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Thanks to Big
Smo for representing ABATE at the
last benefit.
Smo with daughter Lindsay

Backroom Briefing: Cultivating the Garden State Weekly political notes from The News
Service of Florida By Jim Saunders ©2021. All rights reserved; see terms. TALLAHASSEE --- Gov DeSantis raised
money in NJ, & Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried didn’t waste time trying to capitalize on it. “As COVID
hospitalizations remain near all-time highs, DeSantis went to NJ to raise money from a major Trump donor,” Fried’s
campaign said. Fried, the state agriculture commissioner who regularly spars with DeSantis, also tweeted: “Ted Cruz
bailed on his state to vacation in Cancun. DeSantis went to Jersey. So, yes, DeSantis is the worst.” Congressman
Charlie Crist, the other big-name Democrat in the gubernatorial field, joined the fray with a tweet: “Retweet if you think
it’s despicable for DeSantis to abandon a FL-in-crisis to go to a fundraiser in NJ.”
The NJ Globe political website reported DeSantis appeared in the oceanfront borough of Deal --- for a Sun morning
“high dollar” fundraiser for his 2022 re-election campaign. “Unlike 2014, when no GOP candidate would dare raise
money in NJ without the permission of Gov Christie, potential 2024 presidential candidates no longer hesitate to
cultivate donors in the Garden State,” referring to former NJ Rep Gov Chris Christie. It added, DeSantis “has already
raised $626,254 from NJ-based donors.”

SPECIAL REQUEST State Rep Sabatini, a Howey/Hills Rep running for Congress, is trying to call out
members of his own party over masks & vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.. Sabatini sent a letter to the other
159 members of the Legislature about the possibility of holding a special session to ban mask & vaccine mandates.
“The public has a right to know which elected officials will stand up for their rights,” tweeted Sabatini, an attorney who
has filed lawsuits challenging local mask mandates. “Lawless local governments, radical school boards & woke
corporations throughout our state are violating the individual medical freedom & medical privacy of employees &
members of the public with onerous mandates that have no place in the Free State of FL,” Sabatini wrote in the letter,
which quickly drew rebukes from several Democrats.

--Justices to Hear Local Gun Regulations Case TALLAHASSEE --- The FL Supreme Court will take up a closely
watched case about a 2011 state law that threatens tough penalties if city & Cnty officials approve gun-related
regulations. Cities, counties & local officials challenged the 2011 law after the Feb 18 mass shooting in Parkland that
killed 17 people.