Welcome to this week’s Hill Spill, your weekly Thirsty Thursday Happy Hour political newsletter! Jim Nantz once said the Masters is a tradition unlike any other. Well Jim, so is us spilling tea on Thursdays. Unlike Tiger Woods, who rolled his SUV, caught a DUI and had to withdraw from Augusta, we showed up this week with fresh drama and zero mulligans. (We love you Tiger!) Congress may be on recess but the drama is still walking the fairway. Happy hour is getting off to a slightly later start than usual since we had TV today but we promise it is worth the wait!

Presented by Mission Group

Dan Bilzerian, the social media personality and self-styled playboy best known for guns, poker and an Instagram feed that never met a yacht it didn’t like, has filed to run against Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine. And it’s already getting messy.

A few weeks ago Bilzerian floated a potential bid on X, posting: “I’m going to run against fat f**k @RepFine for Congress.” Most people I spoke with cast doubt on this happening since his primary residence is not in Florida. Fine told us at the time he had no idea who Bilzerian was. He has since been made aware of the controversial influencer.

According to his filing, the address Bilzerian used is the law office of Anthony Sabatini, the Florida attorney and former state rep did not hold back when we asked him about Bilzerian hopping into the race.

 “Randy Fine is a disgusting slob who hates Christians and the America First movement,” Sabatini told us. “He’s worse than a Democrat.”

Fine’s office said they aren’t worried about the challenge from the controvertial influencer, touting that he has the backing of the president when we reached out about the race.

 “Congressman Randy Fine is the only person in America that President Trump has endorsed three times in the past two years,” his spokesman told us, adding that Fine has been “one of President Trump’s greatest allies” on border security, elections and tax relief.

That Trump angle is complicated by Bilzerian himself, who posted on Tuesday that “Trump is an extreme narcissist” who is “going to nuke Iran because his ego can’t handle that he’s losing the war,” adding “25th amendment.” A notable pivot for the former vocal Trump supporter.

Bilzerian is also facing scrutiny over allegations of antisemitic rhetoric. In one post, he quote tweeted Fine with “We get it, you’re a jew and you support America’s destruction to help your parasitic nation.” Fine, for the record, is Jewish and a vocal supporter of Israel and U.S. military involvement in Iran. 

We have a feeling this race will continue to be chaotic.

It doesn’t feel like that long ago that George Santos was sprinting down the halls of Longworth carrying an unidentified baby in the midst of Speaker’s race chaos. When The Hill’s Emily Brooks asked if the baby was his, Santos smiled and said “Not yet!” Now he is confirming in an interview with Sources Say News that he is having a baby of his own.

Santos first shared the news on our friend Meghan McCain’s podcast before giving us the details. He and partner Matt are expecting via surrogate, with a January due date. “Matt and I are ecstatic to be parents,” he told us. “It’s something we’ve been talking about for over five years.”

He told us the surrogate was implanted just two weeks ago. We asked about names, sonograms and whether he is the birth father, but Santos told us he is keeping it all close to his signature sweater vest since it’s still early and wants to keep some of the details private. 

The equally infamous and iconic former lawmaker also got candid about why he chose surrogacy. 

“Adoption was our preferred choice,” he said, “but it has become increasingly more scrutinized for same-sex couples because of a lot of the nonsense and atrocities that are happening.” He argued the red tape made surrogacy the right call for his family. 

If there is one thing we can confirm, it is that any baby of George Santos’ will have one enviable wardrobe. 

Former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) went from flying on Air Force One to federal prison to running for Congress again, this time in Florida. He joined us this week on the pod to fill us in on the wild ride that has been his past few years and why he is angling for a political comeback. He’s currently in one of the wildest primaries in the country,

Facing off against another former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC). Collins, who quite  literally went to prison over a stock tip, is now saying ban it all and he tells us why. Make sure to tune in! 

Mark Moran, an alum of HBO’s reality TV show FBoy Island turned Senate candidate, went viral this week for his less-than-traditional campaign announcement that he plans to run as an independent against incumbent Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) — a pivot from his original plan to primary Warner as a Democrat.

The video, filmed in front of a church with hand gestures that had people checking if there was a beat drop coming, racked up over 7 million views on X, with the Die Workwear guy and plenty of others lining up to take their shots in the quote tweets and responses. Moran is counting every single one of them as a win.

“We’re essentially all producing our own little reality TV shows for the audience,” he said, adding that it’s “essentially introducing a new reality TV character to the beautiful show that is American politics.” Coming from a guy who got his start on FBoy Island, that tracks.

While the bid sparked no shortage of grifter accusations, Moran argued his decision to run is not motivated by fame or cash. He told us he’s only spent his own money and he’s not taking corporate PAC cash.

Moran has not been shy on social media, sparking backlash after he tweeted “No.” when asked by a Twitter trill his he was taking “Jew money.” But the candidate dismissed accusations that he is anti-Semitic, arguing his position is that he won’t accept money from any religious group.

He told us the switch from a Democrat to independent run was accelerated after a forensic review of his ballot petition signatures came back at roughly 97% fraudulent.

Moran said running until November instead of the August primary gives him time to build a coalition of libertarians and disaffected voters from both parties, anchored by a theory that the first candidate who goes fully anti-corporate and anti-foreign influence will win over Gen Z and millennials.

FIRST ON SOURCES SAY: Critics are raising questions about Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins (R) and his trucking company. 

Collins has built his campaign on border security and vetting, but records show that Walter Stargell, a former employee at his trucking company, was charged in 2018 with multiple felonies including using a computer to seduce, solicit or lure a child to commit an illegal act, and was still working for Collins as recently as 2022 while those charges were pending. 

Stargell was ultimately convicted in 2023. A Collins spokesperson told us “this individual passed a third-party background check before his brief employment and was not convicted of the mentioned crime until well after his employment had ended.” 

Some, however, point to a video Collins filmed calling out the Biden administration for putting "unvetted" and "unchecked" people into the country, arguing that his own business had a vetting problem of its own given the gravity of the charges.

We love the Masters. We do not love ESPN’s decision to put Jason Kelce and The Miz anywhere near Augusta. As someone who was personally ranked dead last on Golf Digest’s 2023 list of top Washington golfers, I feel more than qualified to suggest one thing: skip ESPN, pour an Azalea and enjoy the most beautiful week in golf the right way.

The Azalea:

1.5 oz gin

1 oz pineapple juice

1 oz lemonade

0.5 oz grenadine

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled glass, garnish with a lemon twist. ⛳️