https://washingtonsun.com/florida Florida en-US Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:33:11 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/lev-parnas-congress-money-payments-fec-florida Taylor Giorno Parnas’ campaign told regulators it paid the Florida companies for “PR services” and “strategy consulting.” Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:33:11 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/lev-parnas-congress-money-payments-fec-florida Lev Parnas’ Florida congressional campaign paid a cleaning company and makeup artist thousands of dollars for services they don’t appear to provide — raising questions about whether funds were used for personal expenses.

The campaign of Parnas — a former Rudy Giuliani ally sentenced to prison earlier this decade in part for campaign finance crimes — disclosed paying $18,500 in April to Hands at Work LLC for “PR Services,” according to FEC records.

Hands at Work LLC is a cleaning company, according to a man who identified himself as the son of Marelbi Franco, who is listed as the company manager on Florida business records, when contacted by NOTUS. Franco’s son ended the call after NOTUS asked what PR services the Parnas campaign had paid the cleaning company to handle.

The Parnas campaign’s address is a mailbox at a UPS store in Miami, and the campaign has not disclosed in its FEC reports ever paying for physical campaign office space.

The Parnas campaign also paid $3,000 in May to Le Tropique Inc. for “strategy consulting,” according to its latest FEC report. Le Tropique Inc. is a Florida-based makeup studio owned by Terry Jacobs, who did not respond to an email or phone call requesting comment.

Most of the $30,000 Parnas’ campaign committee has raised through June went to services from Hands at Work LLC and Le Tropique Inc., according to FEC records.

Federal campaign finance law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal expenses.

Hands at Work "does diverse work," the unnamed Parnas spokesperson wrote in an email to NOTUS following publication of this article.

"In this situation it paid subcontractors who handled only campaign-related tasks such as communication strategies and community engagement strategy," the spokesperson wrote.

And in addition to being "a well known makeup artist," according to the spokesperson, Jacobs "also provides outreach consulting, including helping organize door‑knocking in senior centers (she is a senior citizen herself) centers and entities which she contacted for the campaign."

Parnas campaign treasurer Andrew Madras did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Prior to publication, NOTUS tried several phone numbers for Parnas and eventually reached a person who identified themself as one of Parnas’ representatives. The person, who did not offer their name, declined to provide Parnas’ contact information but said they would pass on NOTUS’ inquiry.

On Tuesday, Parnas told his 82,000 Substack subscribers that his “campaign is real” and warned there was “a coordinated effort to disrupt our community by spreading lies and misinformation about me and my campaign.”

“As I have been warning you, organized disinformation campaigns are being carried out by paid actors whose goal is to discredit, divide, and disrupt our community,” Parnas wrote. “That is why facts matter. That is why transparency matters. And that is why I will always show you the receipts.”

A key figure in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, Parnas has rebranded himself as an anti-Trump crusader and built a sizable social media following — although his online presence pales in comparison to that of his son, Aaron Parnas, a prominent Democratic influencer and news aggregator who has more than 5 million TikTok followers.

The elder Parnas’ entry in electoral politics this year had proven decidedly turbulent.

Parnas initially filed to run as a Democrat in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar. He then amended his federal election paperwork in June to run as an independent in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, which leans Republican, according to the nonpartisan election handicappers at the Cook Political Report.

“I helped build MAGA, and now I promise you I will do everything in my power to dismantle the corruption surrounding it piece by piece, truth by truth, until democracy wins,” Parnas said in a video on his Subtack announcing his campaign.

At present, Parnas’ name does not appear on the Florida Division of Elections’ list of congressional candidates, as independent journalist Troy Barile first noted on Medium.

After publication, Gretl Plessinger, communications director at the Florida Department of State, told NOTUS that the website list was up to date and the "qualifying dates for Florida congressional candidates have passed."

Parnas’ campaign has not spent any money on traditional political advertising, according to the ad tracking platform AdImpact. Parnas personally posts frequently on his YouTube page, including a recent interview with Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden.

