“Thank you very much, I appreciate the confidence of the vote from all of you,” said Zembower after the unanimous vote by his fellow board members. He replaces Commissioner Amy Lockhart.

The county chair presides over county commission meetings, signs legal documents on behalf of the commission and appoints fellow commissioners to committees.

The commission chair selection, however, brings a level of political interest not seen in recent years, as Lockhart and other county officials clashed with Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson.

The county chair also sits on Seminole’s canvassing board — which every election cycle oversees the voting process in the county — along with a county judge and the supervisor of elections. The canvassing board is responsible for testing voting machines, overseeing the counting of ballots and conducting a post-election audit of the voting system.

Anderson — who is Seminole’s first Black supervisor of elections — has expressed concerns about racism in the county, including in letters and in an emotional video he posted on TikTok in late August.

In response, then-chair Lockhart sent a letter on Oct. 3 to Gov. Ron DeSantis, which asked his office to investigate what she called Anderson’s “erratic” and “combative” conduct.

“Mr. Anderson’s outward displays of resentment include candidates who will be on the ballot in an upcoming election,” Lockhart said in her missive. “One must wonder if they will be able to participate confidently in the electoral process and without fear of retaliation by the person counting the votes.”

The Governor’s Office has not said publicly whether it will pursue Lockhart’s request for an investigation.

On Nov. 3, Anderson and other members of the canvassing board — including Lockhart — had a tense meeting in which Anderson called to remove Phil Kaprow as the board’s attorney. But Lockhart and county Judge Carsandra Buie voted to keep Kaprow as the canvassing board’s attorney.

The tension comes less than a year before a large countywide election in November 2024, in which Seminole voters will cast ballots for an array of candidates — including the U.S. President, U.S. Senator, Congressional and state representatives, along with three county commission candidates and five county constitutional officers. Anderson’s position as supervisor of elections will be on the ballot next year, and he has said he plans to seek reelection.

As the new chairman, Zembower will serve on the canvassing board for that next election cycle. However, Lockhart will stand in for Zembower at the next canvassing board meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Supervisor of Elections Office, 1500 E. Airport Blvd., in Sanford.

Commissioners on Tuesday also selected Andria Herr to continue serving as the board’s vice chair.

Zembower last served as chair in 2020 during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic when local governments were struggling with whether to impose restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease.

“Does somebody know something about a pandemic about to break out?” Zembower joked after Tuesday’s vote from commissioners.

He later lauded Lockhart for serving as chair when the board hired this year county Manager Darren Gray and county Attorney Kate LaTorre.

“I’d like to take a moment and thank Chairman Lockhart for her leadership in on-boarding a new county manager and a new county attorney — the two key positions in our county,” Zembower said.

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia district attorney who charged former President Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election said Tuesday that she expects his trial will be underway through Election Day next year and could possibly stretch past the inauguration in 2025.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis made the comments at an event sponsored by The Washington Post. Her remarks came shortly after Willis asked a judge for an emergency protective order to prevent evidence in the case from being leaked, just a day after news outlets reported on prosecutors’ video interviews with four co-defendants who have pleaded guilty in the case.

Trump was indicted along with 18 others in Fulton County in August on charges they participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to keep the Republican incumbent in power after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and the remaining defendants — including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — have all pleaded not guilty.

“I believe in that case there will be a trial. I believe the trial will take many months. And I don’t expect that we will conclude until the winter or the very early part of 2025,” Willis told the newspaper at the The Washington Post’s Global Women’s Summit.

Trump is the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican nominee for president. The timing suggested by Willis would make the Georgia prosecution the last of his four criminal cases to go to trial. Ultimately, it will be up to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to set the trial date.

“I don’t, when making decisions about cases to bring, consider any election cycle or an election season. That does not go into the calculus. What goes into the calculus is: This is the law. These are the facts. And the facts show you violated the law. Then charges are brought,” Willis said.

Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in the Georgia case, declined to comment on Willis’ remarks.

Willis’ team on Tuesday filed an emergency request asking McAfee to issue a protective order to prevent any leaks of evidence, known as discovery, that the prosecution shares with the defense ahead of trial. McAfee has set a hearing on the motion for Wednesday afternoon.

The request came a day after the Post reported the details of video interviews with four people who have already pleaded guilty in the case — attorneys Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis, and bail bondsman and Trump supporter Scott Hall. ABC News first published details and clips of the interviews with Powell and Ellis.

Prosecutors, who had previously requested a protective order to prevent the release of discovery in September, said the release of the recordings “is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case.”

Former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, joined by Trump and four other defendants, objected to prosecutors’ request, saying prosecutors had failed to show how it would “allegedly serve the purpose of protecting witnesses from alleged harm.” If the judge plans to impose a protective order, it should be limited to evidence considered “Sensitive Materials,” and defense attorneys should be able to contest that designation, Shafer’s attorneys wrote in a filing Tuesday.

The recorded statements had been shared with all remaining defense attorneys in the case. Going forward, prosecutors wrote, defendants and their lawyers will not receive copies of such recordings but will be able to watch them and take notes at the district attorney’s office.

Ellis told prosecutors that Dan Scavino, then Trump’s deputy chief of staff, told her in December 2020 that “the boss” didn’t plan to leave the White House after she expressed sorrow that none of the legal challenges to the election seemed to be panning out, according to news reports.

Chesebro told prosecutors about a previously unreported meeting at the White House during which he briefed the then-president on election challenges in Arizona and summarized his advice on a plan to assemble Republican slates of electors in several swing states that Biden had won, the Post reported.

Asked by prosecutors why Trump kept asking her for legal advice, Powell said, “Because we were the only ones willing to support his effort to sustain the White House. I mean, everybody else was telling him to pack up and go.”

