Hello and welcome to Wednesday.

Ready to rumble — This is the MAGA civil war liberals dream about: Roger Stone vs. Ron DeSantis.

Coming on strong — Stone, the longtime ally of Donald Trump and political provocateur in this state, has been ratcheting up pressure against the governor. He's calling on him to audit the 2020 election (he hasn’t), and then this past weekend saying DeSantis should promise now to not run for president if he wins reelection even if Trump doesn’t seek another term (he hasn’t).

Putting it in words — He even put out an email late Monday to his supporters detailing his gripes about DeSantis. “Let's just say that in the event that he does not elect to run, let's just say that Governor Ron DeSantis would not be the candidate I support,” Stone wrote. “Republicans, conservatives and Trump supporters across the nation who are impressed with our governor with his high flying rhetoric, must focus carefully on his public policy decisions.”

Jumping in? — Stone has publicly stated he would run for governor as a Libertarian candidate if DeSantis doesn’t come around on this and other issues. DeSantis responded to Stone’s comments by quipping to a television reporter that Stone cannot run against him because he is “a convicted felon.”

Oops — Well, it turns out that Stone can’t run as a Libertarian anyway because he is a registered Republican right now. Florida law says you can’t switch parties to run for office if qualifying is less than a year away.

Pushing back — Stone, however, told Playbook, “I think the law they changed is quite challengeable.” He also took great issue with DeSantis bringing up his federal felony convictions that arose from the investigation by Robert Mueller by pointing out that Trump eventually pardoned him of all crimes after initially commuting his sentence. That keeps his right to run for office intact, he argues.

Sorry — “The governor is incorrect. I’d say he owes me an apology,” Stone said.

What he wants — Stone made it clear — as he has in previous interviews — that he does not think he can actually beat the rising GOP star. “I have no illusions about my ability to run for governor. I just want Ron to have his rhetoric match his actions.” Stone ripped into DeSantis, for example over school mask mandates, saying he should have "fired” school board members from office who defied the state. He pointed out that the governor removed a South Florida sheriff and election supervisor from office even though they had not committed a crime.

— WHERE'S RON? — Nothing official announced for Gov. DeSantis.

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HAMMER TIME — “A secret tape made after Columbine shows the NRA’s evolution on school shootings,” by NPR’s Tim Mak: “[Marion] Hammer, a longtime NRA lobbyist who once served as its president, weighs in with an unyielding view. She tells [Wayne] LaPierre that even if they don't lose money, they would lose face if they canceled. ‘You have to go forward,’ she says. 'For NRA to scrap this and the amount of money that we have spent ...’ ‘We have meeting insurance,’ LaPierre replies. ‘Screw the insurance," says Hammer. ‘The message that it will send is that even the NRA was brought to its knees, and the media will have a field day with it.’"

About NRA members — “Says Hammer: ‘If you pull down the exhibit hall, that's not going to leave anything for the media except the members meeting, and you're going to have the wackos ... with all kinds of crazy resolutions, with all kinds of, of dressing like a bunch of hillbillies and idiots. And, and it's gonna, it's gonna be the worst thing you can imagine.’”

NOT PART OF THE PLAN — “Sununu announcement act rubs top Republicans the wrong way,” by POLITICO’s Natalie Allison: Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott found out the same way everyone else did that their top recruit to help secure the Senate majority was a no-go: They saw it on a local television livestream. After months of courting Gov. Chris Sununu to run for Senate — a campaign that strategists believed would have been a slam-dunk for Republicans as they angle to win back Senate control — the New Hampshire Republican unexpectedly dashed party hopes Tuesday. Not only that, he insulted the Senate in the process, thoroughly ruining what was otherwise expected to be a triumphant day for the GOP.

Overconfident? — After Scott during an August visit to New Hampshire expressed confidence that Sununu would want to “get to D.C. and make a big difference there,” Sununu told a Concord Monitor reporter that wasn’t exactly his thinking. “I’m not beholden to anybody in Washington D.C.,” Sununu said later that day.

WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET? — “DeVos family gives DeSantis $200K,” by POLITICO’s Matt Dixon and Andrew Atterbury: The DeVos family is all in with Gov. Ron DeSantis. Members of the Michigan-based family who have been major Republican donors and leading financial backers of the school choice movement, gave $200,000 to a DeSantis-controlled political committee last week. That brings the family’s total contributions to DeSantis to $240,000 this election cycle, topping the $200,000 it collectively gave him during the entire 2018 election cycle.

