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Governor Ron DeSantis scored a key victory in the school mask mandate case Friday.

The First District Court of Appeal put the ban back in effect while the case moves forward.

DeSantis has been fairly consistent in his predictions on a wide array of lawsuits filed against the state, essentially calling the trial court is a crapshoot, but a guaranteed victory on appeal.

“That’s just kind of the way the cookie crumbles,” said DeSantis is a press conference earlier this week.

And that’s exactly how it has so far played out on the school mask mandate case.

The appellate court reinstating a stay on the lower court’s ruling all but guarantees the mandate ban will remain in effect for the rest of the school semester.

“Just like last year in the school re-opening litigation, the First District Court of Appeal has reinstated Florida’s ability to protect the freedom for parents to make the best decisions for their children while they make their own ruling on the appeal. We look forward to winning the appeal and will continue to fight for parents’ rights,” said the Governor’s Communications Director Taryn Fenske in an emailed statement.

This year the state also suffered defeats in trial courts on vaccine passports related to cruise ships, it’s social media censorship law and a law capping contributions to citizen initiatives.

Most recently the state’s anti-riot law was blocked by a federal judge.

“Knowing the court that was hearing it, it was no surprise at all,” said Representative Cord Byrd, who sponsored the anti-rioting legislation.

Byrd believes, like in the mask mandate suit, the state will win on appeal in most of the pending cases.

“I would expect that several of them will be reversed and we will get favorable rulings in the 11th, and if not then we’ll take them up to the Supreme Court,” said Byrd.

On the other hand, Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith is hoping to deliver another defeat with his lawsuit requesting detailed COVID data.

“The time for breaking the law and not releasing public records is over,” said Smith.

He also argued the state keeps losing in the trail courts for a reason.

“Because they keep doubling down on unconstitutional ideas,” said Smith.

The appeals process in both state and federal courts often takes many months, so at least for now, many of the trail court defeats will stick, but if history is an accurate guide they won’t stick forever.