Trump attorney Sadow dismissed the relevance of the recorded interviews and called for the case to be dismissed.

“Any purported private conversation is absolutely meaningless,” he said in an emailed statement. “The only salient and telling fact is that President Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021 and returned to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.”

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan judge ruled Tuesday that former President Donald Trump will remain on the state’s primary ballot, dealing a blow to the effort to stop Trump’s candidacy with a Civil War-era Constitutional clause.

It marks the second time in a week that a state court declined to remove Trump from a primary ballot under the insurrection provision of the 14th Amendment.

In Michigan, Court of Claims Judge James Redford rejected arguments that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol meant the court had to declare him ineligible for the presidency. Redford wrote that, because Trump followed state law in qualifying for the primary ballot, he cannot remove the former president.

Additionally, he said it should be up to Congress to decide whether Trump is disqualified under the section of the U.S. Constitution that bars from office a person who “engaged in insurrection.”

Redford said deciding whether an event constituted “a rebellion or insurrection and whether or not someone participated in it” are questions best left to Congress and not “one single judicial officer.” A judge, he wrote, “cannot in any manner or form possibly embody the represented qualities of every citizen of the nation — as does the House of Representatives and the Senate.”

Free Speech For People, a liberal group that has brought 14th Amendment cases in a number of states, said it will immediately appeal the ruling to the Michigan Court of Appeals, but also asked the state supreme court to step in and take the case on an expedited basis.

“We are disappointed by the trial court’s decision, and we’re appealing it immediately,” said Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People.

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung rattled off other losses in the long-shot effort to bar Trump from the ballot.

“Each and every one of these ridiculous cases have LOST because they are all un-Constitutional left-wing fantasies orchestrated by monied allies of the Biden campaign seeking to turn the election over to the courts and deny the American people the right to choose their next president,” Cheung said.

Left-learning groups have filed similar lawsuits in other states seeking to bar Trump from the ballot, portraying him as inciting the Jan. 6 attack, which was intended to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win.

The two-sentence clause in the 14th Amendment has been used only a handful of times since the years after the Civil War. It’s likely that one of the active cases eventually will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never ruled on the insurrection clause.

Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court sidestepped the issue by ruling that Trump could stay on that state’s primary ballot because the election is a party-run contest during which constitutional eligibility isn’t an issue. It left the door open to another lawsuit to keep Trump off the state’s general election ballot.

A Colorado judge is expected to rule on a similar lawsuit there by Friday. Closing arguments in that case are scheduled for Wednesday.

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Riccardi reported from Denver.

NEW YORK (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed Donald Trump for president on Tuesday, a move that was a symbolic departure from his ousted predecessor leading the House.

Johnson, an ally and defender of the former president, said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday morning, “I have endorsed him wholeheartedly.”

He added a bit later: “I’m all in for President Trump.”

Johnson, a little-known Louisiana congressman, became speaker late last month when Kevin McCarthy was ousted by a hard-right band of their fellow Republicans. Though McCarthy was a longtime Trump ally and one of the first elected officials to publicly align himself with Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters, he had stopped short of formally backing Trump’s third White House bid.

McCarthy had drawn the ire of Trump allies after he questioned in an interview this summer whether Trump was the strongest candidate among the then-crowded field of GOP rivals. The field has shrunk in recent weeks, though Trump’s lead has remained fixed.

Trump has celebrated Johnson’s ascension to speaker, calling him “MAGA Mike Johnson.”

Johnson’s comments came hours after The New York Times reported on an August 2015 Facebook post Johnson made before he was elected to Congress in which he criticized Trump, then the Republican nominee, saying “he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House.”

In a response to someone commenting on the post, the newspaper reported that Johnson said: “I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief.”

Johnson, a social conservative, later became a steadfast defender of Trump, notably during his first impeachment in 2019 and through the 2020 election, echoing some of Trump’s conspiracy theories about his loss to Joe Biden in the presidential election and filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win.

Johnson reiterated that on Tuesday, saying in the interview that he was “one of the closest allies President Trump had in Congress.”

Johnson’s endorsement only firms up what is increasingly politically clear — that Trump is the Republican party’s front-runner heading toward 2024 and few GOP leaders are willing or able to stand in his way.

The speaker’s backing of Trump charts the course for other House Republicans and leaves those GOP lawmakers who prefer an alternative candidate increasingly isolated in their party, with few options.

While some more centrist conservative Republicans may not want to support Trump, particularly in congressional districts Biden won last time, they have few avenues in the Republican Party to muscle a different outcome in the presidential nominating contest.

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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Republican Party’s once-crowded 2024 presidential primary field has suddenly shrunk to just a handful of viable candidates.

But a day after Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina stunned many of his own staff by suspending his campaign, it’s unclear whether the GOP is any closer to coalescing behind a clear alternative to former President Donald Trump. Instead, the fight between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis for a distant second place appears to be intensifying. And some lower-tier candidates insist on battling for relevance, despite growing pressure to bow out of the race altogether.

Meanwhile, Trump’s team is cheering on the muddle for second place with Iowa’s Jan. 15 kickoff caucuses just two months away.

Still, there were new positive signs on Monday for Haley, Scott’s South Carolina rival, who had been rising in the Republican contest even before the senator’s sudden announcement.

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who had given money to Scott, pledged his support for Haley during a Monday interview as he spoke publicly about the 2024 race for the first time. He emphasized the need for the GOP to coalesce behind the former United Nations ambassador before primary voting begins.

“Now I’m hoping the field clears and it’s Nikki Haley one-on-one with the former president,” Druckenmiller told The Associated Press. “As long as the field is cleared before the actual primaries, I think that’s what’s important.”

