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Tag: Capital Connection

  • Investor James Fishback announces run for governor’s office

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    An investor who founded the firm Azoria announced Monday he will run for governor as a Republican in the 2026 election.

    James Fishback has been a vocal advocate for Gov. Ron DeSantis and an opponent to Rep. Byron Donalds, who is also running for the governor’s seat.

    Fishback, 30, said he is running to defend DeSantis’ legacy and create a more affordable Florida.

    He wants to eliminate property taxes, stop foreign investment companies from buying up property in our state, and stop American companies from hiring foreign employees through the H-1B visa program.

    Fishback has made it clear he is going to attack his fellow Republican, Donalds, the Florida congressman who got an early endorsement from President Trump.

    “Byron Donalds is a slave. I’m sorry, he’s a slave,” he said of Donalds. “He is a slave to his donors, he is a slave to his corporate interest, to the tech bros that want to turn our state into, in his own words, a financial capital.”

    The campaign for Donalds sent out this statement before noon Monday: “Byron Donalds will be Florida’s next governor because he is the proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump. Anyone running against him is an anti-Trump RINO and will get crushed in the Republican primary.”

    RINO stands for Republican In Name Only.

    Fishback is facing a lawsuit from his former employer, Greenlight Captial. He is accused of inflating his resume with them after leaving the company.

    He joins a list of people running for governor that also includes Florida House speaker Paul Renner, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former Republican congressman David Jolly.

    The primary for the governor’s race is next August.

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    Spectrum News Staff

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  • Judge pumps brakes on FSU lawsuit against ACC

    Judge pumps brakes on FSU lawsuit against ACC

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Leon County judge is pumping the brakes on Florida State University’s lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference, ruling that the university must amend its lawsuit within a week before the case moves forward in court, if at all.

    What You Need To Know

    • A judge on Monday ordered the pair into mediation and gave FSU a week to refile its lawsuit

    • FSU is suing to exit the ACC without fees, though the court must first determine its jurisdiction

    • The ACC believe it’s home state of North Carolina is the proper forum

    • The judge reminded attendees the case is “not over”

    Second Judicial Circuit Judge John Cooper made the bench ruling Monday in Tallahassee while weighing the conference’s effort to dismiss the lawsuit. 

    The judge’s order will require the two parties to attend a mediation within 120 days. The order also stipulates that FSU must refile its complaint with “clear language” in seven days, excluding weekends and holidays.

    “I want to make sure everyone understands this case is still going on,” said Cooper. “It’s not over.”

    Hanging in the balance is a multi-million-dollar media rights deal between FSU and ACC, plus $130 million in exit fees the university may owe the ACC if they split. 

    The total exit price, per FSU: roughly $572 million. FSU sued the conference in January, calling the fees “draconian” and the existing media deal “weak.” 

    “The ACC has negotiated itself into a self-described ‘existential crisis,’ rendered itself fiscally unstable and substantially undermined its members’ capacity to compete at the elite level,” the lawsuit reads. “In doing so, the ACC violated the contractual, fiduciary and legal duties it owed its members.”

    They’re accusing the ACC of breach of contract, trade restraint and failure to perform, accusations that underscore the university’s frustrations over their media earnings through the ACC.

    “It wasn’t until Florida State read that other conferences may be getting more money for media rights agreements… that they started to complain,” said Amber Nunnally, an attorney representing the ACC. 

    The judge’s refile request comes as the court is trying to determine whether it’s got jurisdiction over the case, as the ACC is based in North Carolina. North Carolina is also where the conference preemptively filed a lawsuit against FSU, just a day after the university’s board voted to sue the ACC.

    Lawyers for FSU, however, argue otherwise. Peter Rush, an attorney representing FSU, described Florida State University and University of Miami as “citizens” of Florida. He also accused the ACC of drawing “daggers.”

    “That’s hardly the harbinger of happy future family gatherings,” Rush told the judge.

    The ACC, meanwhile, maintains that North Carolina is the proper forum. They’re accusing FSU of trying to score an “advisory opinion” through the lawsuit, given that they’ve yet to exit the conference and that a ruling in the case would likely impact their decision to stay or go.

    “Florida State is now asking you to invalidate the contract they believe no longer serves them,” said an ACC attorney. 

    There are no scheduled hearings between FSU and the ACC as of Monday. The ACC is contracted to hold FSU’s media rights till 2036.

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    Jason Delgado

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  • Judge advances Florida State exit lawsuit against ACC

    Judge advances Florida State exit lawsuit against ACC

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Leon County Judge upheld Florida State University’s lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday, while also accusing the ACC of “forum shopping” against the Tallahassee-based school.

    What You Need To Know

    • FSU’s lawsuit in Florida against the ACC is moving forward

    • The judge denied the ACC’s motion to pause the case until a judge resolves their suit against FSU in North Carolina

    • The Leon County Judge accused the ACC of forum shopping

    • Forum shopping is the legal practice of targeting one court over the other in hopes of more favorable odds

    As FSU athletics seeks to exit the ACC, the two parties are feuding over a multi-million-dollar media deal and a roughly $130 million dollar exit fee — an amount hovering in the ballpark of $500 million.

    The high-profile disagreement resulted in two lawsuits: one filed by FSU against the ACC in Florida. The other filed preemptively by the ACC in its home state of North Carolina, which happened just days before the FSU board approved its plan to file suit.

    Attorneys for the ACC asked the judge Tuesday to pause or dismiss the case until their lawsuit in North Carolina is resolved. The court, however, denied the motion and accused the conference of shopping forums.

    Forum shopping is the legal practice of targeting one court over the other in hopes of more favorable odds.

    “There’s only one reason you would want to engage in forum shopping and that’s because the forum you just shopped is better than the other place,” said Second Judicial Circuit Judge John Cooper.

    FSU is accusing the ACC of financial mismanagement and a “draconian” exit fee, among other things, thus they should exit the conference without financial penalty.

    “This is Florida State’s money,” said FSU attorney Peter Rush. “This is Florida State’s team. This is Florida State’s media rights.”

    The ACC, meanwhile, is suing back in a North Carolina court, maintaining that their contract with FSU is binding. They also note that they sued first, which they claimed should place the case in North Carolina’s hands under Florida law.

    “We served first,” said ACC attorney Alan Lawson in his ending arguments. Lawson served previously as a Florida Supreme Court Justice.

    The cases’ outcome poses large implications for the ACC, among the largest collegiate conferences in the nation. It also comes as schools in recent years have begun gravitating toward conferences with more lucrative deals. 

    With both the Florida case and the North Carolina case in motion, questions remain about how the two parties may resolve their issues if the courts publish opposing opinions.

    The next hearing in Florida is scheduled for April 22.

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    Jason Delgado

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