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Chairman's
Message
Prayers for First
Lady Casey DeSantis
After Governor DeSantis’ statement on First Lady
Casey DeSantis' condition, there was an outpouring of prayer
and encouragement from Floridians across the state and political
spectrum. Thank you to all who have reached out to the Governor and
First Lady. Please keep them in your prayers.
Florida
Chairman Joe Gruters was on Facing South
Florida with mainstream journalist Jim Defede to discuss
Florida flipping red in voter registration, Covid policies, the
Governor’s race and bills during the upcoming legislative
session.
“It’s the
Governor and the leadership that sets those policies that creates the
environment for people to want to move here and be able to register as
Republicans because they want that freedom and liberty that everyone
else enjoys,” Gruters said, explaining why so many more people are
registering as Republican.
Watch the entire interview here: https://miami.cbslocal.com/video/6060095-facing-south-florida-1-on-1-with-state-sen-joe-gruters/
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Defending freedom never ends as Democrats
mobilize the FBI against parents
After the Department of Justice took the
astonishingly anti-American step this week of mobilizing the
FBI against dissenting parents who speak at school boards, Governor
DeSantis showed again what a defender of freedom looks
like.
The
Governor tweeted that "Attorney General Garland is weaponizing the DOJ
by using the FBI to pursue concerned parents and silence them through
intimidation. Florida will defend the free speech rights of its
citizens and will not allow federal agents to squelch
dissent."
The
principles in the Bill of Rights seem entirely lost on today’s
Democratic leadership: Disagreement is not harassment and protesting
is not terrorism. Florida law already prohibits harassment, and state
law enforcement is perfectly capable of responding to crimes in
Florida.
Governor
DeSantis has made it clear that he will continually stand up to the
authoritarianism that is running amok in Washington, D.C., and defend
Floridians’ rights.
Read more here: https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/ron-desantis-doj-merrick-garland-schoolboard/2021/10/06/id/1039325/
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The
Feds have admitted that Governor DeSantis’ decision to put seniors
first was the right approach to vaccine
distribution.
The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services released a report Wednesday
finding that “efforts to prioritize and vaccinate” those 65 and older
“helped prevent hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 infections and
tens of thousands of deaths among seniors” and “directly correlate[s]
to saving lives.”
“As the
COVID vaccines first became available, I made it clear that in Florida
we were going to put Seniors First to make sure the most vulnerable
received the protection they needed,” Governor DeSantis said.
“Following Florida’s lead, earlier this year the federal government
reversed course from prioritizing younger populations for vaccinations
to recommending that states prioritize seniors age 65 and older. When
I decided to put Seniors First, the data clearly showed that
prioritizing vaccines for seniors would save the most lives. It was
the right thing to do, and I am glad to see the federal government has
continued to acknowledge this reality.”
The HHS
study analyzed the estimated reductions in COVID infection,
hospitalization, and death for seniors in the 20 most populous states
through the end of May. At that time, only four of those states had
higher senior vaccination rates than Florida and the study estimates
that in Florida Seniors First reduced senior infections by 17,000,
hospitalizations by 6,700, and deaths by 2,400. The full study can be
found here.
Florida
currently has the highest vaccination rate in the Southeast and one of
the highest senior vaccination rates in the country. Over 4.5 million
seniors have chosen to get vaccinated in Florida.
Read more here: https://www.flgov.com/2021/10/06/florida-was-right-the-federal-government-admits-governor-desantis-decision-to-put-seniors-first-was-the-correct-approach-to-vaccine-distribution/
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Governor DeSantis says the Washington D.C.
dysfunction and congressional inaction are beginning to have
impacts on all types of transportation projects in Florida. The
failure to pass a timely authorization to fund the Federal Highway
Administration has resulted in halting federal support for
construction on federal highway projects as well as furloughing most
of the agency’s employees.
While
Congress continues to fail to do its job, the Florida Department of
Transportation is continuing to work on transportation projects
because any undue delay on these projects will directly impact
hundreds of thousands of Floridians. However, work that is currently
being done on these projects will not receive federal funding or
support, and may not be reimbursed – forcing Florida taxpayers to
cover for the ineptitude of Washington.
