Democrats Get Mugged Too, Smooth First Day of School & Florida’s Redistricting – Top 3 Takeaways, August 12th, 2025
Takeaway #1: Democrats get mugged too
When President Trump announced on Monday that he was federalizing the Washington D.C. Police Department while deploying the National Guard, and instituting emergency curfews throughout the city...he acknowledged that there might be backlash but offered up the statement that “Democrats gets mugged too”. And that’s true. With over 90% of Washington D.C.’s population consistently voting for Democrats, it’s safe to say that this side of the Deepstate’s actions against President Trump, Democrats are mostly the victims of the crimes committed in the nation’s capitol that the president is seeking to end. So going forward the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is answering to the Trump adminisration as opposed to the City’s leadership which remains in place. It figures to be an interesting dynamic as the president pledged to cleanup the streets and the city’s parks taking down homeless encampments that have taken hold throughout the city. In the President’s executive order it says: The local government of the District of Columbia has lost control of public order and safety in the city, as evidenced by the two embassy staffers who were murdered in May, the Congressional intern who was fatally shot a short distance from the White House in June, and the Administration staffer who was mercilessly beaten by a violent mob days ago. Citizens, tourists, and staff alike are unable to live peacefully in the Nation’s capital, which is under siege from violent crime. It is a point of national disgrace that Washington, D.C., has a violent crime rate that is higher than some of the most dangerous places in the world. And what the president said is true. Washington D.C.’s crime rate is 128% higher than the average city’s, the vehicle theft rate is the highest in the country. According to CrimeGrade.org, Washington D.C. has an “F” grade on violent crime, an “F” grade on property crime and an “F” grade on “other” crime. The city demonstrably fails at everything that has to do with public safety. The cost of crime for residents of Washington D.C. is currently $2,620 per household - that compares to $647 in Florida – meaning the cost of crime is greater than four times what we’re used to. So yeah, Democrats get mugged too, frequently in D.C., but that may be about to change quickly.
Takeaway #2: No News is Good News
When it comes to going back to school no news is probably the best news. And the good news is that the new school year kicked off about as smoothly as could be, including for the area’s two new schools, aided by fewer teacher vacancies, more bus drivers (resulting in the Palm Beach County School District being fulled staffed with drivers for the start of the new year – in contrast to the past couple of years), more traffic cameras and fewer classroom distractions (with the statewide ban on cell phone use during instructional time). All in all, the first day of school appeared to have been the smoothest since prior to the pandemic in area which hopefully sets the stage for improved performance in the classroom too. Did you know that external stressors, something as simple as being able to catch a school bus and make it to school ontime, is shown to have a 20%-30% impact on student performance in K-12 schools? And students who looked at smartphones while in the classroom perform 5%-10% worse on average than those who don’t too. So simply having things go smoothly can improve classroom performance too. Thus no significant news on the first day of school is a great start to what will hopefully be record setting performance in our area and throughout the state by students and teachers this year.
Takeaway #3: Redistricting gains steam
Last week was a big week as far as Florida’s push for mid-stream redistricting in our state. Governor DeSantis made a public push. House Speaker Daniel Perez took the first formal step in creating a House Select Committee to begin to study the topic of congressional redistricting, and on Monday, Florida’s AG James Uthmeier voiced the need not just for Florida to conduct it’s own redistricting but for a new census that President Trump has voiced support for coming to fruition. In a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Uthmeier said: In addition to skewing the data by utilizing dubuious “differential privacy” and irreguarly delaying the publication of state population counts the 2020 national headcount erronesously overcounted or undercounted the populations of fourteen States. Florida was among those egregiously undercounted, which deprived Florida of an additonal House seat that its citizens deserved to ensure fair representation in Congress and the Electoral College. Not only that, but this under-enumeration also cost Florida financially, given the census’s role in “allocating federal funds to the States”. This development matters for two reasons. First, it’s quite clear that Florida’s serious about taking on redistricting prior to the midterm elections next year. This is more than just talk. Second, as I mentioned last week, in order for a new federal census to be ordered, an act of Congress must take place which would be an uphill battle to say the least. However, what’s been introduced formally by Uthmeier here, might introduce a legal component to the dynamic. He’s alledging that essentially the Biden adminisration rigged the final results of the previous census for the benefit of blue states at the expense of red states. Independent studies have shown this to be a possibility. Uthmeier also mentioned that “These problems are serious but they are not irresversible”. What he’s arguing is that there’s nothing constiutionally that prevents the Commerce Department from correcting issues made to the previous census prior to conducting a new census. That arguement is potentially compelling. Would, for example, it be possible to correct the previous census without having to conduct a new one? Stay tuned. In the meantime, it’s becoming clear that Florida’s going to be moving forward on this issue at both the state and federal level and redistricting is likely coming to our state sooner than later either way.