BLACK GOLD — “Florida oil drilling reemerges as 2022 issue for Democrats,” by POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie: Democrats seeking to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis have reignited a decades-old controversy ahead of the 2022 election: oil drilling. A drilling application from Trend Exploration LLC in Collier County set off the latest flare-up as Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried called on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to reject a proposed drilling permit near Immokalee and Big Cypress National Preserve. She also called on DeSantis to issue an order banning oil drilling and exploration.

Same page — State Sen. Annette Taddeo and Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) followed suit, telling POLITICO they also opposed drilling. While offshore drilling has been a controversial issue in the past, land-based drilling has not been as controversial except for calls by environmentalists to ban oil and gas hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking.

Campaign roundup — Nikki Fried’s campaign for governor is announcing its hiring John Etienne as digital organizing director. Etienne is from Florida but just wrapped up work as digital organizing director for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s re-election. He also worked on Joe Biden's presidential campaign in Minnesota. “I'm incredibly proud of the talented, seasoned team we are building on this campaign. Florida needs new ideas, new talent, and new faces in government,” Fried said of the addition … Former Rep. Donna Shalala is endorsing state Sen. Annette Taddeo for governor, calling her life “the embodiment of the American Dream” … Former President Donald Trump is endorsing Rep. Gus Bilirakis for another term in Congress and said he is “an incredible advocate for energy independence, healthcare, and the American worker" ... Rep. Val Demings is hitting the campaign trail in her bid to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio. She's holding two events in Jacksonville on Wednesday, including a roundtable with Duval County small business leaders to discuss the infrastructure bill recently passed by Congress.

‘WHERE IS THIS FRAUD?’ — “Florida election supervisors question need for new $6 million election police force,” by WFTV’s Christopher Heath: “But [Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan] Hays, a former appropriations subcommittee chairman in the Florida legislature, questions the price tag given the lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud in Florida’s elections. ‘I would be curious to know how is this $6 million going to be justified? Is there really that much election crime being committed?’ Hays said.”

GROUND GAME — “Looking for votes in senior centers, Miami Beach campaigns hire the ‘queen maker,’” by Miami Herald’s Martin Vassolo: “She has been described as a ‘mercenary.’ A ‘queen maker.’ A political operative with the influence to sway elderly, Hispanic voters to support her local candidates and causes. And in Miami Beach’s low-turnout elections, just about everyone seems to have paid for Liliana Martinez’s services.”

— “Donna Deegan announces “change for good” bid for Jacksonville mayor,” by Florida Times-Union’s David Bauerlein

— “Teen Vogue spotlights Maxwell Alejandro Frost as candidate to watch,” by Florida Politics’ Scott Powers

CLOCK WARS — “Inside the bitter, nasty feud over making daylight savings time permanent,” by POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs: Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, has introduced legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent across the country (besides those states or territories that do not participate in daylight saving time). His argument: the country needs to end the “annual craziness of changing the clock, falling back, springing forward.” Rubio has submitted the legislation, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, as an amendment to this year’s defense spending bill.

SHOW ME THE MONEY — “Nikki Fried calls the infrastructure bill a ‘big deal’ for Floridians, but Ron DeSantis disagrees,” by News Service of Florida’s Jim Turner: “Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday touted as 'a big deal' billions of dollars headed to Florida for roads, bridges, airports and expanding broadband service in rural areas as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill on President Joe Biden’s desk. Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis, who Fried hopes to unseat next year, has questioned 'pork-barrel' spending in the bill while also arguing Florida might not get its fair share.”

HAPPENING TODAY — The Florida Senate is rolling out new redistricting maps for Congress and the Legislature on Wednesday, but ahead of the big reveal sent out quite an interesting memo issued from Senate President Wilton Simpson, Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, the GOP designate to follow Simpson, and Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book. The statement in essence told senators — don’t complain — even if the new map hurts you politically. “Future political ambitions in this chamber or elsewhere should be of no consideration as we review the work of our staff,” the memo states. “Therefore, we would encourage senators not to opine on the staff-produced maps in the context of your own political future. The time for campaigning is coming, but the time for legislating is now, which requires fulfilling our responsibility to pass constitutional maps."

The memo also suggested that lawmakers may have to vote against their own self-interests: “Nowhere is this responsibility more challenging then in redistricting given that some of us may ultimately decide to vote for a map knowing the realities of that map are such that we will never be reelected. Some of us may choose to defer seeking reelection. Still others may decide to run against a current colleague who we know and respect.”