But DeSantis is showing no signs of going away as he narrows his focus on Iowa’s leadoff caucuses.

The Florida governor’s spokesperson, Andrew Romeo, says he has a new opportunity in Iowa with Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence out of the race. He pointed to Iowa’s influential group of religious conservatives who have warmed to DeSantis’ strong opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights as part of his aggressive “war on woke.”

Just last week, DeSantis scored the biggest endorsement of the 2024 campaign by nabbing the backing of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who promises to lend the Florida governor her folksy charm — and her statewide political machine.

“Tim Scott and Mike Pence were surging resources in Iowa, looking to attract evangelical supporters, and unlike Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis is making headway with those voters,” Romeo said. “In the coming weeks, these voters will see that Nikki Haley’s record and values don’t match her rhetoric.”

The prominence of the Haley-DeSantis feud underscores just how quickly the 2024 Republican field has winnowed compared to the last time Trump was on the ballot.

At this time in the 2016 primary season, 13 Republican presidential candidates were still competing on the debate stage across two nights. The 2024 primary season opened with eight Republicans in the opening debate this August, while no more than four are expected to qualify for next month’s debate in Alabama: Haley, DeSantis, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Christie.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson failed to qualify for the the last debate, although they’re still in the race. Pence, who would not have qualified for the last debate, suspended his campaign last month facing a similar dilemma.

Trump’s team is cheering on the feud between Haley and DeSantis, who are largely focused on tearing down each other, while the former president remains the overwhelming GOP front-runner.

Privately, Trump’s allies believe that Haley will see the biggest short-term polling bump as a result of Scott’s departure. But they also believe that Trump, who has a substantial lead, is likely to extend his already huge advantage.

The Trump campaign issued a statement on Monday highlighting Haley’s plans to invest $10 million in an advertising campaign across Iowa and New Hampshire beginning in early December, which is designed to give her an advantage over DeSantis.

“In a big blow to Ron DeSanctimonious, a new report notes that Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley will spend $10 million in advertising skewering DeSanctus in Iowa and New Hampshire,” the Trump campaign said, pointing to Haley’s recent rise in the polls and using the former president’s derisive monikers for the two. “She is gaining momentum while he is dropping like a rock.”

The SFA Fund, a pro-Haley super PAC, released a strategy memo on Tuesday largely agreeing with Trump’s assessment.

“The field is getting smaller and more importantly, the true test of running a long, expensive, nationwide campaign is starting to further separate the candidates — showing Americans and power players who amongst the field have the time, resources, popularity, and money to go the distance,” wrote Mark Harris, SFA Fund’s lead strategist. “So far, there has been only one candidate who has demonstrated all four — and to no one’s surprise, it’s Nikki Haley.”

Meanwhile, some were still grappling with Scott’s sudden decision to suspend his presidential bid.

The South Carolina senator, the only African American remaining in the GOP race, surprised most of his staff when he announced his decision during a Sunday night interview on Fox News. After the public announcement, Scott explained his rationale further during a private all-staff call, according to a senior staffer who spoke with the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation. The staffer said the campaign sensed that primary voters were reluctant to support someone other than Trump.

In an email to supporters on Monday afternoon, Scott said he felt the message is unambiguous for him.

“I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been clear in what they are telling me: ‘not now, Tim.’ I do not think they are saying ‘no.’ But I do think they are saying ‘not now,’” he wrote.

Scott entered the 2024 campaign to much anticipation — especially in Iowa — as a close friend to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and a devoted evangelical Christian.

At times, his presidential ambitions looked promising.

Scott’s campaign and a super PAC supporting him spent a combined $24 million in advertising, mostly in Iowa. During his Iowa trips, Scott made his Christian faith and biblical fluency central to his candidacy and often met with evangelical ministers.

Iowa GOP activists frequently named him among the prospects they were considering throughout the summer. They cited his upbeat style and hopeful message, an implied contrast with the grievance-driven messaging from Trump.

Despite the big Iowa focus and positive message, however, he struggled to break through. And his modest share of support in late-summer Iowa polls shrunk by late fall as DeSantis and Haley appeared more viable.

Republican bundler Eric Levine, a Trump critic who raised more than $100,000 for Scott’s campaign in recent weeks, praised the South Carolina senator’s willingness to step aside “for the good of the country.”

“It is an act I think others should emulate now. We should start rallying behind a single candidate,” Levine said, declaring his support for Haley. “It’s Nikki time.”

Still, Devin O’Malley, a Republican communications strategist who had advised Pence’s campaign, warned that coalescing behind a Trump alternative is only the first challenge for Republicans wishing to defeat Trump.

He warned that the winnowing process could also lead to a more vitriolic confrontation with the former president.

“The sooner that everyone else gets out, the sooner that Trump’s ire is drawn on the one candidate. He’s just going to wear people down and out,” O’Malley said. “That urge to respond to him and to compete with the insults and attacks is overwhelming. I don’t think that Haley and DeSantis are conditioned to that.”

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Peoples reported from New York. Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott abruptly announced late Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, a development that surprised his donors and stunned his campaign staff just two months before the start of voting in Iowa’s leadoff GOP caucuses.

The South Carolina senator, who entered the race in May with high hopes, made the surprise announcement on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy, one of his closest friends. The news was so unanticipated that one campaign worker told The Associated Press that campaign staff found out Scott was dropping out by watching the show.

“I love America more today than I did on May 22,” Scott said Sunday. “But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign. I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim.’”

Scott’s impending departure comes as he and the rest of the GOP field have struggled in a race that has been dominated by former President Donald Trump. Despite four criminal indictments and a slew of other legal challenges, Trump continues to poll far ahead of his rivals, leading many in the party to conclude the race is effectively over, barring some stunning change of fortune.

