By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida elections officials last week released voter-registration numbers for the Nov. 3 general election. Here are seven takeaways as Florida is again a key state in the battle for the White House: — THE BIG PICTURE: Democrats have traditionally led in voter registration in Florida, […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — A North Florida Senate district controlled by Democrats for decades is in the crosshairs of incoming Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican who is pouring money into a contest that has surprisingly become one of the most contentious legislative races in the November elections. Rep. […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Saying that “nothing in the emergency order requires any teacher or any student to return to the classroom,” a state appeals court Friday overturned a ruling that said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran violated the Florida Constitution when he issued a July order aimed at reopening […]
TALLAHASSEE — Saying “this court cannot remedy what the state broke,” a federal judge on Friday reluctantly refused to give Floridians more time to register to vote after a state online system crashed in the hours before Monday’s deadline to sign up for the November presidential election. Secretary of State Laurel Lee extended the deadline […]
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that closing school campuses in the spring as the coronavirus pandemic took hold might have been one of the nation’s biggest “public health mistakes.” And, while appearing on the Drew Steele radio show, DeSantis equated people fighting the return of students to classrooms as the “flat earthers of our day.” […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Two state Republican leaders added their voices Monday in opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment that would gradually boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Florida. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters, a state senator from Sarasota, and incoming House Speaker Chris […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to prohibit local governments from being able to close restaurants and bars, as some locals did to slow the spread of COVID-19 earlier this year. DeSantis, appearing ready to ease state restrictions that place a 50 percent indoor occupancy limit on […]
By The News Service of Florida Potentially millions of ballots could hit the mail starting Thursday for the Nov. 3 general election in Florida. County supervisors of elections are required to send out their first big batches of vote-by-mail ballots between Thursday and Oct. 1. Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer said in a […]
By The New Service of Florida Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a former New York mayor and onetime Democratic presidential candidate, is the latest celebrity to join in the effort to help Florida felons pay outstanding legal financial obligations so they can register to vote in November. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has collected more than $20 […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Brandishing a law-and-order approach to civil unrest, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s incoming Republican House and Senate leaders rolled out a legislative package Monday aimed at cracking down on protesters by creating a host of new crimes, as the GOP tries to keep the battleground […]