Page 60 of Incisive

He wastes no time once we’re settled. “I’m afraid it’s about Stella. My sources tell me that the day after the inauguration she was involved in a couple of closed-door meetings at a certain C Street townhouse with people high up in The Family. Now all of a sudden she’s spit-swapping with a certain batshit crazy GOP congressman just elected to the Florida 15th. As in there are rumors flying that there are wedding bells in your sister’s immediate future.”

I choke back my anger because I know exactly who he’s talking about. It also explains why Stella’s been strangely quiet as of late, including not speaking to our parents since the inauguration. Mom even asked me yesterday during one of our regular phone calls if Stella was upset with them.

Newly elected Republican US House Rep. Ellis McMurtry of Florida is a thrice-divorced personal injury attorney from Lakeland who targeted virulent false attack ads against me during his run to help get him elected. Ads during which he painted me as everything from a radical Communist left-winger who wanted to confiscate guns and eat babies, to some anti-free speech nut who wanted to ban all religions.

McMurtry beat a more moderate GOP candidate in the primary and barely squeaked out a one-point victory over his Democratic opponent in the general after a dark-money PAC backing him used a series of illegal robocalls to help suppress voter turnout.

His money comes from a string of car dealerships his family’s owned for decades, which used shady financing tactics and predatory buy-here-pay-here lending models in low-income and redlined districts to accrue the bulk of their fortune. Rumor has it some of his siblings aren’t fond of him because he managed to elbow them out of the family business and take control.

While he isn’t quite a full-on lizard-people Q-Anon Q-natic, he’s pretty damned close. He’s also “friends” with several leaders of various right-wing groups that aren’t full-on Klan but are kissing cousins and share those ideologies. As in they have everything but the sheets and pointy hats.

And he’s twenty years older than Stella.

Not that I have much room to talk about an age difference, I suppose.

“She should know she’s not using me for favors,” I say. “Especially not forthatjackass.” Especially after the targeted way McMurtry used me as a punching bag. “It’s like she’s trying to cozy up to the worst person possible to make me look bad.”

“That’s not even the bad part,” Kev says. “As the president’s sister she’s perceived to have some pretty strong juice, especially if she’s partnering with McMurtry. My sources tell me he plans to take a run at the more vulnerable of the two Florida US Senate seats when it comes up in four years. He knows he can’t knock out Hutton in two years. So he’s apparently setting up his PAC for that campaign. From there he wants a run at the Oval.” He points in that direction. “As the president’s sister, Stella gives him visibility and gravitas he wouldn’t otherwise have. Then, of course, there are all the other contacts she brings to the table from her lobbying career. It’s obvious what her goal is by partnering with him. Or, I should say, what his goal is by partnering with her.”

“You sure he’s not eyeing a run at Tallahassee? The governor’s mansion? That’s how the GOP down there usually does things.”

“I doubt it based on what I’ve learned from my GOP contacts in the state. Ironically, they’re pissed off he won that seat because he looks like he might be their next high-profile problem child. Don’t be shocked if you receive backdoor third-party requests to parley with GOP officials on the down-low about derailing his agenda.”

I groan. “What do you recommend?” He knows what I mean. The last thing I want is to get caught between two GOP factions involved in a secret battle. Especially while one tries to snuggle up to me and requests my help in private only to go take potshots at me on FNB and Fox.

We Dems might be messy but at least we aren’t too chickenshit to do our fighting in public.

His lips stretch into a grim smirk. “You need to either come out now or lock things down tightly to keep your relationships with Leo and Jordan deeply hidden. At least until Stella’s and McMurtry’s next move is obvious. I don’t know their exact angle except that the radical sector of the GOP is desperate to grab a seat at the table because they see their chances of gaining any kind of majority ground rapidly slipping away with every election cycle as more moderate Republicans unseat them. Even gerrymandering isn’t working for them in Florida anymore. Trying to scare voters with lies about critical race theory being taught in public schools flopped. And gun control scaremongering has lost its punch.”

“And Stella is neck-deep in the muck with them now.”

“Based on who she’s been working for? Pretty much, yeah.”

I sit back and mull my options. “I’m almost certain Leo has some damaging intel on her and her closest cohorts. I could ask him to release whatever he has. He’s got plenty of sources to keep it far from me. Now would be a good time. In four years it will have lost its punch in terms of splashing back on me.”