Scott, in particular, has had trouble gaining traction in the polls, despite millions spent on his behalf by high-profile donors. In his efforts to run a positive campaign, he was often overshadowed by other candidates — particularly on the debate stage, where he seemed to disappear as others sparred. It was unclear whether Scott would qualify for the upcoming fourth debate, which will require higher polling numbers and more donors.

Scott is the second major candidate to leave the race since the end of October. Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his campaign two weeks ago, announcing at a Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Las Vegas that “This is not my time.” Pence, however, was polling behind Scott and was in a far more precarious financial position.

Scott said he wouldn’t immediately be endorsing any of his remaining Republican rivals.

“The voters are really smart,” Scott said. “The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in on who they should endorse.”

He also appeared to rule out serving as vice president, saying the No. 2 slot “has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it’s certainly not there now.”

Scott’s departure leaves Nikki Haley, Trump’s first United Nations ambassador and the former South Carolina governor, as the sole South Carolinian in the race. As governor, Haley appointed Scott — then newly elected to his second U.S. House term — to the Senate in 2012, and the fact that both were in the 2024 race had created an uncomfortable situation for many of the donors and voters who had supported them both through the years.

It also sparked some unpleasant on-stage moments during the first three GOP debates, with the longtime allies — who for a time had also shared political consultants — trading tense jabs. After the surprise announcement, some of Scott’s donors said they would be switching to back Haley in the primary.

In a post on X on Sunday night, Haley called Scott “a good man of faith and an inspiration to so many,” adding that the GOP primary “was made better by his participation in it.”

Scott’s team was so surprised by his exit that just 13 minutes before he announced his departure, his campaign sent out an email soliciting supporters for donations to further Scott’s “strong leadership and optimistic, positive vision to lead our country forward.” Saying that “EVERYTHING is on the line” to win the White House, the email went on offering readers “ONE LAST CHANCE to donate this weekend and help Tim reach his campaign goal.”

Campaign staffers expressed their extreme irritation to the AP in light of the candidate recently shifting staff and money from New Hampshire to Iowa in an effort to boost his standing in the leadoff caucus.

A senior staffer characterized the experience as incredibly frustrating, saying that staff had been working around the clock to accommodate the move, only to completely reverse it. As with the campaign worker who said Scott’s staff found out about his departure by watching the senator on TV, the worker was not authorized to discuss the internal deliberations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Many donors were surprised and saddened by Scott’s announcement, though they praised him for stepping aside to give Republicans a chance to coalesce behind a Trump alternative.

Eric Levine, a New York-based donor who was raising money for Scott, said he was caught totally off-guard.

“He stepped aside with dignity. He is a true patriot. I could not have been prouder to have supported him,” said Levine, a vocal Trump critic. He said he would now be supporting Haley.

“She is our last best hope to defeat Donald Trump and then take back the White House,” Levine said.

Chad Walldorf, a South Carolina businessman and longtime Scott supporter and donor, thought Scott’s decision was in the best interest of the Republican Party.

“I’ve always thought the field needs to winnow quickly so we can get behind a good alternative to Trump, so I greatly respect Tim for unselfishly stepping aside rather than waiting until too late,” said Walldorf, who added he’s now backing Haley.

Mikee Johnson, a South Carolina businessman and Scott donor who served as his national finance co-chairman, told the AP that he knew before Scott’s TV appearance that he would be suspending his campaign.

“He is honorable, knows his supporters were prepared to support him for the duration, and was not going to ask that of his friends and supporters,” said Johnson. “He is energized and ready for the next phase. … I told him I did not have a single regret.”

Many of Scott’s former 2024 rivals issued statements Sunday night wishing him well.

On social media, DeSantis commended him as a “strong conservative with bold ideas about how to get our country back on track,” adding, “I respect his courage to run this campaign and thank him for his service to America and the U.S. Senate.”

Pence called Scott “a man of faith and integrity who brought his optimistic vision and inspiring personal story to people all across this country.”

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to news of Scott’s exit. But Trump has been careful not to criticize the senator, leading some in his orbit to consider Scott a potential vice presidential pick.

The former president and his team had welcomed a large field of rivals, believing they would splinter the anti-Trump vote and prevent a clear challenger from emerging.

Scott’s next move is unclear. He has said that his 2022 Senate reelection would be his last and has at times been mentioned as a possible candidate for South Carolina governor, which is next up in 2026. Gov. Henry McMaster, a Trump backer, is term-limited, and the GOP primary is expected to be heated.

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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Steve Peoples in New York contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — A mass deportation operation. A new Muslim ban. Tariffs on all imported goods and “freedom cities” built on federal land.

Much of the 2024 presidential campaign has been dominated by the myriad investigations into former President Donald Trump and the subsequent charges against him. But with less than a year until Election Day, Trump is dominating the race for the Republican nomination and has already laid out a sweeping set of policy goals should he win a second term.

His ideas, and even the issues he focuses on most, are wildly different from President Joe Biden’s proposals. If implemented, Trump’s plans would represent a dramatic government overhaul arguably more consequential than that of his first term. His presidency, especially the early days, was marked by chaos, infighting and a wave of hastily written executive orders that were quickly overturned by the courts.

Some of his current ideas would probably end up in court or impeded by Congress. But Trump’s campaign and allied groups are assembling policy books with detailed plans.

A look at his agenda:

Trump would try to strip tens of thousands of career employees of their civil service protections. That way, they could be fired as he seeks to “totally obliterate the deep state.”

