Miami, FL
Florida abortion measure meets signature requirements
TALLAHASSEE – Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring abortion rights in Florida have submitted enough valid petition signatures to get on the November ballot, a key step in what could become the state’s biggest political battle this year.
The Florida Division of Elections website Friday morning showed that 910,946 valid signatures had been tallied for the proposal, which is sponsored by the political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom. That topped a requirement of submitting 891,523 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Also, Floridians Protecting Freedom met a requirement to meet signature thresholds in at least half of the state’s 28 congressional districts. Unofficial totals on the Division of Elections website showed that the committee exceeded the thresholds in 17 of the 28 districts.
Now, the focus will shift to the Florida Supreme Court, which has to sign off on the wording of proposed ballot initiatives. The court has scheduled a Feb. 7 hearing on the abortion initiative, which Attorney General Ashley Moody and other opponents are trying to keep off the ballot.
“Make no mistake: we will put abortion on the ballot in 2024 and take back the rights that have been stolen,” Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie, said Friday in a post on the social-media site X.
But Moody and the other opponents are urging the Supreme Court to block the measure, contending it would be misleading to voters – an argument that initiative supporters dispute.
The Supreme Court will review the proposed ballot summary and title, the wording that voters see when they go to the polls. The proposed ballot summary says, in part: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Moody and other opponents have raised a series of objections, including contending that the word “viability” can have multiple meanings.
Floridians Protecting Freedom announced the initiative in May after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law that could prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The six-week limit is contingent on the outcome of a legal battle about a 15-week abortion limit that DeSantis and lawmakers passed in 2022. The 15-week case also is pending at the Florida Supreme Court.
The proposed constitutional amendment has come amid the backdrop of ballot fights in other states after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling left abortion decisions to states.
If the Florida Supreme Court signs off on the wording, the Floridians Protecting Freedom initiative is almost certain to spur a fierce – and expensive – political battle. The six-week limit approved this spring by lawmakers and DeSantis would largely halt abortions in Florida, where a reported 72,087 abortions were performed during the first 11 months of 2023, according to state Agency for Health Care Administration data.
The petition-gathering process is complicated and costly, and Floridians for Protecting Freedom faced a Feb. 1 deadline for meeting the requirements. It had raised $8.91 million for the initiative as of Sept. 30, while spending $8.79 million as it worked to collect signatures. It will have to file an updated finance report by a Wednesday deadline.
The signature totals posted Friday morning on the Division of Elections website showed that the largest number of valid signatures, 54,277, had been collected in Congressional District 14 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Meanwhile, 45,673 had been collected in Congressional District 10 in Orange County, and 45,268 had been collected in Congressional District 21 in Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.
The Oregon Ducks come off a chaotic recruiting period in the 2027 cycle, where they hosted official visitors and added to their list of commitments. Coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon staff are simultaneously looking ahead to future recruiting classes.
As the 2027 cycle starts to wind down and the 2028 cycle begins to pick up, the Ducks entered the recruiting sweepstakes for four-star edge rusher Elijah Tillman.
Oregon Ducks in the Mix for Four-Star EDGE Elijah Tillman
Tillman is a 6-7, 210-pound edge rusher from Loganville, Georgia. He’s listed as a consensus four-star recruit and is ranked as high as No. 152 in the class by Rivals.
In a recent interview with Rivals’ Chad Simmons, Tillman revealed that Oregon and the Miami Hurricanes are among the schools that he wants to visit. According to 247Sports, the Ducks offered him back on April 30, 2026, while the Hurricanes extended an offer all the way on January 25, 2025.
Tillman told Rivals that the different schools in the mix are even at the moment, but that Oregon and Miami were two of the schools that he wants to go out and see.
Four-Star Elijah Tillman’s Potential Oregon Ducks Fit
Sports Spring Football | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
With Tillman’s large frame, which still has the opportunity to grow, he would provide the Ducks with size on the edge right away.
The 2027 recruiting class currently features five-star edge rusher Rashad Streets, three-star Achilles Reyna and three-star Josh Christensen at the position. The program prepares for current starters Matayo Uiagelelei and Teitum Tuioti to head to the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the 2026 season, leaving opportunities for the next couple of recruiting classes.
Additionally, the Ducks haven’t earned any commitments from the state of Georgia in their 2027 recruiting class. The last commit Lanning landed from Georgia was Dayton Raiola in the 2026 class, who made his decision on February 4, 2026. Making a big push for Tillman could possibly reignite the program’s recruiting in the Peach State.
