• FL State Senate: Next Tuesday's Republican primary for a dark red seat in the Florida state Senate is now one of the most expensive nomination contests for any office in the entire nation, as well as a proxy fight between Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Longtime state Democratic strategist Steve Schale tweeted Tuesday that more than $13 million has been spent on TV ads for the 7th District, which is more than all but three U.S. House primaries this year.
Three candidates are facing off in this pricey battle to replace their fellow Republican, termed-out state Sen. Travis Hutson, in the 7th District in Florida’s northeast. State Rep. Tom Leek, who chairs the lower chamber's influential Appropriations Committee, sports endorsements from Hutson, DeSantis, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, and other prominent state and local Republicans. There's long been talk that, if Leek wins a promotion to the upper chamber, he could eventually serve as Senate president.
Leek's only primary opponent until two months ago was Gerry James, a former professional wrestler and ordained minister who lost to Hutson 56-44 in 2022 and struggled to match Leek in fundraising. Leek, though, spent weeks on the receiving end of attack ads from a group called The Truth Matters PAC before the third and final candidate, former St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar, entered the race in June.
Shoar, who served as the top lawman in the St. Augustine area from 2005 until his retirement in 2021, quickly began airing ads arguing that the race was a choice between a Trump-aligned Republican and Leek, whom he portrayed as insufficiently conservative. Leek argued in turn that Shoar was tricking voters by implying he had Trump's backing.
"He is not endorsed by President Trump," the representative told News4JAX in July. "That’s the deception that they’re putting out there to put out their candidate that will do whatever they want."
Leek lost that line of argument earlier this month, however, when Trump endorsed Shoar. While Trump's Truth Social post did not mention either of his opponents, the Daytona Beach News-Journal's Mark Harper noted that Leek had endorsed DeSantis' doomed presidential bid the previous year.
The two frontrunners and their respective allies have continued to spend millions against one another while largely ignoring James. Leek has in his corner the state branch of Americans for Prosperity, which has long been a key part of the Koch political network, as well as the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Shoar, meanwhile, has benefited from heavy spending from The Truth Matters PAC. Leek highlighted that this outfit is being funded by trial lawyers, a group he's often feuded with while in office. One of Leek's antagonists is John Morgan, the founder of the personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan and the face of this year's amendment campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida. But the man who calls himself "Pot Daddy" is no fan of Leek, and not only because the state representative opposes Amendment 3.
Leek, who is the top lawyer at an insurance agency, intensified the already public feud in May when his campaign accused Morgan of financing the attacks against him. Morgan responded by tweeting, "Rep. Tom Leek AKA Tom Leech has begun to attack me as he gears up for a Senate run. I don’t know why because I didn’t give a shit about his race. But now I do and he has awakened a sleeping dog."
Morgan has spent the ensuing months making good on that threat, and he currently has a video pinned to his X page of him accusing Leek of passing a 2022 bill that now requires Floridians to "give your lawyer a piece of the money to fix your house, which means you won't have enough money to fix your house."
Morgan went on to challenge Leek to a debate concerning homeowners insurance before adding, "You don't have the balls. Your balls—little BB balls—are on the desk of Charlie Lydecker, your employer at the insurance company." Leek's team quickly dismissed any talk that he'd accept Morgan's challenge and highlighted his antagonist's contributions to Democrats.
James, for his part, does not have well-heeled backers in his corner, though he's hoping that endorsements from figures like election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will help him establish himself as an alternative to the "establishment."