He would try to accomplish that by reissuing a 2020 executive order known as “Schedule F.” That would allow him to reclassify masses of employees, with a particular focus, he has said, on “corrupt bureaucrats who have weaponized our justice system” and “corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus.” Given his anger at the FBI and federal prosecutors pursuing criminal cases against him, Trump probably would target people linked to those prosecutions for retribution.

Beyond the firings, he wants to crack down on government officials who leak to reporters. He also wants to require that federal employees pass a new civil service test.

Trump has pledged to “immediately stop the invasion of our southern border” and end illegal immigration.

As part of that plan, he says he would immediately direct U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to undertake the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. He would target people who are legally living in the United States but harbor “jihadist sympathies” and revoke the student visas of those who espouse anti-American and antisemitic views.

In a bid to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump says he will move thousands of troops currently stationed overseas and shift federal agents, including those at the Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI, to immigration enforcement. He also wants to build more of the border wall.

Trump wants to reimpose his travel ban that originally targeted seven Muslim-majority countries and expand it to “keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the country.” In the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel, he has pledged to put in place “ideological screening” for immigrants. His aim: bar “dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots, and maniacs,” as well as those who “empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists.”

To deter migrants, he has said he would end birthright citizenship, using an an executive order that would introduce a legally untested interpretation of the 14th Amendment. The order would prevent federal agencies from granting automatic citizenship to the children of people who are in the U.S. illegally. It would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for their children to be eligible for passports, Social Security numbers and other benefits.

Trump says he will institute a system of tariffs of perhaps 10% on most foreign goods. Penalties would increase if trade partners manipulate their currencies or engage in other unfair trading practices.

He will urge that Congress pass a “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act,” giving the president authority to impose a reciprocal tariff on any country that imposes one on the U.S.

Much of the agenda focuses on China. Trump has proposed a four-year plan to phase out Chinese imports of essential goods, including electronics, steel and pharmaceuticals. He wants to ban Chinese companies from owning vital U.S. infrastructure in sectors such as energy, technology and agriculture, and says he will force Chinese owners to sell any holdings “that jeopardize America’s national security.”

Trump claims that even before he is inaugurated, he will have settled the war between Russia and Ukraine. That includes, he says, ending the “endless flow of American treasure to Ukraine” and asking European allies to reimburse the U.S. for the cost of rebuilding stockpiles.

It is unclear whether he would insist that Russia withdraw from territory in Ukraine it seized in the war that it launched in February 2022.

Trump has said he will stand with Israel in its war with Hamas and support Israel’s efforts to “destroy” the militant group. He says he will continue to “fundamentally reevaluate” NATO’s purpose and mission.

Trump says he will ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that “only two genders,” as determined at birth, are recognized by the United States.

As part of his crackdown on gender-affirming care, he will declare that hospitals and health care providers that offer transitional hormones or surgery no longer meet federal health and safety standards and will be blocked from receiving federal funds, including Medicaid and Medicare dollars.

He would push Congress to prohibit hormonal or surgical intervention for transgender minors in all 50 states.

Doctors typically guide kids toward therapy before medical intervention. At that point, hormone treatments such as puberty blockers are far more common than surgery. They have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and are standard treatments backed by major doctors’ organizations, including the American Medical Association.

Trump’s goal, he says, is for the U.S. to have the lowest-cost energy and electricity of any nation in the world, including China.

Under the mantra “DRILL, BABY, DRILL,” he says he would ramp up oil drilling on public lands and offer tax breaks to oil, gas, and coal producers. He would roll back Biden administration efforts to encourage the adoption of electric cars and reverse proposed new pollution limits that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030.

And again, he says, he will exit the Paris Climate Accords, end wind subsidies and eliminate regulations imposed and proposed by the Biden admiration targeting incandescent lightbulbs, gas stoves, dishwashers and shower heads.

Trump has pledged to terminate the Department of Education, but he also wants to exert enormous influence over local school districts and colleges.

He would push the federal government to give funding preference to states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure, adopt merit pay to reward good teachers and allow the direct election of school principals by parents.

He has said he would cut funding for any school that has a vaccine or mask mandate and will promote prayer in public schools.

Trump also wants a say in school curricula, vowing to fight for “patriotic education.” He says that under his administration, schools will “teach students to love their country, not to hate their country like they’re taught right now” and will promote “the nuclear family” including “the roles of mothers and fathers” and the “things that make men and women different and unique.”

To protect students, he says he will support school districts that allow trained teachers to carry concealed weapons. He would provide federal funding so schools can hire veterans, retired police officers, and other trained gun owners as armed school guards.

Trump wants to force the homeless off city streets by building tent cities on large open parcels of inexpensive land. At the same time, he says he will work with states to ban urban camping, giving violators the choice between being arrested or receiving treatment.

He also wants to bring back large mental institutions to reinstitutionalize those who are “severely mentally ill” or “dangerously deranged.”

Trump would again push to send the National Guard to cities such as Chicago that are struggling with violence. He would use the federal government’s funding and prosecution authorities to strong-arm local governments.

He says he will require local law enforcement agencies that receive Justice Department grants to use controversial policing measures such as stop-and-frisk. As a deterrent, he says local police should be empowered to shoot suspected shoplifters in the act. “Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store,” he said in one recent speech.

Trump has called for the death penalty for drug smugglers and those who traffic women and children. He has also pledged a federal takeover of the nation’s capital, calling Washington a “dirty, crime-ridden death trap” unbefitting of the country.

DeSantis’ staff and supporters called the endorsement a “game changer,” “massive” and “historic.” DeSantis himself told NBC News it was “obviously very meaningful” in his uphill race against former President Donald Trump.

“I believe he can’t win,” Reynolds said of Trump, “and I believe Ron can.”

