Orlando

Scott PowersJuly 7, 2017

Faced with a potentially-serious Republican nomination challenger, David Smith dropped another $25,000 loan into his campaign for what will be an open seat in Florida House District 28. Smith’s June 30 loan was augmented by $2,963 in fundraising in June, giving him $100,855 in total contributions and loans. He had primed his campaign when he […]

Scott PowersJuly 6, 2017

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings has made official the worst-kept secret of the year in Central Florida politics: that he’s running for mayor of Orange County. Yet Demings, a Democrat, hasn’t officially announced anything yet. He has, however, filed his paperwork, late Thursday, with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office, officially declaring his candidacy. […]

Scott PowersJuly 6, 2017

Someone doesn’t trust President Donald Trump with voter roll information. Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Mike Ertel said Thursday he’s been fielding calls from nervous voters wanting to get their names and data off of voter rolls because they worry that information might be sent to Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Ertel has been […]

Scott PowersJuly 6, 2017

If Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy had people shaking their heads last week when she introduced a balanced budget amendment bill, she had a few scratching their heads Thursday as she organized a town hall exercise in Winter Park that demonstrated how difficult it might be. Murphy, joined by Phillip R. Smith, national political director […]

Scott PowersJuly 6, 2017

Republican John Newstreet continues to roll in the business association endorsements for state House District 44, picking up the backing of the Florida Retail Federation on Thursday. Newstreet is vying to win the August 15 Republican primary to fill the empty HD 44 seat for western Orange County. He faces Bobby Olszewski, Bruno Portigliatti, and […]

Peter SchorschJuly 5, 2017

Republican Rene Plasencia picked up a Democratic challenger this week in his 2018 House District 50 re-election campaign. Recent college graduate Kyle Walcott filed for the Orlando seat June 28 and, so far, is the only candidate running against Plasencia, who shifted over to HD 50 in 2016. In an interview with LobbyTools, Walcott said […]

Scott PowersJuly 5, 2017

Democrat Anna Eskamani kicked off her 2018 campaign for House District 47 with a Wednesday rally at Orlando City Hall, several major endorsements, thousands of social media hits and $6,000 in donations, all gathered, she said, in the less than two days since she filed to run on Monday. Eskamani, the first in from any […]

Scott PowersJuly 5, 2017

How big is the Puerto Rico migration to Florida? In one county, in one single service, the number plays out: an average of 104 people every workday are transferring their driver’s licenses from Puerto Rico to Florida, just in Orange County. The Orange County Tax Collector’s Office reported that in a six-month period recently sampled […]

Scott PowersJuly 3, 2017

Firebrand progressive activist Anna Eskamani intends to file Monday to run for the House District 47 seat in the Florida House. The seat is expected to be vacated next year as Republican incumbent state Rep. Mike Miller of Winter Park runs for Congress instead. Eskamani, director of external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and […]

Scott PowersJune 30, 2017

Orange County Deputy Sheriff Frank Bonetti went into a fully-engulfed burning house to pull a man to safety. Orange County Deputy Sheriff Brian Martin, Reserve Sergeant Robert Knight and Sergeant Fred Westerberg went into Pulse. Now the quartet are going into history, named by the National Sheriffs’ Association’s National Deputy of the Year Awards. The National […]

Orlando
Image via AP.

David Smith pours another $25,000 personal money into his HD 28 race, topping Central Florida races

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings files to run for Orange County Mayor

Seminole elections supervisor says people are calling to get off voter rolls

Stephanie Murphy pledges support for balanced budget, then shows it’s not easy

John Newstreet gets retailers’ group’s endorsement in HD 44 race

Rene Plasencia draws Democratic challenge in HD 50 re-election bid

Anna Eskamani hits trail with quick start in HD 47 race

Puerto Rican migration causes flood of Central Florida driver’s license requests

Democrat Anna Eskamani to file to run in House District 47

National Deputy Sheriff awards dramatically detail Orange County deputies’ actions at Pulse and 2014 fire