Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersOctober 13, 2017

Florida’s Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday sent a letter similar to one sent by his Democratic colleague urging more federal help for Puerto Rico, still darkened by the ravishes of Hurricane Maria more than three weeks ago. Rubio asked U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Acting Secretary Eric Hargan to “provide a […]

Susan WashingtonOctober 13, 2017

By the time the sun set in Gainesville, Monday, Oct. 2, conflicting news reports had announced, alternately, Tom Petty’s death and his ongoing struggle to survive at a hospital in Los Angeles. It was nearly midnight when the legendary rock star — born in Gainesville October 20, 1950 — died, at 8:40 Pacific Standard Time, […]

Scott PowersOctober 13, 2017

Bill Nelson is imploring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to step up their efforts in Puerto Rico, “before more people die and this becomes a full-blown crisis.” In a letter to acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan, Florida’s senior U.S. Senator responds to news reports in The New York Times and warns that the continued […]

Associated PressOctober 13, 2017

MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough has made his departure from the GOP official. The “Morning Joe” anchor said on Twitter on Thursday that he became an independent and he added a picture of himself with an elections official in New Canaan, Connecticut, smiling while holding a form. Scarborough announced that he would […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 13, 2017

Jay Fant, in his bid for Attorney General, collected three endorsements this week, coming on the heels his $750,000 campaign loan. For Fant, a Republican state representative from Jacksonville, the capital infusion was a big deal; it brought him closer, in cash on hand, to Ashley Moody — the retired Hillsborough judge who already collected $850,000 […]

Mitch PerryOctober 13, 2017

One could reasonably approach the David Jolly-Patrick Murphy roadshow hitting Tampa Thursday night with a healthy dose of cynicism. Here are two former politicians decrying problems of Washington D.C. when, if things had turned the way they hoped they would, both would have been ensconced in the belly of the beast they were now criticizing. Nevertheless, […]

Associated PressOctober 12, 2017

Florida health officials are reporting the state’s first case this year of the Zika virus transmitted by a local mosquito. Florida’s Department of Health said Thursday a Manatee County couple traveled to Cuba, and one of them contracted Zika while on the Caribbean island and was bitten by a mosquito after returning home. That mosquito […]

Susan WashingtonOctober 12, 2017

Fall is usually a busy time of year in college towns, but during the ongoing fall semester at the University of Florida, the City of Gainesville — the seat of otherwise-rural Alachua County — has been shaken. First, it was stormy weather from Hurricane Irma, which interrupted electrical service for several days in September, followed […]

Danny McAuliffeOctober 12, 2017

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Thursday said he worried that the feds’ citrus forecast wouldn’t accurately reflect the devastation to the state’s citrus crop after Hurricane Irma. “I am concerned about what that forecast may be, given that so many of the circumstances that are fundamental to having an accurate forecast have changed,” Putnam said in a […]

Staff ReportsOctober 12, 2017

Citing “anti-Israel bias,” the U.S. State Department announced its decision to withdraw from UNESCO at the end of 2018. Sen. Marco Rubio backs the move. “As ISIS commits genocide and destroys historical and cultural heritage sites throughout the Middle East, the majority of UNESCO’s member states have chosen instead to advance a discriminatory and counterproductive anti-Israel agenda,” […]

Headlines

Marco Rubio joins Bill Nelson’s call for urgent attention for public health crisis in Puerto Rico

Gainesville mourns ‘No. 1 son’ Tom Petty, schedules memorial concert

Bill Nelson urges feds to do more for Puerto Rico ‘before more people die’

‘Morning Joe’ host Joe Scarborough officially leaves GOP

Money, endorsements for Jay Fant; Frank White enters GOP AG race

David Jolly, Patrick Murphy discuss fixing Washington — it was (sort of) interesting

Florida confirms 1st local Zika infection for 2017

University of Florida, Gainesville brace for Richard Spencer speech

Adam Putnam warns agriculture loss is ‘still unfolding’

Marco Rubio lauds Pres. Trump’s decision to leave UNESCO