EUGENE VOLOKH: Tentative Thoughts on the Florida Repeal of Disney’s Special Government District. He discusses the First Amendment argument, but notes this:

But here’s a twist: What Florida is planning to withdraw from Disney is essentially a form of government power that Disney had been specially granted—Disney’s ability to effectively run this special district (as I understand it does), with the legal authority this entails under state law. And if we follow the employment analogy, officials exercising political power are generally not protected from retaliation by other political figures, at least when the retaliation consists of benefits conferred by the other political figures in the first place.

If, for instance, a committee chairman switches parties (or otherwise offends party leadership with his political positions), he could be stripped of the powers that his colleagues have given him, even if a low-level government employee can’t be. Likewise if a state cabinet member who has been chosen by a governor council is removed from office by the governor (assuming state law allows such removals) based on the cabinet member’s political speech. I take it that when a city council appoints a mayor or a city manager, it can (if state law so allows) remove that official as well, including based on the official’s speech or other political activity.

To be sure, Disney isn’t exactly a political official. (I agree that corporations have First Amendment rights, but that doesn’t mean they can be elected to office.) But the Legislature had in effect given it a particular form of political power, which it now seeks to withdraw. That strikes me as a potentially relevant analogy.

Interesting point.