It was a shot of good news for a campaign that all too often seems to need it. Almost from the day DeSantis entered the race with a glitchy social media Q&A, he’s been beset by dragging polls, negative headlines and a persistent inability to pry potential voters away from Trump.

The week before Reynolds’ endorsement, one poll indicated he’d fallen into a tie for second in Iowa with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Despite all this, Reynolds’ endorsement is a reminder that the race for the presidency isn’t over yet. Even with long odds, he still has a path to the Republican nomination. You just have to look a little harder to see it.

Here are some reasons it’s still premature to count DeSantis out.

Reynolds’ endorsement might actually matter

DeSantis and his wife, Casey, courted Reynolds for her backing, bringing her to various campaign events and suggesting she’d make a good vice president. The motivation behind the VIP treatment is clear.

“Kim Reynolds is literally the most popular politician in Iowa, with like 80% approval,” said Rachel Paine Caufield, professor of political science and co-director of the Center for Public Democracy at Drake University in Des Moines. “Iowa at this point only has one statewide elected official who is a Democrat, so Republicans have been extremely successful in Iowa at really consolidating support.”

DeSantis already had the backing of more than three dozen Iowa state legislators. Reynolds’ endorsement could spur even more. And it will help DeSantis tap into Reynolds’ statewide network of donors and volunteers.

It likely won’t be enough to overcome the 27-point lead held by Trump in a recent NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. But it could move the needle.

The Messenger news website reported in September that late-summer polling from a Trump super PAC suggested a Reynolds endorsement could mean a four-point swing for DeSantis. That would help separate him from Haley, whom DeSantis wants to go away so he can focus on Trump.

Even in polls, there are bright spots.

Like most candidates, DeSantis tends to dismiss polls that show him far behind Trump.

His supporters, however, are eager to share polls casting DeSantis in a positive light.

One from this month showed DeSantis up three points on President Joe Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, whereas Trump was down four.

October’s NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found that 67% of Iowa voters saw him as a top candidate or were actively considering him, a number dead even with Trump.

Even some polls that are unquestionably bad for DeSantis contain bright spots. For example, a University of North Florida poll released this week found that Trump held a 39-point lead over DeSantis among Republican voters in Florida.

But that poll says more about Trump’s popularity than DeSantis’ brand, said Michael Binder, faculty director of the university’s Public Opinion Research Lab. Binder pointed to another poll question asking Florida Republicans who they might consider backing for governor in 2026. Coming in first, well ahead of Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds, was Casey DeSantis.

Trump’s legal problems aren’t going away.

Speaking of polls and Trump, a New York Times/Siena College poll of swing state voters this week indicated that Trump — despite facing a plethora of state and federal charges tied to election interference, classified documents and more — would still be favored in a head-to-head matchup against Biden.

But if he were convicted of any of those charges, his support in those states could drop by as much as six percentage points, putting Biden in the lead. That can only be seen as encouraging for Trump’s rivals in the GOP primary, which is likely to overlap with at least one Trump trial.

DeSantis hasn’t said much about Trump’s legal woes. But one could argue they’ve always played into his strategy. Trump has led every poll since DeSantis entered the race, but the governor has consistently ranked No. 2.

Should Trump drop out for any reason, legal or otherwise, DeSantis would likely inherit the mantle of front-runner. That’s as true today as it was when he entered the race in April.

At a convention, anything can happen.

Say Trump romps through primary season, but DeSantis or another candidate siphons enough votes that it’s not an absolute blowout. And say Trump’s legal troubles worsen between the early primaries and the Republican National Convention in July. That could open the door for something the United States hasn’t seen in decades: a brokered convention.

At presidential conventions, not all delegates are legally bound to vote for the candidate that won their state. And if no candidate gets 50% of the delegate vote on the first nominating ballot, delegates can switch to another candidate for the next, and the next, until the party finally coalesces around one nominee.

“These conventions, many a time, the leader has walked in leading and walked out losing,” said R. Craig Sautter, who teaches at DePaul University and has written three books on U.S. presidential conventions. “And the nominee has come out of nowhere.”

Brokered conventions have traditionally been the result of tight primary contests, and at this point, the race between Trump and DeSantis is anything but. But considering the turmoil surrounding congressional Republicans’ search for a House speaker, it’s far from unthinkable.

“There’s been a lot of hidden Republican voters who haven’t come out — the traditional Republican voters,” Sautter said. “And if they get activated somehow, there could be a challenge, I would think, because Trump seems weakened.”

He’s not done padding his resume.

DeSantis is one of two sitting governors left in the race, which puts him in position to act on national and international issues before the primaries.

He’s called a special legislative session focused on Hamas’ attacks on Israel, paid for Americans stuck in Israel to be flown back to Florida, and just this week had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He’ll have another opportunity to bring his platform priorities to the forefront in Tallahassee during the next legislative session in January, days before the Iowa caucuses.

The governor still has a sizable fundraising operation at his disposal to help highlight any legislative victories and draw direct, immediate comparisons between himself, Trump and Biden. Between April and September, DeSantis’ campaign and related political committees raised about $35 million.

That’s well below the more than $45 million Trump raised from July to September alone, but it’s more than most Republican candidates, including Haley. And his campaign hasn’t been shy about spending it — entering October, it had spent all but $5 million of that $35 million on messaging and other expenses.

At Wednesday’s debate, DeSantis was asked why he, and not Trump, was the best person to lead the Republican Party. He pointed to Tuesday’s election, when Republicans lost a number of high-profile races and conservative ballot measures — then to his own landslide gubernatorial victory in 2022.

“In Florida, I showed how it’s done,” he said. “One year ago here, we won a historic victory, including a massive landslide right here in Miami-Dade County. That’s how we have to do it.”

