Florida for decades served as America’s most important swing state. The last two election cycles proved that era to be over, but the consequence for Republicans in state and local politics may not always taste sweet.

We now live in a period where the great political battles in Florida will be waged not between the left and right but among those seeking control of the Republican Party and its message. One such conflict will be on full display Monday in Tallahassee when state lawmakers convene  for a Special Session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis but which legislative leaders publicly criticized as premature and, in writing, “irresponsible.”

The actual legislative agenda for this almost seems inconsequential. DeSantis wants immigration enforcement powers, petition process reforms and condo regulation fixes— but above all else he demands credit for enacting these changes. My guess is Republican supermajorities largely agree with DeSantis on matters or police, more or less, but have no interest in giving a lame duck Governor and failed presidential candidate the ability to write legislation for the Legislature to rubber stamp.

Local lawmakers tell me it’s more likely the House and Senate gavel in and out without passing anything than it is that they rush a laundry list of bills to DeSantis’ desk in under a week. The highest estimates give this Special Session a 50/50 chance of passing anything. I still wonder if take up part of the agenda, empowering Florida law enforcement with deportation ability, but only because President Donald Trump wants that done. And if that passes, lawmakers will credit Trump, not DeSantis.

In a sense, this mirrors a coming battle in the 2026 election cycle, when many anticipate heated Republican primaries for every statewide office which will pit a DeSantis-backed choice against one endorsed by Trump. With the General Election meaningless, may as well make August a bloodbath.

Messy primaries will include the Chief Financial Officer race, where state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, already filed to run in 2026 with Trump’s endorsement. But DeSantis before April ends will appoint someone to replace outgoing CFO Jimmy Patronis, and it probably won’t be Gruters. The Governor also just chose to appoint former Attorney General Ashley Moody as a Senator over Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, so expect a Trump-backed Primary challenge there, too. 

At the more local level, we also see a fight that grows each year as hard-right activists of south Sarasota County, including those in the orbit of former Trump National Security Adviser-turned-QAnon-King Michael Flynn, threaten the takeover of the Republican Party of Sarasota County. The same dynamic has happened in Republican Executive Committees around Florida the last two years

Current Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power (who himself secured the state Chair gavel amid tumult and fallout from Sarasota Republican Christian Ziegler’s sex scandal last year), cut off civil wars at the knees this year by suspending Republican Assembly members from REC elections. But expect those activists to come back in force next cycle. 

Of course, current RPOS Chair Jack Brill had the votes to win re-election as county Chair regardless of whether local Assembly members could vote or not. But he doesn’t plan to run again, meaning control of the county party will soon become another fervent battleground in 2026.

As for Democrats, the last meaningful utensil they have left in the governing toolbox in Florida is the popcorn bin. They will only have occasion now and then to decide which Republicans to help humiliate other Republicans. But come Monday, just such an opportunity may arise.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ Media. 

Photo courtesy Pixabay.

The Sarasota real estate market has slowed a bit since 2023, but luxury home sales above $1 million have continued to exceed the past six years. Compared to pre-pandemic sales in 2019, high-end home and condo sales in 2024 nearly tripled, with only 2021 coming close during the peak of the COVID buying frenzy.

Year-to-date, home and condo sales in the Sarasota Real Estate Market in all price categories are 5% behind last year. With new listings and home construction increasing, buyers have more leverage in negotiations. The gap between listing and sale prices is slowly widening, and price adjustments from sellers are becoming more common due to increased competition.

Days-on-market is an important factor to both buyers and sellers. A seller is anxious in today’s market as they recall the heady days in 2022 when number of days from listing-to-contract fell to just 17 days. Buyers see the extended listing periods as a sign that there might be something wrong with the property. The reality is somewhere in-between and more likely about buyers having more choices with higher inventory, and sellers not carefully considering pricing set by their competitor properties.

Using 2019 as a base (before COVID) compared to the last 12 months of activity, the numbers are quite remarkable. Inventory has fallen from highs of nearly 1,100 high-end properties for sale in the spring of this year, down to closer to 2019 levels. And the listing-to-contract period has become notably shorter. In 2019, it averaged 139 days; this year, it has been around 70 days. 

As many market economists expected, the Fed’s recent 25 basis point reduction did not measurably affect mortgage rates, thus had little effect on housing sales. Financial experts have reduced their projections for the number of rate cuts in 2025. Additionally, the Mortgage Bankers Association has published their forecast, anticipating mortgage rates to remain around 6.5% over the coming years.

Mortgage rates have now hovered over 6% for the last couple of years. Consumers are adjusting to the current market realities and are moving forward with their plans to buy or sell. Historical data reveals that the 50-year average is 7.7%.

Over the past three months, major storms significantly impacted Sarasota’s real estate market. Office closures, recovery efforts and water and power interruptions disrupted listings and sales. Combined with political tensions and high mortgage rates, it is unsurprising that the 4th quarter of 2024 wasn’t winding down the year on a high note.

As we approach the peak tourism months, I expect demand to remain strong. Inquiries from prospective buyers and sellers have grown over this last month leaving me encouraged for a healthy 1st quarter ahead. However, it is likely that the real estate market will continue to experience unexpected turns. Partnering with an agent who comprehends our nuanced local conditions is essential in navigating these shifts to make informed decisions based on your goals. 

Image source: Trendgraphix.

For many people—especially artists—the rise of AI technology was initially a cause for existential dread. And while we are learning how best to embrace AI, we should never lose sight of the powers we possess as thinking, feeling humans. Those are the qualities that will continue to set us apart from AI’s electronically aggregated outcomes. And those are among the qualities that we have always strived and will continue to nurture at Ringling College of Art and Design.

One of the keys to accessing and exercising our human cognitive strength lies in creative visualization. Traditionally, creative visualization involves generating detailed mental imagery, including shapes, textures, colors and even sounds, movements and emotions. By then manipulating those images in our mind, we can mentally explore different artistic styles and emotional responses, as well as hypothetical outcomes for all kinds of real-world situations—artistic and beyond.

Creative visualization is the part of the creative process that happens before we even engage with our physical medium. At the same time, creative visualization helps us to evolve our own responses, affecting not only how we see the world, but how we feel it. In short, it helps elevate our understanding.

Where AI, in its rawest applications, focuses on producing an end product, creative visualization emphasizes the active “creation” part of creativity. Therein lies our strength and our humanity—the ability not only to imagine, but to focus, analyze and adapt, all while guided by our experiences, our intellect and our emotional feedback. 

In September 2024, Ringling College hosted our first annual AI Symposium, empowering artists and designers to thrive in the AI era. Among the symposium’s featured speakers was Kurt Paulsen, a media consultant with Spawning.ai, an organization that focuses on ethical AI training as well as tools to help artists exert more control over how their works are used.

Paulsen argues that, with the right tools, artists can use their entire body of work to build—and, crucially, to own—a personal AI database representing their own artistic style. From there the technology can be applied to the artist’s creative visualization as a way to experiment with, explore and expand one’s own artistic potential. 

As with traditional creative visualization, the key is that we actively guide the creation, analyzing and adapting based on our personal emotional and intellectual responses. In essence, it becomes a digital extension of our mind’s eye.

In order to grow as artists, as leaders,and as problem-solvers in any context, we must forever explore how our own potential intersects with the potential of the world around us. Creative visualization hones that skill. The more we practice it, the more adept we’ll be at navigating our lives, expanding our imaginations, and generating new and wonderful ideas.

Dr. Larry Thompson is president of Ringling College of Art & Design. 

Photo courtesy Ringling College of Art & Design.