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South Florida state senator Annette Taddeo officially announced her candidacy for governor. She enters a Democratic primary with former Governor Charlie Crist, with whom she ran unsuccessfully in 2014. Also in the race, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Florida's only statewide elected democrat. By running for governor, Taddeo will vacate her post as State Senator in District 40. The district will become the top target for a potential pickup by Republicans next year.
In other news, Florida’s rapidly declining trend of COVID-19 cases continued Monday with 1,861 new cases reported. Florida’s weekly trend for cases is now the lowest since July 6th. As for hospitalizations, 70 fewer Floridians are hospitalized with COVID-19 today as overall hospitalizations dropped to 2,634 statewide.
Lastly, the prospects for statewide sports betting took a step forward on Monday as a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Seminole Tribe hosting sports betting services for offsite gaming. The lawsuit, which was brought by two pari-mutuels, Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room, was dismissed due to a lack of standing according to the judge. Despite sports betting becoming legal in Florida as of Friday, the Seminoles have yet to ramp up for a statewide rollout while legal challenges are sorted out. Legal challenges at the state level have yet to be ruled on.