Tampa Bay Times staff writer Emily L. Mahoney contributed to this report.

DeSantis vowed to bring a new era of accountability, but more than eight months into a state takeover, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s new administration is facing mounting scrutiny and scathing employee exit surveys.

“You do see a pattern here that people who are politically connected are getting work,” said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor and author of the book “Married to the Mouse” on Disney World’s origins. “Maybe that shouldn’t be shocking. Is that insiderism? I guess you could call it that.”

Glen Gilzean, a close DeSantis ally, landed a $400,000-a-year job leading the district, which provides government services to Disney World. His candidacy was helped by Michael Sasso, a DeSantis-appointed board member who also was the best man in Gilzean’s wedding over the summer.

The DeSantis-appointed board chose Gilzean over several other candidates, including William Sturgeon, a former city manager of St. Cloud, a city with a population of more than 60,000.

“It was political,” Sturgeon said. “The place is falling apart. My professional opinion is they have too many state-orientated people in there, and state and municipal government are two different things.”

Sturgeon said he likes Gilzean, but the district needs a leader with a background in local government. Before landing the job at the district, Gilzean served as CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights and advocacy organization.

Another applicant, Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight, said he had a brief conversation with the tourism oversight district’s board chair before submitting his resume, but he never heard back.

As administrator, Gilzean selected Paula Hoisington, chairwoman of the Central Florida Urban League’s board, to serve as his chief of staff at the tourism oversight district. Public records show she started at an annual salary of $195,000 and was recently promoted to deputy district administrator, getting a $55,000-a-year raise.

Ronald Haag, a legislative aide to former state GOP Rep. Fred Hawkins, was brought in to serve as Gilzean’s executive assistant.

Hawkins, R-St. Cloud, sponsored the legislation overhauling Disney’s special district. He’s since left the Legislature, landing a job to lead South Florida State College despite having no experience in higher education.

The district also hired Brandy Brown, who worked as director of strategic initiatives in DeSantis’ office. Public records show, though, that she only worked briefly as the tourism oversight district’s director of external affairs before leaving. The district did not respond to questions about her departure.

The governor’s office defended the new administration and dismissed the characterization that political favoritism has permeated the district, which since 1967 was effectively controlled by Disney.

DeSantis has said the arrangement allowed Disney to enjoy a “special privilege” that no other theme park operator enjoyed in Florida.

The governor pushed to seize state control of what had been called the Reedy Creek Improvement District after Disney criticized what critics call the “don’t say gay” law that limits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools.

“CFTOD [Central Florida Tourism Oversight District] appointing those they believe are qualified for certain positions isn’t cronyism,” Jeremy Redfern, a DeSantis spokesman, said in an email. “Cronyism is a local government that served as a Corporate Kingdom for over 50 years. The ‘criticism’ from the cronies indicates that the District is doing the right thing.”

No-bid contract under fire

The district’s purchasing decisions have also raised questions.

Most recently, the district backpedaled on a $242,500 no-bid contract awarded to a DeSantis’ appointee to help upgrade the 911 network. That work went to Freddie Figgers, who served alongside Gilzean on the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Facing scrutiny after media reports, the district canceled that contract at Figgers’ request. District officials, though, say the deal met exceptions for competitive bidding outlined in their purchasing policy.

The district also agreed to pay conservative George Mason University law professor Donald J. Kochan $110,000 to help produce a report and make recommendations to the Florida Legislature.

The district’s purchasing rules include competitive bidding exceptions for consultants and experts hired to prepare reports for the legislature.

Conservative all-star legal team 

Two politically connected law firms stand to make millions in legal fees from the district as part of the state’s court battle with Disney. One is a boutique Washington, D.C., firm favored by DeSantis in his culture war legal battles, and another is an upstart firm launched by a retired Supreme Court justice.

The DeSantis-aligned board hired Washington-based Cooper & Kirk, agreeing to pay its lawyers $795 an hour. One of the partners in that law firm is Adam Laxalt, a longtime friend of DeSantis who was hired to lead the Never Back Down super PAC supporting the governor’s presidential campaign.

Lawson Huck Gonzalez, which was founded by three legal heavyweights earlier this year, bills $495 an hour. The firm’s founders include Alan Lawson, a retired Florida Supreme Court justice; Paul Huck Jr., once called the “godfather of the Federalist Society in Miami”; and Jason Gonzalez, who’s advised DeSantis on judicial picks.

Two of the district’s board members — Chairman Martin Garcia and Charbel Barakat — listed Jason Gonzalez as a reference on their Senate confirmation documents.

The district is budgeting $4.5 million for legal expenses in its court battle with Disney on top of the $2 million that has already been spent. Much of that bill will be footed by Disney and its affiliates, which pay about 86% of the district’s property taxes.

Disney is suing DeSantis and state officials in federal court, alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” The tourism oversight district sued Disney in state court, seeking to get development agreements limiting its authority voided.

The district did not solicit proposals for outside legal help, but it wasn’t required to do so under Florida law, said Matthew Oberly, a district spokesman. The board approved the legal contracts in March, shortly after DeSantis replaced five Disney-friendly members with his allies.

“Under Florida state law, legal services are not required to be competitively bid due to the public interest,” Oberly said. “There is no requirement for the district to get the cheapest lawyer, nor is such a good practice.”

Sagging morale, many departures 

The district has experienced a wave of retirements and resignations under the new administration with more than 40 out of the district’s 370 employees leaving. That equates to a loss of about 10% of the district’s workforce.

Exit interviews, first obtained by the investigative website Seeking Rents, show several departing employees voiced concerns that cronyism was trumping good government.

One person who worked four years in the administration said she was upset about the district bringing in “friends” to take over positions, which she said was “not only disheartening but unethical.”

