Tag Archives: Florida

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis would likely win re-election with a majority of the vote, according to the latest poll of the 2022 gubernatorial race. Polling has consistently shown DeSantis leading each of the three Democratic candidates seeking to unseat the Republican incumbent in November. On Tuesday, data released from Mason-Dixon reaffirmed DeSantis’ lead, showing him winning 51% or …

The Associated Press reports: A judge in Florida has dismissed a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman had filed against the parents of Trayvon Martin, the teen he fatally shot almost a decade ago in a case that drew international attention about race and gun violence. Judge John Cooper in Tallahassee dismissed all counts against all …

Florida Politics reports: An increasing number of Republican lawmakers have publicly turned on Rep. Anthony Sabatini as he skips Session to campaign out-of-state. The Howey-in-the-Hills Republican, who is filed for Congress in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, has missed a significant portion of the Legislative Session. And he’s the only member of the part-time Legislature to miss so much of the …

The Associated Press reports: The Florida Supreme Court told Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday it will not answer his question on whether a Black congressman’s district is unconstitutional. DeSantis has interjected himself into the once-a-decade process of drawing new congressional maps, something highly unusual for a governor to do. The House and Senate have considered maps that largely left …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden on Tuesday took the rare step of weighing in on a controversial Florida bill that would ban certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, telling LGBTQ kids that he has their back. The message from the White House on Tuesday condemning Republicans for advancing the bill was a rare step as …

The Associated Press reports: Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo on Tuesday declined to disclose whether he has received a coronavirus vaccine during a contentious confirmation hearing where Democrats pressed the state’s top doctor to promote the shots. Ladapo, appointed in September by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, has attracted national scrutiny over his close alignment with the Governor in opposing …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: Miami-Dade Elections Department 2021-22 records show more than 5,000 registered Democrats switched their party affiliation to Republican. The increase comes just as more victims of third-party registrations are coming forward to report that their voter registration was altered without their permission. All of the victims were older than 65 years old, live in Miami-Dade County, …

CNN reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared Monday to voice support for a controversial state bill that would ban certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. DeSantis, a Republican, said it was “entirely inappropriate” for teachers and school administrators to have conversations with students about their gender identity, saying that, in some schools, children are told …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: A Pinellas County judge has dismissed a lawsuit centered on a 2020 presidential election wager, ruling that the bet was illegal in Georgia, where the plaintiff resided, as well as void under Florida law. The saga started in November 2020, when St. Petersburg resident Sean Hynes and an acquaintance, Jeffrey Costa of Atlanta, agreed to …

Florida Politics reports: A bill that would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot expanding Florida’s recall law to include county officers in all Florida counties, passed the House Public Integrity and Elections Committee with only two dissenting votes. Under Florida law, “county officers” include each county’s Clerk of Courts, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections, and Tax Collector. If …

Florida Politics reports: On Sunday’s Fox and Friends, Florida’s Attorney General stood with supporters of the Canadian anti-vax “Freedom Convoy” against the GoFundMe service, suggesting that what the fundraising platform contemplated this weekend could have been illegal. Ashley Moody told a Fox News audience that she and Gov. Ron DeSantis will not tolerate threats, such as that made by GoFundMe, …

The Associated Press reports: Three people have been arrested days after a Jewish passerby was attacked by a group of self-proclaimed neo-Nazis who yelled antisemitic slogans outside a central Florida shopping plaza over the weekend, authorities said Friday. Group leader Burt Colucci, 45, and Joshua Terrell, 46, are each charged with battery with a hate crime enhancement, while Jason Brown, …

The Miami Herald reports: Four young men [photo above] did not act in self-defense when they beat up two gay men during a South Beach gay-pride celebration, a Miami judge ruled on Friday. Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan declined to dismiss the battery charges against Juan Carlos Lopez and three others who’d been charged in the high-profile attack in April …

MSNBC reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handpicked state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, is currently doing the job, but he still needs to be formally confirmed by the Republican-led state Senate. To that end, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did a routine background investigation. It apparently didn’t go especially well. The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper reports that Ladapo’s former supervisor …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Videos of Apopka police officers pulling a Black man from his car before hitting and stunning him in his driveway in November 2019 resurfaced on social media this week, soon after the man filed a lawsuit against the city. The officer who used a Taser on the man and wrote his arrest report, Nathaniel Tuck, resigned …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: Despite the security at Haley Sofge Towers, a Miami-Dade public housing building, people with clipboards and Republican Party of Florida caps were in the hallways, door knocking. It made registered NPA Armando Selva suspicious. “They said, “We’re doing the renewals on the voter registration, would you like to renew?” Selva recalled. Resident Juan Carlos Salazar …

Tallahassee’s Fox News affiliate reports: Florida Republicans advanced a voting law package that would establish a police unit for election crimes, embracing a proposal pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections approved the bill after hours of debate. Democrats questioned the need for the election police force and said the bill imposes needless new rules …

Florida Politics reports: The House State Affairs Committee voted 16-8 Tuesday, along party lines, to advance a bill (HB 7) targeting class lessons and corporate trainings that teach cultural guilt, teachings proponents say insert ideology into history lessons. The legislation, filed in part at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ urging, is Florida Republicans’ effort to quell classroom or corporate training discussions they …

From the Miami Herald editorial board: Denounce the Nazi demonstrators in Orlando, Gov. Ron DeSantis. It’s that simple. Say they are abhorrent. Say they are despicable. Say they have no part in this society or this state. But no. Instead, our governor attacked Democrats during a press conference in Palm Beach County on Monday. Dragged in issues like immigration and …

Florida Politics reports: The Lake Worth Republican’s year-end report shows a total of $119,821 in contributions. Meanwhile, she spent $105,232 for the quarter, including sending $8,400 in refunds. But those expenditures primarily fueled a campaign apparatus seemingly built on spending money to raise more money. That means she netted just $6,189 in the quarter. That appears to be the consequence …