second-in-command.

DeSantis also had a close working relationship with Renner during his two years as House speaker, but DeSantis initially called Renner’s run for governor “ill-advised.” DeSantis acknowledged earlier this month that Renner would make a “good” governor, but still there was no endorsement. Renner finished with 8.5% of the vote.

Fishback, who won slightly more than 10% of the vote, repeatedly insulted Donalds and called him a “slave” to donors.

The Democratic gubernatorial primary was far less dramatic once Demings withdrew from the race.

As noted, Jolly is positioning himself as a moderate to Donalds’ far-right, pro-MAGA positions. Jolly had served as a member of Congress as a Republican, but he abandoned the G.O.P. after Trump was elected.

U.S. SENATE

This will be a special election in November to fill out the remainder of Marco Rubio’s term, which he abandoned when he became Secretary of State. DeSantis appointed Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill the spot, and now she will have to defend it as the temporary incumbent.

Democrats overwhelmingly chose State Rep. Angie Nixon to take on that task in Tuesday’s primary.

This was the most interesting race on the ballot Tuesday, the question being whether Nixon had the support to overcome the name recognition and fundraising muscle of her opponent, former Army officer and Trump whistleblower Alex Vindman.

Nixon approached the race from the more progressive wing of the party; Vindman positioned himself as a moderate.

As Florida Phoenix’s Jay Waagmeester reports:

Nixon’s victory concluded a primary that had some wondering whether progressive Democrats’ wins around the nation would carry into Florida.

Nixon, carrying endorsements of several of Florida’s progressive Democratic legislators, enjoyed a significantly smaller campaign account compared to challenger Alex Vindman.

With 88% of votes in, the Associated Press reported Nixon had captured 55.7% of votes to Vindman’s 44.3%. Nixon’s share of the votes equates to more than 660,000 while Vindman’s is about 530,000.

According to FEC reports through July 29, Nixon had spent nearly $710,000 and received nearly $975,000, with ending cash on hand of $264,978.

Vindman received $16.27 million and spent $9 million, leaving him with $7.26 million cash on hand as of July 29.

In her victory speech, Nixon called for unity but also took aim at her new opponent.

“We are strongest when we are united, and it’s going to take all of us to win in November,” Nixon said.

She turned her attention to Moody.

“Ashley Moody can call me whatever she wants, she can call us whatever she wants, but in November she will call me senator,” Nixon said to applause.

In a text message this morning that I received, Nixon had this to say:

“Winning the primary was only the beginning. We have 77 days to flip Florida blue, win this Senate seat, and help take back the U.S. Senate.”

For a complete look at other statewide race results and the outcomes of Florida’s congressional races, check out this election tracking page from WUSF:

Election Results

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters — especially Democrats and independents — as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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