IT DON’T COME EASY — “Florida Republicans want to leave the federal workplace safety regime. It’s complicated,” by POLITICO’s Matt Dixon: Florida Republican leaders want to give Gov. Ron DeSantis $1 million to come up with a plan to withdraw the state away from federal workplace safety oversight as the GOP battles with Washington over how to tackle Covid-19-spurred safety requirements. That's expensive, time-consuming, and will probably fail, according to the Obama-era head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Caveats — The proposal is being pitched by GOP majorities as a way to give Florida more flexibility in crafting workplace safety guidelines that differ from OSHA. But even if they succeed, a new “state plan” would still come with significant federal involvement, including over the issue that has prompted the current debate: vaccine mandates.

NOT ENOUGH? — “DeSantis’ springs funding announcement challenged,” by POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie: "That's a really, really big deal," Gov. Ron DeSantis said. "Since I have taken office, my administration has taken historic efforts to support Florida springs." The springs projects are funded from $50 million required annually in state law from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund and $17 million in federal funding. Ryan Smart, executive director of the Florida Springs Council, said the 70,000-pound reduction compares to 10 million pounds of nitrogen removal needed annually under state springs cleanup plans.

— “Will DeSantis give Tampa the transportation money it’s seeking?” by Tampa Bay Times’ Charlie Frago

The daily rundown — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 1,775 Covid-19 infections on Monday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 1,608 hospital beds were being used in the state for Covid-19 patients.

NO REGRETS — “The cruise line boss who is challenging Florida’s vaccine passport ban," by WLRN’s Tom Hudson: “Frank Del Rio has no regrets. He doesn't regret requiring his employees to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus in order to return to work. He doesn't regret mandating his customers be vaccinated in order to sail on the ships his company. He doesn't regret having the same rules for crew members. He does wish he hadn't felt the need to sue the state of Florida. ‘I didn't want to sue the governor, but I had no choice,’ Del Rio said.”

— “Leon Schools pulls out of DOAH appeal challenging DeSantis ban on mask mandates,” by Tallahassee Democrat’s Ana Goñi-Lessan

— “All students in Miami public schools can opt out of wearing masks, Carvalho announces,” by Miami Herald’s David Goodhue

GATOR GROWL — “Top UF faculty call for change after professors barred from testifying,” by POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury: University of Florida faculty members want the school to have more clear-cut rules surrounding their freedom of speech as state employees after three professors were barred from testifying against a controversial voting bill backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. A UF task force assembled to probe the issue huddled for the first time on Tuesday, laying the groundwork for what is expected to be a rapid turnaround on reshaping the school’s conflict-of-interest policies.

DEPARTURE LOUNGE — “U.S. warns Americans to leave Haiti as security crisis deepens, hostages remain captive,” by Miami Herald’s Jacqueline Charles and McClatchy D.C.’s Michael Wilner: "The Biden administration is urging U.S. citizens in Haiti 'to strongly consider returning to the United States' amid a gang-aggravated fuel shortage and a deteriorating security climate in which 17 Christian missionaries, including 16 Americans, have been held hostage more than three weeks. The message in a Friday security alert from the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince came as Haiti’s commercial banks and other businesses announced reduced hours starting this week, grocery store owners warned of coming food shortages and the United Nations encouraged employees to stock up on emergency supplies of water, food and other essential items."

— “Florida officer’s convictions upheld in fatal shooting,” by The Associated Press’ Terry Spencer

— “A monkey in San Juan eluded capture. He’s become a Puerto Rican national icon,” by El Nuevo Herald’s Syra Ortiz-Blanes

— “Man arrested in fire at Pulse memorial after survivor joined search to find culprit,” by Orlando Sentinel’s Kate Santich

— “‘Tiger King’ star Carole Baskin sues Netflix over sequel,” by The Associated Press’ Curt Anderson: “The founder of a Florida big cat sanctuary featured in the popular ‘Tiger King’ series is suing Netflix and a production company to prevent the use of interviews and footage involving her in an upcoming sequel. Netflix counters that nonprofit Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin and her husband agreed in writing that the material could be used in the future and that she is trying to block the company’s First Amendment right to free speech.”

— “Killer of Ollie the pit bull to get 10 years for stabbing dog, trapping him in suitcase,” by Sun Sentinel’s Susannah Bryan: “Brendan Evans, the man accused of stabbing a pit bull named Ollie more than 50 times and leaving him trapped inside a suitcase in Hollywood, is now admitting to the crime four years after declaring his innocence. Evans, 35, will serve 10 years in state prison on two counts of animal cruelty, his defense attorney Michael Gottlieb said Tuesday. The crime captured headlines the world over, sparking fury from animal lovers from New York to London and beyond.”

BIRTHDAYS: Mark Herron, attorney with Messer Caparello, P.A. ... Journalist and writer Alan Gomez

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