Parnas burst into the national spotlight during Trump’s first impeachment trial, where Trump faced charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Parnas, who was born in Ukraine, alleged Giuliani sent him to urge the Ukrainian government to open an investigation into the Bidens ahead of the 2020 presidential election — and that Trump “knew exactly what was going on,” an allegation Trump has denied.

In 2021, a jury convicted Parnas of campaign finance crimes, among others, for conspiring to funnel money from a Russian oligarch into U.S. elections. He was sentenced in 2022 to 20 months in prison and was released in September 2023, according to the Bureau of Prisons’ inmate database.

Parnas and Hunter Biden reconciled after his release. During his interview with the younger Biden, which was released last week on Kick, Parnas again apologized to the entire Biden family.

“What we’re seeing play out in Trump 2.0 is the sicker we could get, the more crazier we could do it, the more sycophantic we could become,” Parnas said, adding, “It’s just incredible to watch, man.”

This article has been updated to include a comment from the Parnas campaign and Florida Department of State.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/florida/flock-camera-removal Torrie Herrington Florida’s decision came days after Gov. Ron DeSantis raised concerns about the technology. Tue, 01 Sep 2026 23:23:18 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/florida/flock-camera-removal Florida is ordering law-enforcement agencies to remove automated license-plate readers from state roads, becoming the first in the country to remove existing Flock cameras from state-controlled highways.

On Monday, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for automated license-plate readers on state roads, giving agencies 30 days to remove them before the state takes them down. The department also said it will no longer approve permits for new readers.

The move reflects a growing public backlash against the technology company Flock Safety, whose cameras are used by law enforcement nationwide to track vehicles and aid investigations.

The Florida Department of Transportation cited the rapid growth of the technology and concerns about its use.

“While Florida law limits the issuance of permits for LPR systems to law enforcement agencies, the recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways, coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes merit immediate action to preserve Floridians’ sovereignty and quality of life,” The department’s chief operating officer, Will Watts, wrote in a memo.

The directive applies to cameras installed within the rights-of-way of the state highway system. It does not prohibit cameras installed on private property, including commercial developments, and does not automatically eliminate cameras on roads controlled by cities and counties.

While Florida is the first state to revoke camera permits and remove existing readers from state roads, other states and local governments began restricting the technology in a bipartisan wave this year. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras, while Washington state implemented tighter regulations on data sharing and handling. A number of candidates in local and national races from both parties have also criticized the devices or called for their elimination.

Florida’s decision came days after Gov. Ron DeSantis raised concerns about the technology, even as he defended its usefulness to law enforcement.

“I’m all about having law enforcement have tools to be able to hold criminals accountable,” the Republican governor said at Florida International University last week. “But I don’t want to have this become a surveillance state.”

DeSantis has also pointed to recent examples of alleged misuse of the technology by law-enforcement officers. In one Florida case, an officer was accused of using license-plate-reader data to track an ex-girlfriend.

Some Florida law-enforcement agencies say they are now working to remove the cameras. The Putnam County sheriff's office said it would discontinue its Flock program, while other agencies affirmed they would comply with the state's 30-day deadline.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/florida/school-vaccine-requirement-rollback Jenna Monnin A proposed rule represents a step forward in the state surgeon general’s plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates. Mon, 24 Aug 2026 22:46:23 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/florida/school-vaccine-requirement-rollback Florida is set to roll back four vaccine requirements for children attending the state’s public schools, according to a new rule published Monday by the state Department of Health. The proposed guidelines come after Florida’s surgeon general launched an effort last fall to eliminate all vaccine mandates for school children.

The rule would allow Florida children to attend school without receiving immunizations for chickenpox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B and pneumococcal disease. The Department of Health purports that the proposed rule eliminates vaccine mandates for shots that aren’t required under state law.

Florida law requires children to be vaccinated for seven diseases — polio, diphtheria, tetanus, rubeola (measles), rubella, pertussis and mumps — as well as “other communicable diseases as determined by rules of the Department of Health.” The four diseases at issue in the new proposed rule were requirements under the state’s health department, which is now trying to change its own administrative rule.

