Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanMarch 8, 2015

After state troopers, sheriff’s deputies savagely attacked voting rights marchers at Selma, Ala., with clubs, tear gas and cattle prods on March 7, 1965, two great Americans rushed to the city to try to take command of the perilous situation. One was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., determined to lead a second march – regardless […]

Daniel TilsonMarch 8, 2015

You’d think 50 years was long enough for Florida lawmakers to get something right. But when it comes to ensuring all Floridians have equal opportunity to exercise their right to vote, and then overwhelmingly choose to use it, most of us know we’ve still got a long way to go. Here we are, fresh off […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 8, 2015

Florida’s beekeepers say honey bees play a sweet role in agriculture and the economy but they need help – and state funding – to maintain a healthy population. The Florida State Beekeepers Association is requesting $3.5 million for an apiary research center at the University of Florida. Florida is the third largest honey-producing state, with […]

Guest AuthorMarch 8, 2015

Florida’s educational ship of state hit an iceberg last week. By the end of the week, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart was insisting that it was just a “small gash” and that the problem had been fixed. Legislators are rushing in to change the route and even suggesting that the ship return to port. The voyage […]

Peter SchorschMarch 8, 2015

Somebody has to be first, right? Last month, Florida Politics reported on the surge of Kratom, a plant-based product used as a homeopathic medicine that has begun to concern Florida authorities. Traditionally, Kratom leaves — indigenous to Thailand and Malaysia — are chewed to treat a variety of ailments: reducing pain, an anti-diarrheal, and to reduce […]

Mitch PerryMarch 8, 2015

The drive to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year that would allow Floridians more choice about using solar power has enjoyed quick success, and furious push-back from their opponents. On Saturday, Conservatives for Energy Freedom, one of the groups pushing for a constitutional amendment in 2016 on solar, blasted the group Americans for […]

Peter SchorschMarch 8, 2015

Representative Gwen Graham traveled to Selma, Alabama, this weekend, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday Attack on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Graham attended a service at Brown Chapel AME Church, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Civil Rights Memorial, and she joined Rep. John Lewis in a march across the landmark bridge. “It was an […]

Associated PressMarch 8, 2015

An outspoken liberal congressman from Florida will argue in court Monday that his 24-year marriage should be annulled because his estranged wife committed bigamy, the opening salvo in an acrimonious divorce case a judge likened to an episode of the TV series “House of Cards.” Rep. Alan Grayson says his wife, Lolita, was still married […]

Associated PressMarch 8, 2015

Most U.S. presidential candidates really don’t want to spend nearly two years bowing and scraping to voters and campaign donors. Most voters sure don’t want to hear about the presidential race for anywhere near that long. Why, then, does it take so loooong to pick a U.S. president? Blame American-style democracy? Blame the pollsters and […]

Thomas BeaumontMarch 8, 2015

Former Governor Jeb Bush capped his first weekend politicking in early-voting Iowa by previewing what he said would be an upbeat campaign should he continue toward his all-but-declared candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. “My hope is I will run a campaign, if I get there, that will be hopeful an optimistic,” Bush told about 200 people packed into […]

Uncategorized

Martin Dyckman: In Selma, LeRoy Collins saved lives, suffered political hit

Daniel Tilson: Voting rights – from Selma, 1965 to Tallahassee, 2015

Bruce Ritchie: Beekeepers stung by 2014 veto try again for research site

Catherine Martinez: Florida's Titanic testing journey

Tampa Bay Times finally arrives at the Kratom party

The battle over solar power heats up in Florida as proponents fend off attacks from Americans for Prosperity

Powerful photo: U.S. Reps. Gwen Graham and John Lewis on the 50th anniversary of Selma

Alan Grayson to argue that estranged wife committed bigamy

Failure to launch not a concern in 2016 presidential race

Jeb Bush says he’d be an upbeat candidate