Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersSeptember 25, 2018

Florida Democrats are releasing their first attack ad against Republican nominee Ron DeSantis, charging that he favors letting insurance companies deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions like cancer. The new TV commercial from the Florida Democratic Party blisters the Republican congressman’s participation in efforts to strike down and replace the Affordable Care Act with […]

Jim RosicaApril 20, 2018

A Tallahassee judge has dismissed one of the plaintiffs in John Morgan‘s legal effort to overturn the state’s ban on smoking medical marijuana. Roberto Pickering of Leon County, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, was one of three patients with a chronic illness who want to smoke medicinal cannabis under a state constitutional amendment passed in 2016. In an […]

Staff ReportsMarch 23, 2018

The Protect Tobacco Free Florida coalition is cheering the death of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have affected anti-smoking marketing efforts. “This positive outcome preserves Florida’s constitutional commitment to protect the health of Floridians by using Big Tobacco’s own money to tell the truth about the dangers of their products,” said the coalition’s statement, […]

Jim RosicaAugust 23, 2017

Medical marijuana advocate John Morgan has added three more plaintiffs to his lawsuit against the state, filed after lawmakers refused to allow marijuana to be smoked, according to court filings accessed Wednesday. Diana Dodson of Levy County, a cancer patient; Catherine Jordan of Manatee County, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease; and Roberto Pickering of Leon County, […]

Jim RosicaJuly 10, 2017

After being pronounced cancer-free earlier this year, state Sen. Dorothy Hukill says she “feel(s) great” and already is “excited” to return to Tallahassee for next year’s Legislative Session. She’s also back in the saddle in her district. The Port Orange Republican’s schedule is packed this week: There’s a grand-opening event for a Titusville space-supplies firm, […]

Jim RosicaJune 27, 2017

Former Congresswoman and now Democratic candidate for governor Gwen Graham on Tuesday rapped the U.S. Senate’s proposed Obamacare replacement, saying “if you get quality health care, you can have a miracle.” Graham, speaking to reporters in the state Capitol, was referring to her husband’s recent cancer remission. Steve Hurm was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer […]

Joe ReedyApril 14, 2017

Florida’s voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in November that formally legalized medical marijuana for chronic pain and other ailments, but with less than a month to go in their session, Florida legislators remain far apart on how to implement it. Bills in the Senate and House don’t agree on the details of expanding access […]

Scott PowersDecember 7, 2016

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Florida’s Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson both applauded passage Wednesday by the U.S. Senate of a bill that heads off potential cuts in cancer research at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Senate approved H.R. 34, entitled the “21st Century Cures Act,” by a […]

Scott PowersNovember 8, 2016

Tallahassee lawyer Steve Hurm, general counsel to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and husband to U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, is battling stage 4 prostate cancer, she announced. Graham, who has openly discussed her interest in running for Florida governor next year, announced Hurm’s condition at a presidential rally in Tallahassee that featured Vice President Joe Biden […]

Jim RosicaOctober 18, 2016

The state’s highest court has set oral arguments in an appeal of a punitive damages award against the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. The Florida Supreme Court, which accepted jurisdiction this May, will hear the case March 8, court filings show. At trial, a jury found smoker James E. Schoeff 25 percent at fault in his death. He had “died from […]

Tag: cancer
Image via Marshall Rawson Facebook

Democrats’ ad attacks Ron DeSantis on pre-existing conditions coverage opposition

John Morgan’s ‘no smoke’ marijuana lawsuit loses a plaintiff

Protect Tobacco Free Florida applauds amendment’s demise

Smoke this: John Morgan adds plaintiffs to marijuana lawsuit

Now cancer-free, Dorothy Hukill says, ‘I’m back’

Gwen Graham: ‘Health care is a right’

Legislature makes slow progress on medical pot rules

Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio applaud NIH funding bill passage; Moffitt money preserved

Steve Hurm battling cancer, wife Gwen Graham announces

Court orders oral arguments in smoking death case