Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiDecember 20, 2018

Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis‘ transition-based public safety panel convened Thursday to move forward on one of the candidate’s winning issues. Support from police unions and sheriffs proved pivotal in DeSantis’ win over Democrat Andrew Gillum last month, with a constant drumbeat insisting that Gillum was soft on crime. The committee is heavy on professional law enforcement officers, along with […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 18, 2018

Sen. Rob Bradley and Rep. Travis Cummings both represent Clay County. Both also hold the gavels for their respective chamber’s appropriations committees. The concentration of budget power in Clay, a Northeast Florida county bordering Jacksonville, is unprecedented. Bradley himself described it as a “window of opportunity.” And opportunity draws a crowd. Thursday’s Clay County Delegation meeting put them […]

Jacob OglesNovember 20, 2018

Attorney General-elect Ashley Moody named former Assistant U.S. Attorney John Guard as executive director for her transition team, which includes a number of prominent leaders in the legal and law enforcement community. In announcing her team, the Republican also laid out a list of top priorities, including the opioid epidemic, elder abuse, law enforcement, human […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 29, 2018

Republican Ashley Moody has friends with badges backing her in her latest ad: a bipartisan group of sheriffs staunchly endorsing the former Hillsborough judge for Attorney General. The video includes a quote from a literal Dixiecrat, in the form of Dixie County’s Dewey Hatcher. However, the hottest quote of the video comes from Clay County Republican Darryl Daniels, who accused […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 28, 2018

Over the last week, Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels has increasingly taken the regional lead in excoriating Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum. Sunday saw Gillum come to Clay County and plead for civility and dialing down violence in political rhetoric, again establishing contrast between his campaign and that of his opponent. The Ron DeSantis campaign has messaged heavily […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 25, 2018

On Thursday afternoon, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence headlined a Jacksonville rally for Ron DeSantis. In what clearly was the Republican attempt to counter the appearance of former veep Joe Biden for the Democrats earlier this week, Pence’s arrival was another signal of how nationalized the race between DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum is. However, Duval Republicans seem to […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 23, 2018

Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis took a page from the book of his dispatched primary rival Tuesday, with an early morning Jacksonville presser designed to highlight support from law enforcement. Worth noting: Jacksonville is dealing with a continued multiyear upward trend in its murder rate, a similar phenomenon to the depictions of crime-ridden Tallahassee in Republican ads. […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 4, 2018

In 2016, Jacksonville Republican Clay Yarborough emerged from a competitive primary in House District 12, where a variety of business interests – including gambling interests – sought to sink him. Those efforts were for naught. Yarborough won his primary by nearly 10 points. Yarborough is running for his second term, in a Republican-plurality district against a Democrat who […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 26, 2018

Duval County was the epicenter of some of the most savage attacks against Ron DeSantis in the Republican Gubernatorial primary. Many prominent Republicans, including U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, state Sen. Aaron Bean, state Rep. Cord Byrd, and Jacksonville City Council President Aaron Bowman, strongly backed Adam Putnam. However, the candidate who “knew Florida best” didn’t prevail. And Jacksonville area Republicans will […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 7, 2018

Tuesday has been an active day for those handling the messaging for Republican Attorney General candidates Ashley Moody and Frank White, with each campaign maintaining their opponents are dangerously liberal. White’s campaign touted the most recent StPetePolls survey of the race in a “state of the race” memo, with selected quotes from our write-up. “White’s lead is across the […]

Tag: Darryl Daniels

Ron DeSantis public safety panel: Tough on crime, big on lockdown

‘Window of opportunity’: House, Senate budget chairs face hometown crowd

Ashley Moody puts John Guard in charge of transition team

In new ad, top cops give props to Ashley Moody

Bringing it home: Andrew Gillum stumps in Darryl Daniels’ backyard

Enthusiasm gap? Small Jacksonville crowd for Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis, Sheriffs hammer Andrew Gillum’s Dream Defenders ties

Clay Yarborough takes Northeast Florida lead on ‘Yes on 3’ campaign

Duval Republicans to fete Ron DeSantis with Wednesday fundraiser

Frank White, Ashley Moody campaigns trade barbs