“I’m not certain that’s a good idea. This close to her wedding, it’ll look retaliatory and punitive and could backfire on you. I would sit on whatever he has for now. Save it to use as a well-targeted attack in response to anything specific they try. Especially if you need it to coerce her into shutting up when you do come out. Or if we need to force McMurtry not to run for the Senate. If he stays in the House for a while, at least his impact is diluted by us holding the Speaker’s gavel. He’s the minority leader’s problem, not yours.”

Although playing those kinds of dirty games with my sister’s public reputation wouldn’t set well with my parents, regardless of how justifiable. Not that they would understand that it came from my camp. They honestly don’t pay much attention to national-level politics beyond who they vote for. The only way they’d even know it might have something to do with me, or people working on my behalf, would be if Stella whined to them about it.

And I have zero doubts Stella would try whining to them if she thought it might work. “Any idea of when she first hooked up with him?”

“A few rumors have trickled my way since Election Day but nothing concrete until just recently. Honestly, with the transition in full swing, I didn’t have the time or resources to follow up on it. Stella attended a huge Christmas party down there in Palm Beach and was seen on McMurtry’s arm but you know how those things are. They’re the political version of a key party. He’s holding a rally down there next weekend, too. Supposedly to help raise funds for a special election for a friend of his running for a vacant seat on the Lakeland City Council but I think McMurtry’s really using it to put out feelers for the Senate run and to pad his campaign coffers to get a jump on building his own war chest.”

That makes perfect sense to me because I saw that exact scenario play out several times when I was a House rep. “Because since he just got elected to the House, if he looks like he’s bailing on that seat already when he’s barely warmed his congressional chair, it might not play well for him against a primary or general election challenger in two years.”

Kev nods. “You know it. He doesn’t want to give away too much too soon to the more moderate GOP contenders who might have an edge with the party bigwigs in Tallahassee. He was not supported by the local party until after he won the primary, and that was only grudgingly, and he knows it. Even the local sheriff isn’t fond of him and says he’s too extreme.”

“Wow. And that sheriff’s that law-and-order guy, isn’t he? He usually loves those kinds of assholes.”

“Exactly. So if McMurtry’s too extreme for him, you know the guy’s bad news. McMurtry knows he’s an outsider at this point and while he might brag to his constituents about that and hold it up as a point of pride and a fuck-you to their mythical ‘Deep State’ bogeymen, it’s got to be keeping his pucker factor wrenched up to an eleven. That tiny little dog caught himself a fucking car, and he has no clue what to do with it. Now he’s eyeing the bumper of a semi.”

“No chance of him getting run over in the process?” I only half-kid.

Kev shrugs. “Expect Stella to go hard to the far right and start openly courting them. We’re talking making the MAGAs look positively socialist in comparison. And expect her and Ellis both to help put up a massive fight in Florida to flip it red again. Or, at the very least, to try to chip away at the advantage the Independents have scored since Owen Taylor’s and Susa Evans’ rise to power. In four years you likely won’t need Florida’s EC votes, because you’ve got enough padding elsewhere. But you can’t take anything for granted and need to keep all this in mind when you start plotting your strategy in two years.”

He’s right, because in two years I’ll have to make sure my campaign structure is in place and ready to begin fundraising and recruiting volunteers. “Terrific,” I mutter. “Just what I wanted to deal with during the first hundred days of my first term—worrying about my fucking re-election in four goddamned years.”

“The good news is if McMurtry really is stupid enough to make a run at the White House in eight or twelve years, Ciro can take him apart half-drunk with one arm tied behind his back,” Kev says. “McMurtry never served in the military and he’s got a DUI. Not to mention I’m optimistic enough to think the GOP will manage to take him down themselves before that happens. This guy isliterallyan ambulance chaser and used car salesman. If we can get and stay ahead of him we should be able to hold the Senate seat, if he runs for it. He’s sixty-one now, putting him at sixty-nine in eight years. Based on that alone I like Ciro’s chances against him were McMurtry to throw his hat into the ring for POTUS. Add in what would likely be a completely choked GOP primary field to start with, plus Iowa will absolutely despise him, so there is that.