The period for public comment on the proposed regulation will be open for 21 days.

The push to roll back vaccine requirements in Florida has gained traction under the state’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021.

Lapado has been aligned with other vaccine skeptics and rose to prominence as a member of the group “America’s Frontline Doctors,” which was widely criticized during the COVID-19 pandemic for spreading misinformation about the virus and urging Americans against vaccination.

The group’s founder, Simone Gold, was sentenced to two months in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. She was pardoned with other Jan. 6 participants by President Donald Trump.

Shortly after assuming his role as Florida’s top medical official, Ladapo reversed COVID-19 quarantine and vaccine requirements. The surgeon general also courted controversy by personally altering data in a study about COVID-19 vaccines to claim that the vaccine posed a higher risk for young men, Politico reported in 2023.

Last year Lapado expanded his efforts to oppose vaccine requirements, saying he plans to eliminate all vaccine mandates for Floridians.

"Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery," Ladapo said about vaccine mandates at a news conference in September.

Measles cases have surged across the country, despite the availability of a vaccine that protects children from the potentially deadly disease and carries relatively little risk of adverse health effects. The Florida Department of Health has reported 155 cases so far in 2026, while just seven cases were reported last year, according to WLRN.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida), who’s running to replace DeSantis for governor in a race rated “Solid R” by the Cook Political Report, told CBS News over the weekend that he plans to “study” vaccine requirements for polio and measles and committed to working with the state Legislature before making “any of those decisions about requirements for those vaccines.”

Donalds also claimed, without evidence, that the surge in measles cases could be attributed to illegal immigration.

The new wave of vaccine policy reversals in Florida also comes weeks after Trump issued an executive order that would reshape the schedule for childhood vaccines. The president’s policy expanded on earlier efforts by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that were blocked in court.

Trump said the executive order, which made several recommendations such as splitting up certain vaccines into multiple doses, aligned the U.S. “with common sense and knowledge” — though the order was immediately met with criticism from members of the medical community.

The four immunizations at issue in Florida’s new rule were listed as “recommended for all children” in Trump’s executive order.

When asked about Florida’s plan to roll back the requirements last year, Trump told reporters that some vaccines “just pure and simple work” and that those shots “should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it.”

"I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don't have to be vaccinated. It's a very ... tough position," Trump said in September.

Lapado has taken a different approach by arguing that bodily autonomy supersedes most public health concerns about vaccines. The state surgeon general called the measles shot “effective” but did not explicitly advocate for Floridians to receive the vaccine at an event in July.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/agencies/dhs-lawyer-florida-bar-ethics-complaint-james-percival Jackie Llanos More than 100 former judges say James Percival’s online behavior increases “the risk of violence” against them. Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:00:07 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/agencies/dhs-lawyer-florida-bar-ethics-complaint-james-percival The top lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security is facing a bar complaint over an incendiary series of social media posts in which he listed and criticized federal judges who have ruled against the Trump administration.

In a complaint to the Florida Bar this week, lawyer groups and more than 100 former federal and state judges called for an investigation into DHS General Counsel James Percival, who started a “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition” series of posts on X in July. The language paralleled the administration’s public lists of undocumented immigrants who had committed or were accused of committing crimes.

Percival claimed that federal judges who ruled against the Trump administration were engaging in judicial sabotage and mutiny against the Supreme Court.

But the former judges argued he mischaracterized or falsely portrayed the cases.

“These statements, and similar statements Mr. Percival has made about other sitting judges, not only constitute serious professional misconduct, but they threaten the rule of law and increase the risk of violence against judges,” the complaint from the Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy and the former judges states.

Percival has dismissed concerns about the potential for inciting threats against judges, describing his posts as fact-based critiques. But in response to the bar complaint, Percival directed his focus on former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince. Her signature, as a board member of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, appears first on the complaint.

