Sen. Rick Scott continued his crusade against Kanye West’s upcoming Tampa concerts with a fiery press conference at the Florida Holocaust Museum on Monday morning.
Florida
What to expect in Florida's special congressional primaries
WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of the U.S. House isn’t on the line in Tuesday’s special congressional primaries in Florida, but Republicans are still eager to find replacements for former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz to add some breathing room to their slender majority in the chamber.
President Donald Trump looms large in the race, in both Tuesday’s primary and the special general election on April 1. He’s endorsed candidates in both GOP primaries and easily carried both districts in the November election.
Trump has backed state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis among a crowded 10-person field in Gaetz’s former 1st Congressional District. In Waltz’s 6th Congressional District, he endorsed state Rep. Randy Fine over two other candidates. Fine represents a Brevard County-based state Senate district located outside the Palm Coast-area seat he hopes to fill.
READ MORE: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will fill Marco Rubio’s Senate seat
Gun control activist Gay Valimont is unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 1st District. She challenged Gaetz for the seat in November, receiving 34 percent of the vote. Democrats George Selmont and Josh Weil compete for the nomination in the 6th District. Selmont is an attorney and filmmaker who ran for a neighboring congressional seat in 2018. He received 32 percent of the vote against GOP Rep. John Rutherford. Weil is a public school educator in Osceola County.
The 1st Congressional District borders Alabama on the Gulf Coast in the westernmost part of the Florida panhandle. It is home to both Naval Air Station Pensacola and Eglin Air Force Base. The district is among the most reliably Republican areas of the state. The four counties that make up the 1st District have voted for Republican presidential candidates almost continually for the past 60 years.
On the other side of the state, the 6th Congressional District sits on the Atlantic Coast and includes Daytona Beach. Republican presidential candidates have carried all six counties in the district for the last four presidential elections. The Republican winning streak in some of the counties stretches back for decades before that. Lake County, for instance, hasn’t supported a Democrat for president since Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.
READ MORE: 4 key findings from the House Ethics report on Matt Gaetz misconduct allegations
Trump’s support should carry considerable weight in both districts. His weakest performance in either district in last year’s general election was in Escambia County in the 1st District, where he received 59 percent of the vote.
In the November general election, Gaetz and Waltz won reelection with 66 percent and 67 percent of the vote, respectively. Gaetz resigned after Trump nominated him to be attorney general, but he later withdrew from consideration following ongoing scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation and a House Ethics Committee investigation. Waltz resigned Monday to become White House national security adviser.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Machine recounts in Florida are automatic if the vote margin is 0.5 percent of the total vote or less. If the machine recount results in a vote margin of 0.25 percent of the total vote or less, a manual recount of overvotes and undervotes is required. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Here’s a look at what to expect on Tuesday.
Special primary day
The special primaries in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 7 p.m. ET in the 6th District and 8 p.m. ET in the 1st District.
What’s on the ballot?
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in the Republican primary in the 1st Congressional District and the Democratic and Republican primaries in the 6th Congressional District. A Democratic primary will not be held in the 1st District as there is only one candidate.
Who gets to vote?
Florida does not allow voters registered with one political party to vote in another party’s primary. Democrats may not vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either primary.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
As of October 2024, Florida’s 1st Congressional District had about 301,000 active registered Republicans and about 117,000 active registered Democrats. The 6th District had about 262,000 active registered Republicans and about 138,000 active registered Democrats.
Turnout in the August Republican congressional primaries was about 34 percent of registered Republicans in the 1st District and about 31 percent in the 6th District. Democrats did not have competitive primaries in those districts.
As of Friday morning, more than 11,000 ballots had been cast in the 1st District Republican primary, nearly 17,000 in the 6th District Republican primary and nearly 10,000 in the 6th District Democratic primary.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results in the 1st Congressional District at 8:01 p.m. ET, or one minute after polls closed. The election night tabulation in the 1st District ended at 1:33 a.m. ET with about 99 percent of total votes counted. In the 6th Congressional District, the first batch of votes was reported at 7 p.m. ET, just as polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:48 p.m. ET, with about 99 percent of the vote counted.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 63 days until the special general elections in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts.
Florida
South Florida shark diving operators push back against Florida Safe Seas Act: “There’s a huge double standard here”
Shark diving operators in South Florida are raising concerns that a bill currently moving through Congress could wipe out their industry.
The Florida Safe Seas Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month, is now headed to the Senate for consideration. If enacted, the legislation would prohibit the use of bait to attract sharks in federal waters off the Florida coast, though it would include an exception for shark fishing.
Supporters argue the bill will improve safety for swimmers, beachgoers, and anglers. Opponents, however, contend the measure would effectively dismantle the multimillion-dollar shark diving tourism industry in South Florida.
“This industry has created a natural guardianship for sharks; it is showing people that sharks are worth more alive than dead; it’s showing people the importance of sharks, really,” said Tanner Mansell, who operates Tanner Underwater Charters out of Jupiter.
Mansell argues that banning bait would leave operators with no viable alternative. “It would completely eliminate the industry because if we could go out there and swim with sharks without using bait, I would, I would be more than happy to do that,” he said.
He noted that his charters typically operate 3 to 4 miles offshore, well away from beachgoers, and argued that shark fishing from the beach presents a greater safety risk.
“So they’re taking the same chum that we use to attract sharks offshore, but you can put it on a hook and throw it at the beach and lure sharks in if you want to catch them right next to beachgoers, so there’s a huge double standard here,” Mansell said. He also disputed claims that dive charters are responsible for drawing sharks closer to shore, pointing to the high volume of recreational fishing boats in the area.
Conversely, the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust supports the legislation, citing the need to address shark depredation—a situation where sharks target hooked fish or fish being released back into the water.