“Yet again,
the delays in Washington are impacting the lives of Floridians,”
Governor DeSantis said. “It is unacceptable that Congress or the Biden
Administration would use highway construction as a bargaining chip and
leave Florida taxpayers to foot the bill. This is even more proof that
the Democrats in leadership don’t want to help people, they don’t want
to get anything done, they just want to follow a political
agenda.”
Read more here: https://www.flgov.com/2021/10/01/dysfunction-in-washington-d-c-impacts-transportation-construction-projects-in-florida/
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After alerting the City of Gainesville of their
possible violation of the vaccination passport ban in
Florida, the Florida Department of Health received a response that the
City of Gainesville had rescinded its employee vaccine mandate. This
reversal also follows an Eighth Judicial Circuit Court temporary
injunction preventing vaccine mandates for city employees.
“In May, I
signed SB 2006 to empower Floridians – not elected politicians – to
take charge of their personal health decisions,” Governor DeSantis
said. “We are not going to allow our first responders and government
employees, many of whom have been on the front lines for over a year
and a half, to be cast aside by local politicians’ mandates. This
reversal by the City of Gainesville is a victory for
liberty.”
“Floridians
have the right to make their own decisions regarding the health of
themselves and their families,” said Florida Surgeon General Dr.
Joseph A. Ladapo.
Read more here: https://www.flgov.com/2021/10/01/following-leadership-from-governor-ron-desantis-city-of-gainesville-reverses-illegal-employee-vaccine-mandate/
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Enterprise Florida leader Jamal Sowell is leaving
his post to serve in the U.S. Navy Reserves. He's a true
American hero who served in the Marine Corps and then successfully
served our great state –– doing yeoman’s work getting our economy
through the pandemic. He is a great example for all Floridians and
Americans, putting country first.
“While I
have served in Afghanistan as a Marine Corps Officer and now continue
to serve as an officer in the Navy Reserve, I still feel compelled to
the call of service,” Sowell wrote in his resignation letter to
Governor DeSantis.
Sowell
praised DeSantis, a U.S. Navy veteran, for his leadership and handling
the state’s economy during the pandemic.
Read more here: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-enterprise-florida-leader-leaving-20211004-qxzaxxeelnaabpsv3kclbs2iqu-story.html
Washington,
D.C.
Fox
News recently reported on Val Demings willingness to embrace the most
extreme elements of the Democratic Party. Below is an
excerpt:
Democratic Rep. Val Demings of Florida continues her
embrace of far-left Democrats in her bid to unseat Republican Sen.
Marco Rubio, holding a fundraiser on Monday hosted by Chicago Mayor
Lori Lightfoot.
Lightfoot, who succeeded in making Chicago one of the
largest sanctuary cities in the country, has repeatedly sparked the
ire of local law enforcement during her more than two years as mayor.
Earlier this year, she signed a measure removing all exceptions that
allowed police to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.
The
congresswoman herself repeatedly voted against provisions in the
Democrats’ hotly contested $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that
would prohibit illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds from
obtaining legal status.
Demings, who served as one of seven managers in
then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, announced in
June that she was throwing her hat in the crowded ring of Democrats,
including former Rep. Alan Grayson, in the hopes of defeating Rubio
next November.
Since
then, she has aligned herself with several progressives while also
condemning the Rubio campaign's attempts to label her a
socialist.
Read more here: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/val-demings-hard-left-democrats-florida-senate
ICYMI
Governor DeSantis said President Biden's
catch-and-release immigration policy is intentional, during
an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show. The Governor said that
if Florida’s lawsuit can end catch-and-release, it may result in the
Biden administration being “forced to actually do the right thing for
a change.”
The
Governor said: “We have people from over 100 hundred nationalities
that are making their way to Mexico, making their way to the southern
border, because Biden's made it clear, if you just get here, we'll put
you on a bus, we'll put you on a plane, we'll send you all over the
fruited plain. So we have Americans having a hell of a time getting
out of Afghanistan. And yet if you just come illegally, you basically
get put on your way to communities all across the country.
It's a
choice that they're making. This is intentional. And if our lawsuit
succeeds and they have to end catch-and-release they may be forced to
actually do the right thing for a change.”
Watch the full interview here: https://www.foxnews.com/media/ron-desantis-hannity-biden-border-crisis-catch-release
Social Media
Highlights
REMEMBER: @FloridaGOP and retweet and
share. The Republican message must be spread around the state and you
are integral to making that happen.
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