“The legacy of this special district is being destroyed by those who have been
placed in power here,” she said in an exit interview. “The BOS [Board of Supervisors] and the new district administrator could care less about the work that needs to be done for the taxpayers. They claim transparency and bridge building, I see non-transparency and bridge burning.”

Another departing finance employee with three years of experience said the “workplace culture has been destroyed’ by the new administration.

“You now see fake smiles and I am sure that a lot of employees are somewhat
scared to say what they actually feel because of retaliation,” she said. “Glen and the board say they care about the employees but that is not true.”

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she worries the state takeover has created a toxic environment that could undermine a district that is vital for the region’s tourism economy.

The district handles fire protection, environmental services, utilities and other important services for Disney World.

“I am concerned about the workers there,” Eskamani said. “Based on the exit surveys, it seems like a really difficult place to work. The well-being of my constituents who work at the special district is of value to me.”

Oberly, the district spokesman, disputed the notion that employee morale is down.

“New administrations bring some changes, and the district is excited for our employees to continue the excellence we are known for,” he said. “We are appreciative of every person who invests time and talent into keeping this place excellent.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection in 2024, giving Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the heavily GOP state.

Manchin, 76, said in a statement that he had made the decision “after months of deliberation and long conversations” with his family.

“I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia,” he said. “I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate, but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”

His decision to retire severely hampers Democratic hopes of holding on to the coal country seat and marks the end of an era for West Virginia, which voted reliably blue for decades before flipping red and becoming one of former President Donald Trump’s most loyal states. For the last few years, Manchin has been the only Democrat elected to statewide office in West Virginia, a longtime politician who has served as governor, secretary of state and state legislator.

Republican challengers began clamoring for the Senate seat long before Manchin’s announcement, with GOP Rep. Alex Mooney jumping in the race less than two weeks after winning his fifth term in the House in November 2022. Hugely popular two-term Republican Gov. Jim Justice joined the Senate race earlier this year and was endorsed by Trump, who easily won the state both previous times he ran for the White House.

After Manchin’s announcement Thursday, Justice said he and the senator “have not always agreed on policy and politics.”

“But we’re both lifelong West Virginians who love this state beyond belief, and I respect and thank him for his many years of public service,” the governor said in a statement.

Already, 2024 was shaping up to be a tough election cycle for Senate Democrats. The party will be forced to defend 23 seats, including three held by independents, compared to just 10 seats for Republicans. Manchin is one of just three Democratic senators up for reelection in 2024 who represent a state won by Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 election.

In recent months, Manchin teased possible retirement, a run for reelection to the Senate or even a presidential campaign in 2024 — possibly as an independent candidate, although it’s unclear what his voter base would be. Alluding to potential national aspirations for Manchin, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska told reporters moments after the announcement that Manchin’s message sounded like someone who would be running for higher office.

In a statement Thursday, Manchin’s West Virginia colleague Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito thanked him for his years of service.

“I’ve enjoyed serving alongside you — our senior senator,” she said. “And as you said, we still have much work ahead of us. Thank you for your friendship, Joe. I look forward to that continuing.”

Manchin, a conservative Democrat, was both a critical vote and a constant headache for his party in the first two years of President Joe Biden’s term. When the Senate was split 50-50 and Democrats controlled it by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote, Manchin leveraged his political power to shape legislation to his liking.

Along with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a Democrat who switched to an independent after last year’s midterms, he helped water down much of Biden’s social spending agenda. He has frequently clashed with members of his own party over his strong support for coal and other fossil fuels.

Days before last year’s midterms, he blasted Biden for being “cavalier” and “divorced from reality” after vowing to shutter coal-fired power plants and rely more heavily on wind and solar energy in the future. He demanded a public apology from Biden, and the White House acquiesced by issuing a statement saying the president “regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offense.”

Manchin’s announcement comes just a year after Democrats increased their Senate majority to 51-49 by flipping a Republican-held seat in Pennsylvania. The practical effect of that victory was giving Democrats the ability to pass bills while losing one vote within their caucus — zapping Manchin’s power to singlehandedly thwart some of his party’s priorities.

Manchin regained some of that influence after Sinema switched parties, though she made clear that she would not caucus with Republicans. Sinema is also up for reelection in 2024 but has not yet announced her plans.

Manchin entered the Senate after winning a special election in 2010 following the death of Robert C. Byrd. He won reelection in both 2012 and 2018, with the latter campaign his toughest in his three-plus decades in West Virginia politics. He defeated Republican state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey by just over 3 percentage points.

Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans during Manchin’s first two Senate campaigns, but things have changed since then. Now, about 40% of registered voters are Republicans, compared with 31% for Democrats and about 24% with no party affiliation.

Both chambers of the Legislature have Republican supermajorities, and Trump overwhelmingly won the state in 2016 and 2020.

Manchin’s penchant for not following fellow Democrats on some key votes was a cause of angst and bruised relationships within his own party. It even prompted independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to suggest that he would support a 2024 primary challenger to Manchin.

Manchin’s split with the White House prompted Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to publicly invite him to join the GOP. Manchin held firm there, too, insisting that he saw himself as a Democrat.

During Manchin’s first two terms in the Senate, West Virginia lost thousands of coal jobs as companies and utilities explored using other energy sources such as natural gas, solar and wind. Manchin later promoted the Biden administration’s plans to involve the state in the development of clean energy. But his push to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects — including a planned pipeline in his home state — failed.

Under Trump, Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and among three Democrats to support nominee Neil Gorsuch in 2017. But he voted with Democrats on other key issues, including a failed 2017 effort by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act passed under President Barack Obama.

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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.