Miami Hurricanes vs. Oregon Ducks Recruiting Battle
Miami is the other program that appears to be making a big push early for Tillman. Oregon fans are very familiar with former Ducks coach Mario Cristobal, who took Oregon recruiting to a different level before leading the Hurricanes to the National Championship game last season.
Cristobal and the Hurricanes have battled Lanning and the Ducks for blue-chip recruits more and more over the recent recruiting cycles. Most notably, Miami flipped four-star cornerback Ai’King Hall’s commitment from Oregon earlier in the 2027 cycle.
The two rivals also emerged as finalists for linebacker recruit Jalaythan Mayfield, who ended up choosing the Indiana Hoosiers. Oregon got the best of the Hurricanes once in the 2027 cycle when four-star offensive lineman Gus Corsair committed to the Pacific Northwest program over the Vanderbilt Commodores and Miami.
While the Hurricanes aren’t a Big Ten rival that the Ducks commonly go toe-to-toe with on the field and in the recruiting realm, Cristobal’s role in the recruiting rivalry adds a little bit more fuel to battles for recruits like Tillman.
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The Miami Dolphins will have new starters at their cornerback positions since both Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas are not back with the team. The team drafted Chris Johnson in the first round and it’s pretty likely he’ll have a large role and should claim the one starting spot. The other starting spot should be up for grabs among the rest of the group. Jason Marshall is one of those players who has a better chance of claiming that starting spot after showing some flashes his rookie season. Jeff Hafley has already said he envision Marshall playing on the outside and the second-year corner should get plenty of chances to prove himself during the preseason.
You can check out that story here, and the rest of the day’s round-up below.
Phinsider News You May Have Missed
With Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres’ contract ending in February 2027, school board members are now looking to have his replacement by August.
Dotres has served as the superintendent for the third-largest school district since 2022. The school board started the search for his replacement in April.
More than 20 people applied for the position, but now only six have secured spots as semifinalists.
Here’s a closer look at who Miami-Dade’s superintendent might be:
Jose Bueno
With roughly 33 years of experience within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Bueno currently serves as Dotres’ Chief of Staff.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bueno’s tasks include coordinating and implementing major projects “that have significant district-wide impact on the goals of the district and involve coordination of other divisions and offices.”
He started as a teacher within the country back in 1993 and is a Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University graduate.
Ernie Lozano
Lozano is currently Broward County’s Public Schools Chief Human Resources Officer.
His passion is creating a safe and secure environment for both students and staff.
“He has been recognized for his contributions to the District’s safety and security initiatives, receiving accolades for his exceptional leadership and commitment to student and staff well-being,” according to a bio on the site for the National Student Safety and Security Conference & Workshop.
Before his career in human resources, Lozano served within education as a teacher, assistant principal and more.
Sylvia Mitchell
Hope builder, executive leadership coach and seasoned superintendent are all descriptions Mitchell has on her LinkedIn.
Living in Houston, Texas, Mitchell is familiar with the Sunshine State since she was a principal at Charter Schools USA in Fort Lauderdale back in 2012.
She has also served as superintendent twice in Texas and is currently Executive Vice President, Curriculum, Design & Development for Per Scholars.
Carlos Perez
Perez is a charter school principal in West Palm Beach and the former executive director of the Education Reform Project, a nonprofit organization based in Miami Beach.
According to the nonprofit, Perez has over 25 years of experience within education, mainly in New York, but now in Florida.
Perez has also been an assistant superintendent in the past, as well as taking part as an Executive Board Member for the New York State Association of School Personnel Administrators.
Christopher Ruszkowski
Currently based in South Carolina as CEO of South Carolina’s Children’s Fund, Ruszkowski has moved all over the country, and Florida will be no exception.
According to his LinkedIn, he served as New Mexico’s Secretary of Education back in 2019. Before living in South Carolina, he was a conservator for the Texas Education Agency. A conservator oversees the state’s takeovers of large school districts and charter school networks.
Getting his master’s at Stanford, Ruszkowski was a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institute located within the university.
Rafael Villalobos
Since 2022, Villalobos has been the South Region Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Before that, he was a principal for over ten years.
The Nova Southeastern alum has been in Miami for most of his life, even graduating from South Miami Senior High School in 1990.
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