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Plate I · Byron Donalds and David Jolly beneath Florida’s Capitol tower in Tallahassee; the AP called the governor’s race for Donalds
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The Lead · Politics · Statewide
The Associated Press called Florida's race for governor for Republican Byron Donalds on Tuesday night. His side far outraised Democrat David Jolly's, Florida Politics reported. Donalds led by only about 1.4 points, by our arithmetic, in a count the state has not yet made official.
Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire who founded Miami-based Citadel, gave $15 million in two checks this year to the political committee backing Republican Byron Donalds. On Tuesday the Associated Press called the race for governor for Donalds. Once he takes office in January, every bill lawmakers pass will go to him to sign or veto. His committee, Friends of Byron Donalds, is a fund kept apart from his campaign account. Together the two raised more than $173 million through Oct. 29, Florida Politics reported from state records. Democrat David Jolly's side raised nearly $27 million, it reported.
Jolly, a former Republican congressman, had bet the mood would count for more than the money, Florida Politics reported.
Why it matters: The governor can also cut any single spending item out of the Florida budget and still sign the rest, the state constitution says. Besides Griffin, billionaire Jeff Yass gave Donalds' side $7.5 million, Florida Politics reported. The Seminole Tribe of Florida gave $6 million in total, and The GEO Group, which runs private prisons, gave $4.5 million, it reported. No record ties any donor's money to a state decision.
The story so far: Griffin wrote the first of his two checks to Donalds' committee, $10 million, on July 17, state records show. On Aug. 18 the AP called the Democratic primary for Jolly and projected Donalds the Republican nominee.
What's next: Counties' unofficial returns are due by noon on Saturday, Nov. 7. Official county returns are due by noon on Monday, Nov. 16. The state Elections Canvassing Commission meets at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to certify the results. Donalds' term begins on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2027.
Old Florida Money desk · Wed Nov 4 · The race is called by the AP; the state count is unofficial and was still moving at about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday. The money totals are Florida Politics' figures from state records; Griffin's two checks are in the state record. No record ties any donor's money to a state decision. · Sources: NPR (AP race call); WUSF and E.W. Scripps' KOAA (AP race call and the fundraising gap); NBC News; Florida Division of Elections (Election Watch, election timeline, campaign finance database); Florida Politics via The Miami Times; Tampa Bay Times;
Reuters; Fortune; the Florida Constitution
Read the full story
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Plate II · The U.S. Capitol at first light after election night, where control of Congress and Florida’s Senate seat now sit
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Money Pulse
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Ashley Moody keeps Florida's Senate seat as Democrats win the Senate, AP says
The Associated Press called Florida's Senate race for Sen. Ashley Moody over Democrat Angie Nixon at 8:34 p.m. Tuesday; the state's unofficial count at 10:17 p.m. had her ahead about 51% to 48%. A super PAC Citadel founder Ken Griffin helped fund spent $10.3 million against Nixon and $2.95 million for Moody, Florida Politics reported. Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate, the AP reported, and won the House too, by NPR's tally of AP race calls. California's Prop 40 billionaire tax had no result as of about 10:15 p.m. Eastern.
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Inter Miami's owners pile up power-line work as their telecom business slips
MasTec, the Coral Gables builder run by Inter Miami owners Jorge and Jose Mas, said Oct. 29 that its booked power-line work rose 74% in a year, to $8.9 billion, while its telecom work slipped. The Superior Group, the electrical contractor it bought in July for about $1.8 billion in cash, stock and an estimated earn-out, carries backlog equal to about half that gain, by our arithmetic. Revenue hit a record $5.2 billion, but profit per share under standard accounting fell 7.7%.
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Florida apartment developer ZOM puts its management arm in bankruptcy, and a sister company is lined up to bid first
ZOM Living, a Central Florida apartment developer majority owned by a Dutch family, put its management arm into Chapter 11 in Orlando on Oct. 30 after an Arizona judgment of more than $300 million. Its sister company, which owns all of ZOM's buildings and is not in bankruptcy, is lending the money for the case and is the proposed first bidder. Gray Development, the Phoenix developer that won the judgment, calls the lender an insider and says the plan leaves unsecured creditors nothing; ZOM is appealing the judgment.
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Plate III · Villa Serena, Bryan’s green-roofed house on its bluff over Biscayne Bay
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From the desks
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Ken Griffin plans to move William Jennings Bryan's 1913 house to Vizcaya
Ken Griffin, the Citadel founder, plans to move Villa Serena, William Jennings Bryan's 1913 bayfront house, to Vizcaya at his own cost and open it to the public. Miami-Dade commissioners voted 11-0 on Oct. 20 to approve the plan and let the mayor's office negotiate the terms; state and city preservation officials still must approve. Mary Baird Bryan chose the site in 1912, a limestone cliff that drops 12 feet to the bay. A 1914 architecture magazine claimed the house's builder had copied a Coconut Grove home. The county would own the house, Vizcaya would run it,
and Griffin has pledged a separate $5 million for its care. A Miami historian once called moving it "just crazy."
Sources: Miami-Dade County legislative record; County Attorney supplement; National Register registration form; Hoodline; Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
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That is the edition. Every story above, with its records, is on the site.
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About
Old Florida Money is a Florida newsletter on where the money goes: the named checks behind houses, teams, races and public votes across the state.
Illustrations are Old Florida Money editorial art. Portraits of public figures are caricature or silhouette, never photographs. Each image carries its credit.
Drawn after reference photographs: Plate I, United States Congress, official portrait of Rep. Byron Donalds, 117th Congress, via Wikimedia Commons (US government work, public domain); U.S. House of Representatives, official portrait of David Jolly, via Wikimedia Commons (US government work, public domain); Office of the Florida Governor, via Wikimedia Commons (Florida government work, public domain). Plate II, Architect of the Capitol, via Wikimedia Commons (US government work, public domain); Noclip, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Plate III, USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), via USGS The National Map (US government work, public domain). St. Petersburg · Est. MMXXV
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