Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Les NeuhausMarch 6, 2017

As legislators in Tallahassee prepare themselves to convene their 60-day Session Tuesday, expect an assortment of proposed bills to be hashed out over the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Hot-button subjects with bipartisan support in the Senate and House include improvements in mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, working toward identifying and reducing […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 6, 2017

A poll released Monday from the University of North Florida shows Sen. Bill Nelson ahead of Gov. Rick Scott in a hypothetical match-up for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat. Meanwhile, the favorability ratings of both Sen. Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump are both underwater. Nelson is up by six points (44 percent to 38 percent) over Scott, with 12 percent undecided. Nelson’s personal favorability […]

Jim RosicaMarch 6, 2017

Work on the grounds of the Florida Capitol and its underground parking garages continues after the Senate garage was closed last May. It was shut down when its primary support girder showed signs of stress after years of water intrusion. “The next milestone for the Senate garage is structural repair as we work to restore […]

Associated PressMarch 6, 2017

Florida Senate President Joe Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran are Republican lawyers. But the similarities start to drift from there. Negron calls himself boring and is the quiet, deliberative type. Corcoran likes listening to music at top volume, and his approach to leadership reflects that. The Associated Press interviewed each separately about their backgrounds, […]

Staff ReportsMarch 5, 2017

Lisa Carlton has decided she will not run for Florida agriculture commissioner. Instead, the former state Senator, who co-owns a cattle ranch with her family, will focus on her new role as a member of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission. As first reported by Zac Anderson the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Carlton, a Sarasota Republican, has changed […]

Staff ReportsMarch 5, 2017

The daughter of Everglades Foundation founder George Barley says the group today is nothing like the one her father launched decades ago. In an op-ed for the Orlando Sentinel Catherine Barley-Albertini, now a freelance writer in California, says the Everglades foundation has “badly lost its way” from its initial mission of Everglades restoration. Barley-Albertini reflects […]

Associated PressMarch 5, 2017

President Donald Trump‘s recent executive order calling for a review of a rule protecting small bodies of water from pollution and development is strongly supported by golf course owners who are wary of being forced into expensive cleanups on their fairways. It just so happens that Trump’s business holdings include a dozen golf courses in […]

Associated PressMarch 5, 2017

At a circular booth in the middle of the Trump International Hotel’s balcony restaurant, President Donald Trump dined on his steak — well-done, with ketchup — while chatting up British Brexit politician Nigel Farage. A few days later, major Republican donors Doug Deason and Doug Manchester, in town for the president’s address to Congress, sipped […]

Les NeuhausMarch 5, 2017

Brace yourself, because this is the Lord’s Day and we here at Florida Politics don’t like being the bearer of bad news on Sunday, but it is what it is. Save a few prayers for the souls in today’s roundup, especially the first two entries, which are ugly and uglier. — We begin in Fort Myers, […]