Patronis attended NYC fundraiser as Florida prepped for Dorian. (POLITICO)

It's three (3) years to the next election, but Florida CFO JAMES PETRONIS is m making hay while the sun shines, raking in money for his political committee.  From POLITICO:

CFO Jimmy Patronis’ Twitter feed brimmed with hurricane updates, but he was out of state as other officials were gearing up for the storm’s arrival. | Steve Cannon/AP Photo

Patronis attended NYC fundraiser as Florida prepped for Dorian

By MATT DIXON

 

08/30/2019 02:23 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE — Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis attended a political fundraiser in New York City Thursday night as Florida was put under a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

Patronis’ Twitter feed brimmed with hurricane updates and he did an interview on a local Tallahassee radio station, but he was out of state as other officials were gearing up for the storm’s arrival. 

“The CFO had a political/finance meeting in nyc,” Patronis political adviser Melissa Stone wrote in an email to POLITICO. Patronis was expected to be in Panama City today, she said.

Patronis was the only member of the Florida Cabinet, which includes Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody and Democrat Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who did not attend a Friday morning briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.

Katie Strickland, a spokesperson in Patronis' government office, would only acknowledge that Patronis was “traveling.”

Hurricanes have been a big part of Patronis’ public persona over the past 10 months. Last October, Hurricane Michael leveled the Florida Panhandle, including Patronis’ hometown of Panama City Beach. Signs showing Michael's devastation and the beach's recovery still sit outside his first-floor Capitol office.

Patronis has been on the hot seat in recent months as he engaged in a lengthy battle with former Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Ronald Rubin, who he pushed to hire in February — and worked to push out just six months later.

As the saga played out, Patronis’ normally strong fundraising slowed dramatically.

His political committee, Treasure Florida, showed no contributions between the end of April and June. Fundraising is again kicking into gear, but because the committee updates totals only every five days, it’s not yet clear how much Patronis raised during the New York City swing.