“In honor of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince, who just filed a bar complaint against me for calling out judicial activism, I will be creating a new award,” Percival posted on X Wednesday. “The award is called the Justice Peggy Quince Lifetime Achievement Award for Worst of the Worst Judging. I am now accepting nominees!”

The complaint points to the more than 402 threats made against individual federal judges this fiscal year, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The lawyer groups and former judges want the Florida Bar to discipline Percival for violating a rule prohibiting lawyers from making false statements “or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge.”

“Mr. Percival’s statements go far beyond normal criticism,” the complaint states. “They are unfounded ad hominem attacks that directly impugn the integrity of four sitting judges.”

Only about 25% of complaints result in the opening of a disciplinary file, according to the Florida Bar website.

Last year, the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court declined to investigate an ethics complaint against former Attorney General Pam Bondi because she was a “sitting officer appointed under the U.S. Constitution.”

Before becoming DHS’s general counsel, Percival worked as then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s chief of staff and senior counsel for the Justice Department. He attended the University of Virginia School of Law.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/florida-democratic-senate-primary-alex-vindman-angie-nixon Brett Bachman Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon won the primary. Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:14:20 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/florida-democratic-senate-primary-alex-vindman-angie-nixon Alex Vindman, a former national security official who played a key role in the first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, lost a stunning upset to a progressive challenger in Florida’s U.S. Senate race Tuesday.

Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon overcame a staggering 16-to-1 spending differential to win, instead relying on a robust ground operation in what was expected to be a low-turnout primary. Given Florida’s status as a solidly red state that broke for Trump by double digits in 2024, the matchup saw no public polling before the primary — giving little indication that Nixon stood much of a chance against the name recognition and massive war chest of her opponent.

Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, is the latest resistance hero from Trump’s first term to stumble at the ballot box. The former national security official served as a witness during Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019, testifying to his concerns about a phone call between the president and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump pressured his counterpart to investigate Joe Biden.

Trump was ultimately acquitted by the Senate on both counts, but Vindman’s role in the process made him a liberal darling, appearing on cable news and even scoring a cameo on Larry David’s HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

The status made him a prolific fundraiser. Heading into the primary, Vindman had collected more than $16 million, far outpacing the roughly $975,000 raised by Nixon.

Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Vindman was so sure of his victory that he had scheduled a fundraiser for Sunday on the posh island of Nantucket, The New York Times reported.

Nixon, who said she joined the Democratic Socialists of America this summer but has not been endorsed by the organization, instead relied on an extensive ground operation. Her volunteers were easy to spot: Many sported Nixon’s signature hot pink, a color she frequently wears for public appearances. The strategy of direct contact with voters netted her big numbers in urban counties, including her hometown of Jacksonville and those surrounding Miami, where Vindman moved after leaving Washington.

“Rep. Nixon ran a strong campaign. She challenged the status quo. She put in the hard work, and tonight, she earned the nomination,” Vindman said in a concession speech after the race had been called. He later said in a post on X that he planned to stand “by her side in the fight against Ashley Moody,” the Republican candidate.

This story has been updated to reflect that Angela Nixon has not been endorsed by the DSA or any of its local chapters.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/states-voter-id-agenda-trump Adora Brown Trump’s efforts to push more election security legislation on the federal level is prompting a discussion about the role states should play. Fri, 14 Aug 2026 19:40:10 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/states-voter-id-agenda-trump Some states are pushing to advance President Donald Trump’s voting restrictions agenda, even as Republicans in Congress have stalled in delivering on his request ahead of the midterms.

At least 15 different states have passed legislation tightening ballot access since the start of the second Trump administration. They range from Louisiana, where the governor signed a bill in May that will mandate annual checks of voter registration rolls against the administration’s revamped Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, to a law passed in Florida that will require residents to use an updated state ID with a citizenship marker to vote by 2027.

South Dakota passed the South Dakota SAVE Act this year as an emergency measure that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote before the primaries. Republicans in the state were motivated to pass it after they found nearly 300 noncitizens on its voter rolls a year and a half ago.

