One year ago, there was a decent chance the Republican nominee for president would hail from Florida. Former Gov. Jeb Bush was far ahead of the pack in money and the "invisible primary" that comes before voters cast their ballots. And U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was the second-favorite candidate for most GOP voters in the polls, signaling that he might have the most to gain as the field started to dwindle.
Instead, a part-time Florida resident with no experience in elected office clinched the GOP nomination this week, as real-estate mogul Donald Trump won the Indiana primary and knocked his remaining two rivals out of the race. All of that left Florida Republican leaders trying to figure out what to do --- and Gov. Rick Scott swatting down rumors that he would be Trump's running mate.
Meanwhile, a veteran member of the Florida Public Service Commission decided she would step down from the utility-regulating body. And the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a key capital punishment case.
THE GOP IS TRUMPED
Officially, the Republican Party of Florida is lined up behind Trump's campaign. Shortly after Trump won Indiana and drew within striking distance of the majority of delegates he would need to win a contested convention, Florida GOP Chairman Blaise Ingoglia sent out a statement backing the presumptive nominee.
"Now, we must all come together as a party and complete the task at hand, which is defeating Hillary Clinton in November," said Ingoglia, who doubles as a state representative from Spring Hill. "A Clinton presidency would be disastrous for this country, our military, our debt, our freedoms and the Supreme Court."
Several Republicans running for office --- including home-builder Carlos Beruff and Congressman Ron DeSantis, candidates for the U.S. Senate --- voiced their support for Trump with varying degrees of enthusiasm. But there were still divisions in Florida, one of the epicenters of the #NeverTrump movement, in part because of the Bush and Rubio candidacies that died earlier this year.
"I expect enough Republicans of conscience and principle will not vote for Donald Trump that it's going to make it very difficult to win the presidency," said Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist in Florida who has been a leading voice against Trump.
By Friday, the biggest Florida voice yet had spoken out against Trump. As the week drew to a close, Bush wrote on his Facebook page that he could not back Trump but also wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
"The American presidency is an office that goes beyond just politics," Bush wrote. "It requires of its occupant great fortitude and humility and the temperament and strong character to deal with the unexpected challenges that will inevitably impact our nation in the next four years. Donald Trump has not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character. He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And, he is not a consistent conservative."
Trump also kicked up another storm of speculation in Florida when he implied last weekend that he would look at Scott as a possible running mate. By the end of the week, Scott was repeatedly saying he already had the job he wanted and didn't intend on running for vice president.
Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said that naming Scott as a possible running mate might simply be a nod toward a critically important swing state in the fall. She noted that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has also been brought up as a contender for Clinton's No. 2 spot on the Democratic side.
"Mentioning Florida is good politics," she said.
I SAY GOODBYE, AND YOU SAY HELLO
The state's longest-serving utility regulator, Lisa Edgar, said this week she would end her run on the Florida Public Service Commission, freeing up a spot she has held since Bush was governor.
Edgar, who did not submit an application for reappointment to the $131,000-a-year position before a Tuesday deadline, said in a prepared statement she intends to use her "regulatory and governmental experience as I pursue new endeavors and other career opportunities.”
Among 11 candidates who filed applications before the deadline was Palm Harbor resident Jeffrey Bragg, whom Scott recently sought to appoint as state insurance commissioner.
The Public Service Commission Nominating Council will whittle the list of applicants, with Scott making an appointment later this year. Appointments to the five-member PSC are for four years and are subject to Senate confirmation.
Edgar was first appointed to the regulatory panel by Bush and began the job in January 2005. She was later reappointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist and Scott. She will remain on the commission through the end of this year.
"When reflecting on your career, nothing is more rewarding than feeling a sense of achievement," Edgar said in the statement Tuesday. "For the past 12 years, I've been honored and humbled to work on complex regulatory issues, finding ways to accomplish what's best for the public good."
Applicants to replace Edgar also include a staffer in Scott's office and a Gainesville city commissioner.
LIFE OR DEATH
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court began considering a case that could have far-reaching implications for the 390 inmates on Death Row in the state.
The case involves Timothy Lee Hurst, who was sentenced to death for the 1998 killing of a fast-food worker in Pensacola.
Hurst was the plaintiff in an appeal that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January that Florida's system of allowing judges --- and not juries --- to decide whether defendants should face death equates to an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury.
Lawmakers hurriedly overhauled the death-penalty sentencing system this winter to address the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Since the January ruling, the Florida Supreme Court has been grappling with the impact of the decision on Death Row inmates like Hurst.
David Davis, a Leon County assistant public defender representing Hurst, argued Thursday that the new law overhauling the sentencing system should not apply to Hurst and that his client must be resentenced to life behind bars.
Davis relied on a 1972 statute which provides that "in the event the death penalty in a capital felony is held to be unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court," the court having jurisdiction over a person previously sentenced to death "shall sentence such person to life imprisonment."
But Justice Peggy Quince noted that the decades-old law deals only with decisions regarding the death penalty itself, not the process involving sentencing.
"The Supreme Court (in the Hurst ruling) did not say that the death penalty was unconstitutional. It said the Florida procedure was unconstitutional. Isn't that a difference?" she asked.
Justice Barbara Pariente, who earlier this year called reliance on the 1972 law a "fallacious" argument, questioned why Hurst should not be resentenced under the new law.
At the same time, Pariente and Quince also expressed concerns about the constitutionality of the new law, at least in part because it only requires juries to decide that one aggravating factor exists for the death penalty to be imposed.
"The worst thing would be … a new statute that has constitutional infirmities that we then are applying across all these prosecutions and 10 years from now we end up with another 100, 200 people on Death Row, and no one gets to what the state wants, which is to have the worst of the worst executed," Pariente said.
Earlier in the week, a cadre of prominent attorneys, including former Florida Supreme Court justices, filed a friend-of-the-court brief backing Hurst's arguments on the 1972 law.
"Based on a plain reading of this statute, persons previously sentenced to death for a capital felony prior to the decision in Hurst v. Florida, are entitled to have their death sentences replaced by sentences of life without parole," the lawyers wrote.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Donald Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination, prompting difficult decisions for members of the Florida GOP.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "We could not be so lucky."---Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux, on the possibility Trump would choose Gov. Rick Scott for his ticket.
