HOLLYWOOD, FL—The Republican Party of Florida hosted a "Victory Dinner" fundraising gala at the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino Saturday night ahead of the Nov. 5 election, where Governor Ron DeSantis, President Donald Trump and long-time party loyalist Rick Scott could face increasingly difficult battles in the Sunshine State.
The dinner, wrought with donors, supporters, and legislators, began just after 7 p.m. at Hollywood's Seminole Casino, which earned bold headlines after it signed a deal granting the Seminole Tribe full mobile sports betting rights in return for billion-dollar-profits to the state. Some speakers included Gov. DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Sen. Rick Scott, Reps. Byron Donalds and Mario Diaz-Balart, GOP Chair Evan Power, and Kimberly Guilfoyle—Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancee.
According to one source who works within the Republican Party of Florida's leadership, the Party wanted President Trump, but it "didn't work with his schedule." So, Guilfoyle came, and brought with her a Jeb Bush-style "please clap" moment, the Daily Beast noted.
Sen. Rick Scott, on the other hand, vitalized the room before the former Fox News anchor's lackluster performance. He discussed the Biden-Harris administration's record on Israel-Hamas relations, transgender athletes in women's sports, and illegal immigration—citing a recent uproar over an alleged Venezuelan gang of migrants overtaking a Colorado apartment complex.
"[Harris] showed us what she is when she picked Walz," Scott said, slamming her running mate choice as a "socialist" who governed Minneapolis when parts of the city burned during the 2020 George Floyd protests. "It's the most radical ticket."
He also pointed out that he has never lost a bid for a political seat, and interestingly: "There's never been a poll in my prior elections that said I was going to win," Scott continued. He appeared to reference a new Emerson Poll showing him leading Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by just one point in the upcoming Senate election, despite there being over a million more registered Republicans than Democrats.
The same poll had Trump leading Harris by five points. Despite this, Scott and the Republicans remained adamant that voters will choose them come November, as they continued to harp on Harris. Attorney General Moody called herself the "anti-Kamala" to whoops and cheers throughout the dining hall.
On the state level, and seemingly more importantly for Gov. DeSantis, amendments he says are reminiscent of the "cartel" and "underwritten by George Soros" will also be on the November ballot.
He's worried they'll pass and had no issue calling out Republican Congressmen Bill Posey, Brian Mast, Laurel Lee, and Anna Paulina Luna for not publicly saying if they will vote no on Florida's Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion access until fetal viability.
"To me, that's untenable," he said. DeSantis had just listed off 16 Congressmen who have agreed to vote no and financially back anti-Amendment 4 campaigns. Those he didn't name, he said, are the targets of his remarks. "To just sit here and let George Soros run amendments in our state and not be willing to stand up and say no, not on our watch? That's the least you can do as Republicans."
He claimed that if the amendment passes, which he believes to be full of "sleight of hand" tricks, Florida will become the "abortion tourism" state, and would allow "chiropractors or a clerk" to dole out abortions.
Amendment 4 wasn't his only source of ire.
The marijuana measure, Amendment 3, would legalize recreational weed for adults over the age of 21. Unlike the abortion amendment, this initiative has gotten the stamp of approval from Republicans like Sen. Joe Gruters and even Trump, who appeared to signal his support for decriminalization and acknowledged that it will pass in November.
DeSantis says it "creates a corporate weed cartel."
"There's total immunity from civil liability," he said, claiming that because the marijuana company Trulieve is the amendment's main benefactor, they are attempting to "put themselves in our constitution."
"It's not appropriate to have weed in the constitution!" DeSantis added.
He was the last speaker of the night, with the event shuttering just after 9:30 p.m.