“It’s elevated their concerns to make sure that we only have citizens registering to vote,” South Dakota state Sen. John Carley, a Republican, said about voters in his state. “This allows us on a state level, in the midst of them kind of dithering in Congress, to get that done. The states can certainly enact it.”

These measures are moves toward the core of Trump’s SAVE America Act: proof of citizenship in order to vote.

That agenda has been bolstered by recent drama in New Jersey. Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, revealed that 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote from June 2023 to June 2024 in the state due to a software glitch — and approximately 400 of them cast a ballot in that time.

“There certainly seems to be an effort to try to sort of weaponize this news to further the federal administration's disenfranchisement agenda,” Liza Weisberg, a supervising attorney for the ACLU of New Jersey, told NOTUS. “I don't think that this news, the events out of New Jersey, justify the kinds of really aggressive anti-voter legislation that is being pushed.”

Trump’s efforts to push more election security legislation on the federal level has prompted a discussion about whether those efforts could be better addressed by the states. Many Republican state lawmakers have decided that there’s some role for them to play.

“We try to be proactive, we try to be forward thinking, and not wait until Election Day for the bad thing to happen. But we can look at improving our own code or see what the trends are around the country, and then try to adapt accordingly,” Cord Byrd, Florida’s secretary of state, told NOTUS.

In Congress, some Republicans have supported Trump’s embrace of voting restrictions as a priority. In April, the House passed the SAVE Act, which, among other provisions, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, require that voters’ eligibility be checked against the SAVE system and would eliminate mail-in and online voter registration.

The Senate has debated for months about Trump’s preferred SAVE America Act, which is similar to the SAVE Act but additionally requires ID to request a mail-in ballot or vote at the polls. The bill lacks the votes for Republicans to pass it without getting rid of the filibuster.

“The SAVE America Act isn’t going away,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the bill’s sponsor, said in a social media post in July. “Nor are the American people, no matter how much Democrats try to import new voters for themselves.”

Several Republicans told NOTUS that federalizing those requirements would likely be a step too far for the legislators hoping to assuage voters’ concerns this election year and would prefer the states address it.

“The idea of requiring photo ID, I agree with that. But as far as federalizing the entire elections system, look, that's our secretary of state's job. That's Mississippi's job to make sure that we have secure elections. I don’t think that needs to be a federalized system,” Mississippi state Sen. Jeremy England told NOTUS.

There is little evidence that noncitizen voting is widespread across the country.

But many voters appear to favor the idea of implementing additional identification requirements. A Pew Research poll from last year found that 83% of respondents across the political spectrum believed everyone should be required to show government-issued photo ID to vote. At least 13 states and Washington, D.C., do not require photo ID to vote at the polls on Election Day, according to the Voting Rights Lab.

As the midterms near, Democrats are worried about just how far the president will go to exert control over elections. In an interview on Tuesday with the conservative commentator Wayne Allyn Root, the president declined to rule out declaring a national security emergency to enforce proof of citizenship and limit mail-in voting.

“Let me just say that stranger things have happened,” Trump said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/florida/attorney-general-state-pension-new-york-times Manuela Silva James Uthmeier is claiming that the Florida retirement fund’s investment in the Times allows it to request internal documents and push for editorial changes. Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:13:09 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/florida/attorney-general-state-pension-new-york-times Florida’s Republican attorney general is employing a novel strategy in an attempt to prove “editorial malpractice” at The New York Times — seeking to use his control over the state’s pension fund, which invests in the media company, to compel the release of private documents that he claims will prove the company faces substantial harm due to bias.

James Uthmeier, Florida’s top law enforcement officer, sent a 28-page letter to the Times on Monday requesting internal documents related to the newspaper’s board of directors.

Uthmeier gave the board two weeks to respond, and threatened to file suit if it does not answer.

This is at least the third letter the Times has received this year regarding potential lawsuits from shareholders demanding it turn over records related to its coverage, but the first from a sitting government official.

Uthmeier lists four instances where he says the media company used an “interested or unnamed source” to publish a claim without independent verification, and later had to issue a correction.

