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Republicans now have supermajority in Florida. Here’s what it means.

Former Florida State University defensive lineman Corey Simon blocked the reelection bid of Sen. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, Tuesday and secured a supermajority for the GOP in the Florida Senate. 

Simon had never run for office and his victory gives Republican enough votes to change the rules and procedures for policymaking.  

The Florida Republican Party launched an aggressive midterm offensive to gain complete control of Tallahassee, spending at least $33 million on five senate races. 

The GOP needed 27 seats to achieve a two-thirds majority. They flipped three and claimed two open seats to get to 28. 

House Speaker-designate Paul Renner names two to leadership team

Ahead of the organizational session next week, House Speaker-designate Paul Renner has named Reps. Chuck Clemons and Michael Grant to his leadership team. Clemons will be Speaker Pro Tempore and Grant will be Majority Leader.

Grant, a Port Charlotte Republican, has served two different stints in the House, the first from 2004 to 2008, and the current one since 2016. He’ll now be responsible for corralling the GOP’s 85 members — the most for Republicans since Reconstruction.

“The best leaders in our process excel at guiding members through the challenges and opportunities they face during their time of service in Tallahassee,” Renner, a Palm Coast Republican, said of Grant’s appointment. “Rep. Grant’s skill in moving bills through the legislative process and management of floor debate positions our 85-member supermajority for success.”

‘DeFuture’? Ron to the Rescue super PAC kicks off with 2024 ad

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to be coy about plans to run for President in 2024, but supporters aren’t waiting to make that case for him, labeling DeSantis as “DeFuture.”

The “Ron to the Rescue” super PAC is rolling out a new ad that spotlights how the Governor is the best answer for Republicans to what President Joe Biden has done since taking office.

The 60-second spot begins with newscasters discussing COVID-19 “lockdown” mitigation measures, over shots of barren streets from Anytown USA. The tropes of inflation, high gas prices and violent crime were introduced next, establishing the theme of America as a “nation on the brink.”

All hope was not lost, however. By the 25-second mark, a chyron reassures that a “strong leader emerges,” and DeSantis’ familiar exhortations from his Election Night victory speech ring through speakers thereafter.

FL Gulf Coast University helps keep sea turtles research safe from Hurricane Ian

Sea turtle nests in the sand on Sanibel Island hatch at nearly twice the rate as clutches on Captiva Island, and a long-term study to find out why was kept from a setback after Florida Gulf Coast University stepped in when Hurricane Ian crossed Cuba and moved toward the sister barrier islands in late September.

Scientists from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation have been monitoring myriad environmental conditions in dozens of nests on both islands trying to figure out what’s going on.

The multi-year project is “taking a deeper look into how physical properties of the incubation environment may interact to impact hatch success, such as temperature, moisture, and sand grain size, compaction, color, and bulk density,” said Jacob Wozney, a sea turtle researcher involved in the study. “The sand on Sanibel has some differences from the sand on Captiva, which has added non-native sand to its beaches as part of ongoing beach renourishment projects.”