Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJanuary 3, 2018

As we kick off 2018, a message to Florida lawmakers: Don’t quit while you’re ahead. Last year, our legislators kept many New Year’s resolutions: trimming the fat from the state budget, making sure taxpayers kept more of their hard-earned money and expanding educational opportunity for children across the state. This Session, there are several legislative […]

Scott PowersJanuary 2, 2018

Generation Opportunity is sending out campaign mailers lauding Republican state Rep. Bob Rommel of Naples and Republican state Sen. Dennis Baxley of Lady Lake for their support of freedom of speech because the pair introduced bills this Session seeking to prevent college campuses from restricting free speech to “free speech zones.” Generation Opportunity, which promotes conservative […]

Scott PowersDecember 14, 2017

Republican state Rep. Jason Brodeur continues to rake in campaign finance money for his 2020 bid for the Florida Senate, raising $19,229 for his official campaign and another $35,000 for his independent political committee in November. Brodeur, of Sanford, leads all Central Florida state Senate candidates even though the election he’s shooting for is three […]

Mitch PerryDecember 5, 2017

Legislation calling for a memorial honoring those who suffered from slavery in Florida advanced unanimously through a Senate committee Tuesday. But first, Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee chair Dennis Baxley explained why he was always for the bill, even though he voted against it last Session. The bill (SB 286) will recognize the fundamental injustice, […]

Scott PowersDecember 1, 2017

Travel writer, speaker, history enthusiast, and motorcyclist Gary McKechnie has filed as a Democratic candidate to run for the Florida Senate against Republican state Sen. Dennis Baxley in Senate District 12. McKechnie, 55, of Mount Dora, is promising a platform that will be heavy on Florida-centric advocacy and perhaps lighter on Democratic ideology, in a […]

Danny McAuliffeNovember 15, 2017

A significant group of lawmakers involved with Florida’s ongoing battle against opioid addiction are starting to grasp the big picture behind drug-related crimes. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice met Wednesday to discuss the criminal justice system’s role in fighting the opioid epidemic. Though likely not planned, the meeting took place shortly […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

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A likeness of educator and civil-rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune is one step closer to replacing a statue of a Confederate general as one of Florida’s two representatives in the U.S. Capitol. On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee cleared a bill (SB 472) to replace the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith with Bethune, who lived 1875-1955. Only Sen. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala […]

Scott PowersNovember 10, 2017

State Sen. Dorothy Hukill reported raising more than $30,000 in October toward her 2018 re-election bid in Florida Senate District 14 in the northern Space Coast. Hukill’s haul was her biggest one-month total yet, and brings her contributions to $84,700. After expenses the Port Orange Republican had $57,400 in the bank at the end of […]

Mitch PerryNovember 7, 2017

Legislation creating a slavery memorial on the grounds of Florida’s Capitol easily advanced in a House committee Tuesday. The monument would “honor the nameless and forgotten men and women and children who have gone unrecognized, for their weighty contributions to our great states and United States,” Miami-Dade Democratic Rep. Kionne McGhee told the House Government Accountability Committee. McGhee […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 25, 2017

Florida Department of Corrections’s troubled security operations were big talkers Wednesday in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice. DOC Secretary Julie L. Jones addressed staffing patterns, contraband reduction efforts and use-of-force incidents. Major issues faced by the DOC are familiar to longtime observers, including continued staff attrition, overcrowding, increases in contraband, and a secretary confronting […]

Tag: Dennis Baxley

Chris Hudson: This Legislative Session, Floridians have much to be enthusiastic about

Group supports Bob Rommel, Dennis Baxley for bills on campus free speech

Jason Brodeur continues to rake in cash for 2020 Senate bid

Senate advances slavery memorial, but not before committee chair defends initial opposition

Gary McKechnie riding into SD 12 race

Following disturbing drug reports, Senate workshops opioid crisis

Mary McLeod Bethune statue may replace Confederate general in Capitol

Dorothy Hukill raises $30K, Dennis Baxley $33K, in Florida Senate re-election bids

Slavery memorial bill advances easily in House committee

Florida Corrections head: ‘We’re working staff to death’