They include the scandal around a 2020 podcast called “Caliphate,” where the central source was found to have lied and was later charged by Canadian authorities. The Times launched an internal investigation and called the incident an "institutional failing.”

Uthmeier also cited a correction the newspaper issued regarding the cause of death of a U.S. Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot; an editor's note issued on a story that said it “relied too heavily on claims made by Hamas”; and an opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof on the alleged rape of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for The New York Times, told NOTUS in a statement that the letter “is a clear attempt to chill First Amendment-protected journalism.”

As part of his role as Florida’s attorney general, Uthmeier serves as legal counsel for the State Board of Administration, which manages the state’s public pension funds. Those accounts own a collective 160,000 shares of NYT stock.

Uthmeier is seeking to use that influence to demand six years of internal board documents. He says that although the First Amendment protects speech, the company cannot ignore the demands of its shareholders.

In his letter, Uthmeier states that his investigation is “grounded in concrete corporate risk,” as opposed to “general dissatisfaction with editorial judgement.” He alleges that there are documented instances of the media company inadequately applying editorial standards to stories in its opinion section, and that his duty to oversee Florida’s public-sector pension program gives him the right to investigate.

Uthmeier takes particular issue with a piece that ran in the Times’ opinion section, headlined “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” which claimed in part that Israeli soldiers had committed assaults against Palestinian prisoners — including the use of dogs to commit rape. The piece prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to threaten a lawsuit that has not yet been filed.

In his demand letter, Uthmeier asks for records detailing conversations with the board of directors regarding that opinion piece, as well as others. In his letter, he said that he was not asking the Times’ to “change news coverage or retract an article,” instead claiming that he was simply overseeing a risky investment.

“What matters here is that a host of red flags, presumably shown to the Board, establish that the Company suffers from biased reporting practices that threaten, in the Board’s own words, the Company’s ‘key assets’: its ‘brand’ and ‘reputation,’” Uthmeier wrote.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/debbie-wasserman-schultz-florida-primary Oriana González If Wasserman Schultz wins the race to represent a historically Black district, it would be “the greatest civil rights threat that’s facing us today,” one Democratic candidate said. Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:22:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/debbie-wasserman-schultz-florida-primary When candidates running for Florida’s 20th Congressional District gathered for a forum hosted by the local chapter of the NAACP in late July, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the only white candidate in the race, wasn’t there.

“If someone didn’t come, it wasn’t because they weren’t asked, it’s because they chose not to come and ask for your vote,” Marsha Ellison, president of the NAACP Broward County chapter told the audience, which was mostly made up of people of color.

The candidates never directly named Wasserman Schultz — but her decision to run in the district, which has historically been represented by Black lawmakers and has a plurality Black population, has drawn the ire of her opponents and overshadowed much of the race. Wasserman Schultz lives in Florida’s recently drawn 22nd District, which leans Republican. The 20th District is now the safest blue seat in the state.

The anger at Wasserman Schultz is palpable and doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, but it may not matter: Polling in the race has been limited, but Wasserman Schultz is seen as the lead candidate in the race due to the rest of the field splitting the vote. The four Black Democratic candidates in the race initially planned to consolidate behind one person to defeat Wasserman Schultz. However, they were unable to decide who should run and who should drop out.

While the NAACP forum was largely focused on the candidates’ legislative ideas, many candidates criticized Wasserman Schultz’s decision to run.

Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, a rapper and Democratic congressional candidate, said that allowing Wasserman Schultz to represent the historically Black district would be “the greatest civil rights threat that’s facing us today.”

“If we allow her to win, we will not win the general,” Campbell said. “The world is watching congressional district 20, and don’t you miss this opportunity.”

The NAACP forum was convened after the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus condemned Wasserman Schultz for suggesting that the group was endorsing her in the race. Wasserman Schultz’s campaign website listed the caucus in its endorsements page, then quietly deleted it after the caucus complained. The group accused Wasserman Schultz of “dishonest intentions” at the time, but Corey Shearer, the caucus’ president, told NOTUS that Wasserman Schultz apologized for the incident and explained that the endorsements listed were from 2022.

