Why the state was a star witness in the latest Jan. 6 hearing on the U.S. Capitol attack

Hello once again, I am Antonio Fins, a politics editor with the USA Today Florida Network, and this is our recap of the week that was in Sunshine State politics.

Politics is a divisive topic, but we're going to start the week with a moment of unity.

After five years of waiting, the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol this week. The Statuary Hall ceremony to honor the 20th century champion for Black Americans was a bipartisan partisan gathering led by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

On hand as well was the Bethune-Cookman University Concert Chorale, which performed as students back home watched via live stream. In fact, in her hometown of Daytona Beach, the moment was a source of pride.

Roger Stone, Mike Flynn, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers ...

The day before, however, Florida and the U.S. Capitol were in the news for a more polarizing and alarming reason: The findings that were revealed in the seventh televised hearing of the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

Florida leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups coordinated their activities in advance of storming the U.S. Capitol and were in contact with prominent allies of former President Donald Trump, including Florida residents Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, the committee reported on Tuesday.

This week, also, a Niceville resident received a 75-day jail sentence for his role in the violent storming of the Capitol. And a Pensacola man was found guilty of multiple misdemeanor charges for his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

But even as the committee showed overwhelming and conclusive testimony and evidence that President Joe Biden was the fair and square winner of the 2020 election, this Florida County's Republican executive committee passed a resolution saying the result was fraudulent – but without citing verified evidence.

Speaking of extremism in Florida, a former St. Augustine resident accused of wanting to help ISIS by demonstrating how to make and use an explosive was sentenced to prison for 20 years.

Just who is that "MAGA clown from out of town"?

Election season means some weird campaign twists.

This summer, state Sen. Joe Gruters has Trump's endorsement. But it's his opponent who is being called the "MAGA clown from out of town."

Then there is the county sheriff who is alleged to have offered jobs to people if they dropped their bids for offices in races where they were set to oppose the sheriff's favored candidates.

And Jonathan Martin, chairman of the Lee County Republican Party and the party's lone candidate for a state Senate seat in District 33 now finds himself under investigation for battery.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is not on the ballot but it's his role to take back the upper chamber on Capitol Hill for Republicans. With the predicted mid-term wave, that should bode well for Scott, right? Well, maybe not.

Economy, abortion, gun rights appear prevalent in Florida

A poll found that a majority of Floridians oppose the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, support gun safety measures but also believe Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing a better job on the economy than President Joe Biden.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion has ushered in a wave of “rage donations” and Floridians stepping up to volunteer.

Gun safety remains a concern and this Florida airport is on pace to set a record for the number of firearms seized at its security checkpoints this year.

With another record sharp increase in inflation, DeSantis touted a plan to lower prescription drug prices saying that could "make a difference" to the many Floridians struggling with higher food and fuel costs.

DeSantis' would-be Democratic rival Charlie Crist this week rolled out a 30-second ad calling for abortion rights and stricter limits on gun purchases.

Fault line in 2022 elections may well cut through education, school policies

Amid all the focus on "culture issues" a deepening fault line in Florida's political landscape appears to cut right through education.

This fall's election will coincide with the onset of state laws impacting, for example, LGBTQ+ policies in classrooms.

Those regulations have injected uncertainty into the status of classroom libraries in Brevard County as well.

Moms for Liberty, a conservative parents' group that battled school mask mandates and has become a vocal force in education politics, is hosting its first national conference this week in Tampa.

But the group's summit comes on the heels of a loss in court, a lawsuit over speech rights in Brevard County.

And in Palm Beach County, just a county line over from the site of the horrific Parkland high school massacre, these school board candidates are campaigning at ... gun shows.

Finally, keep an eye on those COVID numbers.

It looked like Florida's latest wave was ebbing at the start of the week with caseloads down. But people – including those who were previously infected – were getting sick again thanks to the newest, highly-transmissible omicron variant BA.5.

That's about it! Keep reading for this week's top headlines in politics, and remember to tune in to the Inside Florida Politics podcast. 🎙️ 

And finally, thank you for reading. We appreciate you trusting our statewide journalists to keep you informed. If you are encouraged by our work and want to support your local journalists, please consider subscribing. Know someone who would benefit from this newsletter? Forward this email so they can sign up here. 

— Producer Jon Tully and politics editor Antonio Fins curated this newsletter. Have any feedback for us? We'd love to hear from you via this form.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Roger Stone, Mike Flynn, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers Jan. 6 hearing stars