Rays bond vote ties 3-3, then a sick councilman dials in to pass it

Byron Donalds’ PAC sent Florida’s GOP $24M in September, and the newest governor’s-race polls run from 11 points to 2

State records show the PAC paid the Republican Party of Florida $31,005,621.21 in 10 payments, $24 million of it in September ($8 million on Sept. 28), and spent $93.6 million through Oct. 2 (Division of Elections; our sums). Stetson’s Oct. 13 poll has Donalds 52, Jolly 41 among modeled likely voters, and a Democratic consultants’ poll released Oct. 14 has 46-44; reports covering Oct. 3 to 9 are due Friday (Stetson University; Florida Politics; Division of Elections).

Stephen Ross’s next hotel: Palm Beach County puts $26M of reserves into a deal set up so his company pays no property tax for up to 97 years

Commissioners voted 6-1 on Sept. 29 to buy the land and the finished 400-room convention hotel in West Palm Beach from a Related Ross affiliate and lease both back for up to 97 years; the county’s consultant values the tax benefit at about $2.5 million a year (county agenda; WPTV; The Real Deal; Palm Beach Post). Two neighborhood groups sued Oct. 14 to void the vote over short notice, WPTV and The Real Deal report; the county attorney has said it gave more notice than the 24 hours the law requires (WPTV).

Hope Florida: state records show $444,486.56 paid to three law firms that, the Trib reports, represented officials in the grand jury fight

Boies Schiller Flexner got $195,652.50 and Continental PLLC $111,387.50 through the governor’s office, and Gunster $137,446.56 through the Agency for Health Care Administration, from Dec. 15, 2025 to Oct. 5, 2026; the records name no clients, and $524,912.52 more is booked for two of the firms this fiscal year (FACTS; our sums; Florida Trib). The Oct. 7 order erasing the report is open to rehearing through Oct. 22, and the two-year window the Florida Trident reads for campaign-finance charges opens Saturday (1st DCA opinion; WLRN/Florida Trident).

Isaias: Escambia overrules its administrator to bring back its biggest debris hauler, and DeSantis has yet to request a major disaster declaration

Commissioners voted 3-1 on Oct. 15 to reactivate AshBritt; the county puts its own repair bill at about $64M, $54.87M of it debris, and meets FEMA’s Public Assistance threshold, but as of Oct. 15 only the Oct. 9 emergency declaration was in place (Pensacola News Journal; WEAR-TV; Escambia County; OpenFEMA). Modelers put insured losses for the whole landfall at $1B to $4B, Karen Clark & Co. at about $3B (Verisk; Artemis; Insurance Journal).

FPL’s Florida politics memo stays at the companies’ lawyers’ offices as Virginia weighs the Dominion deal

Virginia’s chief hearing examiner ruled Oct. 8 that staff and respondents who signed a confidentiality agreement may read the 2021 “Robo Memo” only in person at the companies’ attorneys’ offices, and the ruling does not decide whether its allegations are true (Virginia SCC; The Center Square). NextEra Vice Chairman Armando Pimentel calls them unsubstantiated; staff testimony is due Oct. 19, public comments now close Nov. 12 and the evidentiary hearing opens Nov. 17 (Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald; Virginia SCC).

Lennar’s Miami spinoff said it would have no tenants. A shareholder suit says it bought hundreds of Lennar homes to rent

The Oct. 9 class action against Millrose Properties and two of its executives rests on Hunterbrook Media’s report that Millrose bought more than 700 Lennar homes, an estimated $200M or more, in about a month, including houses in Ocala and Wesley Chapel; Hunterbrook’s investment arm was short both stocks, and Lennar and Stuart Miller are not defendants (complaint; Hunterbrook Media; The Real Deal).