Associated Press, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Associated PressAugust 16, 2017

Officials from other national memorials will be on a panel during the first public meeting to discuss what should be in a memorial to the victims of the Florida nightclub massacre. The foundation for the Pulse nightclub memorial said Wednesday that next month’s panel would include officials from memorials constructed to honor the victims of […]

Associated PressAugust 16, 2017

The statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, was the focus of an emotional debate in the state’s Republican primary election weeks before it became a flashpoint in the nation’s struggle over race. Corey Stewart, an outsider candidate for governor sometimes compared to President Donald Trump, seized on possible removal of the Confederate general’s […]

Associated PressAugust 16, 2017

Jack Latvala — a powerful, sometimes surly state senator seen as a moderate Republican voice — entered the race for Florida Governor Wednesday, taking on a better-known, more conservative and better-funded primary opponent Adam Putnam for the GOP nomination to replace Gov. Rick Scott. Latvala publicly announced his candidacy at a fire station in a […]

Associated PressAugust 16, 2017

The University of Florida on Wednesday denied a request by a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event and his supporters vowed to file a court challenge. UF President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement that the decision was made after assessing risks to […]

Associated PressAugust 16, 2017

President Donald Trump is renewing his attacks on e-commerce giant Amazon, and he says the company is “doing great damage to tax paying retailers.” Trump tweets that “towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!” The president has often criticized the company and CEO Jeff Bezos, who also […]

Associated PressAugust 15, 2017

A new gambling deal between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe is providing a large boost to the state’s finances. State officials on Tuesday drew up new forecasts to predict how much the state will collect in taxes. State legislators will use the forecasts when drawing up a new state budget next January. […]

Associated PressAugust 15, 2017

President Donald Trump appears to have mistakenly retweeted a message from one of his critics saying “he’s a fascist.” Trump deleted his retweet Tuesday after about five minutes, but not before the message sent to his 35 million followers racked up a big response. Trump seems to have been trying to draw attention to a […]

Associated PressAugust 15, 2017

The number of tourists visiting Florida continues to grow. Gov. Rick Scott will announce Tuesday that an estimated 60.7 million tourists came to the state during the first six months of the year. That’s a 4.1 percent increase over the same time period in 2016. Scott plans to highlight the new numbers during a visit […]

Associated PressAugust 14, 2017

Bowing to pressure from right and left, President Donald Trump condemned white supremacist groups by name on Monday, declaring “racism is evil” after two days of public equivocation and internal White House debate over the deadly race-fueled clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. In a hastily arranged statement at the White House, Trump branded members of the […]

Associated PressAugust 14, 2017

The Florida Supreme Court is refusing to block the state’s first execution after a hiatus of more than 18 months. The court on Monday ruled 6-1 that the state can go ahead with the scheduled Aug. 24 execution of Mark Asay. Asay, 53, was originally scheduled to be executed in March 2016, for the 1987 […]

Associated Press

Public input sought for building memorial to Pulse victims

Racial politics haunt GOP in the Donald Trump era

Sometime surly senator enters Florida’s governor’s race

Univ. of Florida denies white nationalist event

Donald Trump renews Twitter criticism of Amazon

Budget boosted by gambling money from Seminoles

Oops? Donald Trump retweets critic saying ‘he’s a fascist’

60.7 million tourists came to Florida during first six months of 2017

President Trump privately raged against media coverage of first Virginia statement, was reluctant to amend

Florida Supreme Court says yes to first execution in months