Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Melissa RossJuly 8, 2015

They may be on opposite sides of the aisle in Tallahassee, but State Senator Aaron Bean (R-Fernandina Beach) and State Representative Mia Jones (D-Jacksonville) say they’re on the same page when it comes to figuring out a health care funding solution for Florida the next time the Legislature meets. “We’ve got to figure out a […]

Peter SchorschJuly 8, 2015

Joe Gruters will report raising more than $87,000 for his House District 73 campaign, sources close to the campaign tell Florida Politics. That figure would rank Gruters, the Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Florida, as the the third-highest monthly fundraising total of any legislative candidate this cycle. Gruters was already shaping up to be […]

Associated PressJuly 8, 2015

As lawmakers in South Carolina consider removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, a north Florida county has decided to do the opposite. The Marion County Commission voted Tuesday unanimously to again fly the Confederate flag in front of a government building, weeks after it had been taken down. The interim county administrator had […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 8, 2015

Alexander Pantinakis is barely old enough to drink legally. That said, he is one of a few young people in Jacksonville with undeniably bright political futures. As treasurer of the Duval County Republican Party he was a tireless and unstinting voice during the just-concluded Jacksonville campaigns. Those in the know are very familiar with his […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 8, 2015

With Lenny Curry at the one-week mark in his mayoral term, his transition committees are preparing their recommendations for final delivery. Florida Politics has obtained a draft copy of one such transition committee document, that of Streamlining Growth and Opportunity, and it predictably goes deep. The committee addressed issues related to making planning, zoning, and […]

Martin DyckmanJuly 7, 2015

It is amusing, in a wry sort of way, to witness the tantrums and hear the gnashing of teeth in right-wing circles over the several big cases they have just lost at the U.S. Supreme Court. Spare them no sympathy. You might think that losing has become more than they can bear. But in fact, […]

Daniel TilsonJuly 7, 2015

Dog Days of Summer, indeed. For lots of Major League Baseball fans like me, that describes the sultry stretch of the six-month regular season when many a contending team has historically succumbed to accumulated stress, fallen into a slump and out of contention. For other folks, that phrase describes any prolonged stretch of steamy summertime […]

Bill PrescottJuly 7, 2015

Last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a provision that says California parents can no longer claim “personal belief” as a reason for not vaccinating their children. Pediatrician and state Sen. Richard Pan introduced the legislation in response to the measles outbreak that began in Disneyland this past December. On Friday, parents rallied […]

Melissa RossJuly 7, 2015

After downtown Jacksonville’s Andrew Jackson statue was vandalized twice in one week, a spokeswoman for the activist group the Dream Defenders said she’d like to see as much outrage over controversial police-involved shootings as the recent widespread tagging of Confederate monuments in various states. “I always pay attention to what people care more about,” said the group’s […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 7, 2015

In Jacksonville, the big news from the Lenny Curry administration on Tuesday was the reappointment of a familiar quantity: Emergency Preparedness Chief Steven Woodward. Woodward, a former FEMA deputy administrator, was first appointed in 2013. “Public safety is a top priority and being prepared for an emergency plays a big part in keeping our city safe,” Curry […]

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Aaron Bean and Mia Jones: “Let’s find the win-win on Medicaid expansion”

Joe Gruters to report head-turning $87K fundraising haul

Marion County votes to fly Confederate flag once again

21-year-old Alexander Pantinakis looks to make history in Duval GOP

Jax “Streamlining Growth and Opportunity” transition committee readies recommendations

Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court more often goes astray

Dan Tilson: Courageous conjunction can help Florida Democrats through dog days

Julie Delegal: Let’s get to the right conversation about vaccines and autism

Dream Defenders ask why statue defacing raises more concern than black man’s death

Lenny Curry reappoints emergency preparedness chief Steven Woodward