“I think anything we can do to address the shark depredation issue is going to pay dividends in the long run,” said Kellie Ralston, the organization’s vice president for conservation and public policy.
Ralston highlighted research indicating that more than 40% of breeding permit fish, a key recreational fishery in the state, were being lost to sharks during the catch-and-release process. “I think couched in kind of this larger focus on shark depredation, I think we’re poised to see some really positive results out of this that’ll benefit our anglers, our boaters, our waters and our fisheries to be sustainable for the long term,” she added.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Clermont. A spokesperson for Webster’s office stated that the legislation mirrors existing Florida state law prohibiting shark feeding off the coast.
“The bill would extend these protections to federal waters, aligning with existing federal law surrounding Hawaii and Pacific territories,” the spokesperson said. “With the bill passing the U.S. House of Representatives on June 2, it now goes to the Senate for consideration.”
If you have breaking news, a tip, or an issue you think deserves investigation, contact our newsroom at 844-404-4954 (Broward) or 844-404-4305 (Miami-Dade). You can also email us at wfornews@cbs.com or visit our news tip page.
Joined by Holocaust survivors, Jewish leaders, fellow Sen. Ashley Moody, and former Republican governor turned Democratic St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Charlie Crist, Scott stood behind a lectern bearing the slogan “Don’t. Fund. Antisemitism.” He gestured to the boxcar on his right, which once transported humans to death camps during the Holocaust.
“Many suffocated in boxcars like these before they even made it,” Scott said. “It all started with questions like the one before us today: Are we going to tolerate this?”
Kanye West’s schedule in Florida
West, who now goes by Ye, has Raymond James Stadium concerts scheduled on June 26 and 28, prompting an outcry from the Tampa Jewish Federation and the Florida chapter of the National Organization for Women. Last week, the Florida Holocaust Museum announced it would offer free admission that weekend.
On June 4, Scott wrote a scathing open letter to the Tampa Sports Authority, which operates Raymond James Stadium. He argued that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to fund events for West, who sold swastika merchandise and posted a song titled “Heil Hitler” last year.
“People say, ‘Oh, it’s just a concert. Oh, the Tampa Bay Sports Authority is going to make some money, let people have their fun,’” he said. “Some of the worst sins in human history begin with the words, ‘I was just’: ‘I was just going to a concert with my friends,’ ‘I was just trying to make money,’ ‘I was just following orders.’ No, you can’t do that. None of us should be let off the hook for hatred and antisemitism.”
In a new statement following Monday’s press conference, the Tampa Sports Authority pushed back against Scott’s claims.
“We condemn antisemitism from any source. However, we also respect free speech rights guaranteed under the US Constitution, even when we disagree with that speech,” it said. “In addition, no taxpayer money is being used for staging the Ye concerts. To suggest otherwise is false.”
Ye has a long history of antisemitism
This spring, Ye published an apology for his antisemitism in the Wall Street Journal, attributing his behavior to his bipolar disorder and brain damage caused by a car accident. Despite this, his behavior prompted European officials to block him from entering the UK, effectively canceling some concerts there.
“Why is it that other countries can tell him no, and we don’t do that? We’ve accepted him,” said Toni Rinde, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who traveled from Clearwater to speak at the press conference. “Why? Why is this person being so hateful, trying to destroy people?”
Janet Hammer, a volunteer at the Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast, spoke out against the concerts at last week’s Tampa City Council meeting and sent letters to her elected officials.
“There are people who have not been educated to understand what Nazis represent. He is glamorizing hatred,” she said. “We should have a ticket buyback program. Because to me, it’s not just the profit that’s going to be made. It’s how many individuals are going to be hearing this person, and who knows what the messaging is that he’s going to share?”
After the press conference, Hammer said she is still looking for ways to fight back against the concert.
“It’s like a done deal. That’s unacceptable in my eyes,” she said. “I left there asking, ’What more can I do?’”
🏆 Residential: The top home sale to hit records in South Florida was in Miami, where the 4,400-square-foot at 733 Belle Meade Boulevard changed hands for $9.2 million. The seller was an LLC tied to entrepreneur Andrew Sieja and his wife, philanthropist Jessica Sieja. The buyer was Joshua Keller. The waterfront property has five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms. It last sold in 2021 for $8.3 million. It went on the market in January for $10 million. Miltiadis Kastanis with Compass had the listing, and Dan Hechtkopf, also with Compass, brought the buyer.
🏆 Commercial: The priciest commercial deal was in Hollywood, where the hotel known as the Rooftop Resort at 1215 North Ocean Drive sold for $6.9 million. Built in the 1970s, the property spans 16,500 square feet and has 34 rooms. The seller was an LLC tied to Pamela Riccio and the buyer was an LLC managed by Michael Delouya, Thierry Cohen and Daniel Benhamou. The Rotella Group had the listing.
📊 Residential: In Miami Beach, a 4,500-square-foot condo at 1011 West 48th Street sold for $8 million or roughly $1,800 per square foot. The seller was a company managed by Ansir Junaid, founder of the Junaid Group, which operates business across a range of industries from real estate to healthcare, and the buyer was an entity led by Robert Curran. The unit, which has four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, previously sold in 2023 for $8.3 million. Its most recent asking price was $9.5 million. One Sotheby’s International Realty’s Chelsea Werner had the listing, and Ximetta Mires with Global Luxury Realty represented the buyer.
By the Numbers: Number of underwater homes in the US reached 2M
The number of underwater homes in the U.S. is rapidly growing.
For the first time since 2021, the number of homes where loan balances sit at least 25 percent higher than a property’s estimated market value passed the 2 million mark. The figure represents a 15 percent year-over-year increase, according to a new report from real estate analytics firm Attom.
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