At the same time, Saturday was also the first day that people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were not receiving their monthly allotment to buy groceries, marking the first tangible pain point in this shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even without those additional headaches, it\u2019s a big week.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s looking increasingly likely we will soon get information from the grand jury in the Hope Florida scandal. Other reporters and I received a bcc email two Fridays ago from State Attorney\u00a0Jack Campbell, saying that whatever was coming would come to all of us at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n And everything in politics has ripple effects. So, what happens with the grand jury will likely also impact Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who has been saying for what feels like forever in politics years that he\u2019s going to run for Governor. With the Hope Florida scandal potentially reaching a boiling point \u2014 or simmering out \u2014 could this be the week he finally reveals his plans for 2026?<\/p>\n The grand jury result could lead to an indictment or indictments of those involved in the Hope Florida controversy, which is centered on a $10 million donation to the Hope Florida Foundation from Medicaid settlement funds that was ultimately used to oppose last year\u2019s adult-use cannabis referendum. The Grand Jury could also decline to indict anyone or opt to present a report, which would allow prosecutors to review the information and determine whether to proceed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whatever the outcome, it will be big news, especially considering Hope Florida is a key initiative of First Lady Casey DeSantis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Adding to the 2026 speculation factory, we also expect Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to announce his gubernatorial bid<\/a> this week. As a Democrat, his imminent announcement will up the ante for former Republican Congressman-turned Democrat David Jolly, who has been barnstorming the state in his bid for Governor.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is also the possibility<\/a> that we may soon\u00a0learn whether state Rep. Kevin\u00a0Steele will enter the race for Chief Financial Officer to challenge incumbent Blaise Ingoglia, as the Trump administration reportedly encouraged him to do.<\/p>\n There are even bigger things on the way in Florida communities, with significant elections this week in Miami, Orlando, and other cities throughout the state, with electors set to choose a Mayor and two City Commissioners in Miami and a race in Orlando for a City Commission seat that hasn\u2019t been open in two decades<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nothing is on the ballot this year in St. Petersburg; we already know former Republican Governor and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist is mulling a bid<\/a> for Mayor next year, to challenge incumbent Ken Welch, and we\u2019ve gotten a whiff of something potentially brewing for his potential political comeback.\u00a0<\/p>\n And let us not forget the aforementioned political ripple effects. With statewide elections this week in New Jersey and Virginia, Florida Democrats are hoping to find some hope for the Midterms.\u00a0Virginia, in particular, is a major bellwether, and Democrat\u00a0Abigail Spanberger\u00a0has been\u00a0consistently polling well above<\/a>\u00a0her Republican opponent, current Virginia Lt. Gov.\u00a0Winsome Earle-Sears.\u00a0<\/p>\n Given all that, buckle up, because Florida politics aren\u2019t ready to break for the holidays just yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the biggest week (or so) of the year in Florida politics. Obviously, the ongoing federal government…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6697,2855,4066,3347,1813,28,30,29,2582,1385,1384,4067,5187,8134,2346,8189,6701,22251,414],"class_list":{"0":"post-31033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-affordable-care-act","9":"tag-blaise-ingoglia","10":"tag-casey-desantis","11":"tag-charlie-crist","12":"tag-david-jolly","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-florida-headlines","15":"tag-florida-news","16":"tag-government-shutdown","17":"tag-grand-jury","18":"tag-hope-florida","19":"tag-jack-campbell","20":"tag-jay-collins","21":"tag-jerry-demings","22":"tag-ken-welch","23":"tag-kevin-steele","24":"tag-obamacare","25":"tag-premium-subsidies","26":"tag-snap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Luis-Viera-Ads-728x90-px.jpg\")
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