However, he said, that doesn’t change his anger that she’s running in a district that has long been represented by a Black representative.

“This is a historical seat for many of us,” Shearer said. “There’s no way, no how, that we want to give that legacy up. And so that’s what Debbie Wasserman Schultz is forcing upon us.”

“The Black community should be able to celebrate that, and our celebration is just ripped away by this move from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, somebody who we looked at as an ally, but it just seems like she was more familiar, and she’s using that familiarity to take an easy way out and look to take our seat,” Shearer said.

The caucus held a debate for candidates in the race last Monday, but Wasserman Schultz also did not attend.

Wasserman Schultz’s campaign did not respond to a list of questions from NOTUS. In a statement, a spokesperson said the “Congresswoman was representing her constituents in DC for votes during both the events in question. Both organizations were informed of this conflict that prevented her from attending.”

Some of the candidates challenging Wasserman Schultz also denounced the Congressional Black Caucus for not publicly speaking out against Wasserman Schultz.

“Our House is not in order because the Congressional Black Caucus … is not on our side,” Campbell said at the NAACP forum. “They allowed a white woman to come in this district knowing that [Republicans] are trying to … gerrymand the vote and take Black representation that has been here for 30 years.”

Former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, a Democrat, concurred.

“It’s very discouraging, disappointing that the Congressional Black Caucus has not sought to make statements and to stand and say, ‘Look this is wrong,’” Holness said.

The CBC and its campaign arm declined to comment for this story. CBC Chair Yvette Clarke has said she did not encourage Wasserman Schultz to run in the district, despite Wasserman Schultz’s suggestions to the contrary. The CBC PAC does not generally get involved in primaries with multiple Black candidates, though members have endorsed in races in an individual capacity.

Three members of the caucus previously told NOTUS they do not expect the CBC PAC to back the congresswoman in the race. One member at the time called Wasserman Schultz a “friend” to the caucus, so the CBC would likely remain “neutral.”

But House Democrats aren’t running to defend Wasserman Schultz either.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, for example, has declined to endorse Wasserman Schultz in the race.

“I’m looking forward to getting involved in the August primaries, of which there’ll be primaries on Aug. 4th; there will be primaries on Aug. 11th; and then the Florida primaries will be in Aug. 18th,” Jeffries said last Thursday when asked if he’d be endorsing Wasserman Schultz in the race. He called her a “highly effective member of the U.S. Congress and a valuable member of both the leadership team and the House Democratic Caucus.”

Outgoing Rep. Frederica Wilson, who refers to herself as the highest-ranking Black elected official in Florida and represents a neighboring district, recently wrote an op-ed calling the 20th District “a seat paid for by generations of Black sacrifice.” Wilson’s piece does not name Wasserman Schultz.

“If Black lives matter, then the history of Black representation matters too,” Wilson wrote. “We deserve a seat at every table where decisions about our lives, our children, our communities and our future are made. That seat was not given to us. It was earned through generations of Black sacrifice.”

“It is the seat that Black history built,” Wilson continued. “Now it is our responsibility to make sure history never has to build it again.”

Wilson told NOTUS in mid-July that the op-ed was not meant to urge voters to not support Wasserman Schultz but to give context to voters.

“I just wanted the district to know the historical nature of that district.” She added that she had not spoken to Wasserman Schultz since she first announced her candidacy.

“She feels like she should be able to run where she wants to,” Wilson said. But she added, “It took us 117 years to get that district, so I wanted them to be sure when they voted that they were willing to make that sacrifice and go back.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) has weighed in on the race and formally endorsed activist Elijah Manley over Wasserman Schultz. Khanna called Manley “bold and progressive” and told NOTUS that his staff had reached out to Wasserman Schultz’s team before the endorsement was announced.

“At a time where Black political rights are under attack, I find it wrong for a heavily Black majority district not to be represented by an African American who connects in that community,” Khanna said.

While some candidates acknowledged it would easier to beat her if she was running against just one person, they’re hoping the backlash over this race will be enough for her to lose the primary.

“If she gets back to Congress, if she somehow wins this race, she will be persona non grata,” Manley told NOTUS in June. “Nobody is going to want to touch her because she will have proceeded in doing what the Republicans want: taking away not just Black representation, but pushing her own career at the expense of the public because this is all about Debbie.”]]> https://washingtonsun.com/congress/randy-fine-adviser-president-trump-social-media-spat Reese Gorman, Kadia Goba A social media spat between Fine and outsider White House adviser Alex Bruesewitz could cut into Republicans’ already thin House majority. Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:32:38 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/congress/randy-fine-adviser-president-trump-social-media-spat Rep. Randy Fine has told White House officials he plans to vote against every rule that comes across the House floor until President Donald Trump removes adviser Alex Bruesewitz from his team, three sources tell NOTUS.

For weeks, Fine, a Florida Republican, has been telling colleagues he wants Trump to get rid of Bruesewitz, a top outside adviser to the president, one source told NOTUS. But recently Fine has ramped up this effort.

On Tuesday, Fine was the sole Republican to vote against the rule laying out how the House will proceed on certain bills this week. Two sources familiar with the matter relayed to NOTUS that Fine told the White House he plans to vote against every rule until Trump fires Bruesewitz, who is not a White House employee but has the president’s ear.

Fine’s move could cut into House Speaker Mike Johnson’s already slim Republican majority, complicating passage of any substantive measure ahead of the midterms.

“The White House will continue working closely with members to advance the President’s agenda,” a White House official told NOTUS.

Fine and Bruesewitz didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The two have been engaged in a weekslong rivalry on the social media platform X that started when Bruesewitz made an appearance on “The Tucker Carson Show” podcast. Carlson referred to Fine on the show as a “that creepy fat guy from Florida who endorsed genocide.”

Bruesewitz then said that Fine has a primary challenger in Dan Bilzerian who also isn’t a good person saying that, “We have two extremes running that race, both I don’t agree with. So we have Dan Bilzerian, maybe one of the people who’s helped bring degeneracy to young men in America more than anybody. And Randy Fine. Maybe we need some better choices.”

This set off Fine, who later singled out Bruesewitz, Carlson and Candace Owens in a social media post last month.

“There is a mind virus that is trying to infect the Republican party,” he wrote on X. “Tucker, Alex Bruesewitz, and Candace Owens fundamentally hate the American origin story. They seek to pit Jews and Christians against each other and fetishize Islam to distract from its stated goal to destroy the West.”

Bruesewitz has a close relationship with the president and many senior aides at the White House. He was a key player in orchestrating Trump’s podcast circuit in the 2024 election and helped the president win over young, male voters.

Since Fine has been making his demand of the White House, Bruesewitz has visited the Oval Office with Nicki Minaj to meet with Trump, according to photos Bruesewitz posted on social media.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/us-news/alligator-alcatraz-shut-down-florida Torrie Herrington The center opened last July, and 21,000 people have been deported through the facility. Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:30:27 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/us-news/alligator-alcatraz-shut-down-florida Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center has permanently closed and the detainees have been relocated.

Officials announced a temporary closure of the facility earlier this month, sending all detainees to other facilities because hurricane season made it unsafe to keep them at the remote facility in the Everglades. The DeSantis administration opened the center last July, and 21,000 people have been deported through the facility.

“Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to serve,” Desantis said at a press conference, flanked by President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, and state immigration official Anthony Coke. “It now has zero detainees. It has helped remove many, many dangerous people from the street and get them out of not only the state of Florida, but the United States of America.”

The facility faced heavy criticism from immigration advocates and detainees during the year it was open — including complaints over safety and poor living conditions that included lights staying on throughout the night and bugs crawling into the facility.

The center operated under 287(g), a government program that authorizes local law enforcement to conduct federal immigration functions, which DeSantis said the state would continue.

"There is no question this mission has made the state of Florida safer," DeSantis said.
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