Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaJune 21, 2017

The General abides. With lawmakers taking no action this year, a bronze statue of a Confederate general representing Florida shall remain indefinitely in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall. Two competing bills died this Legislative Session. One called for a likeness of educator and civil-rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune to replace the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith. […]

Jim RosicaApril 18, 2016

It’s official: The nearly 40-year-old mural outside the Florida Senate chambers will be taken down. In a letter, Senate President Andy Gardiner said the mural will be preserved, however, for viewing elsewhere. It’ll be stored till then. The letter was sent last Tuesday to Jeff Howell, the Republican Party of Florida treasurer. Howell, a Tallahassee attorney, […]

Jim RosicaApril 5, 2016

With work well underway on renovations of the Florida Senate chamber, there’s still no word on the fate of the decades-old mural that greets visitors to the chamber’s fifth floor public gallery. Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said Tuesday no final decision has been made about the artwork’s future. This past October, Betta said the mural will be taken down because it’s showing […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 5, 2016

The Florida Senate’s bronze seal, which usually hangs behind the Senate President’s lectern, was removed this week not only to replace the seal’s depiction of the Confederate flag but also in anticipation of still more design changes, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. In October, the Senate decided to remove a Confederate flag from the chamber’s official seal and replace […]

Jim RosicaOctober 29, 2015

A band of “concerned citizens” – including the Republican Party of Florida’s treasurer – is asking Senate President Andy Gardiner to save the decades-old mural that greets visitors to the chamber’s public gallery. Earlier this month, Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said the mural will be removed from the wall because it’s showing signs of age, including fading and peeling. […]

Jim RosicaOctober 8, 2015

The Florida Senate on Thursday will start its formal consideration of removing the Confederate flag from the chamber’s official seal. But another flag depiction greets visitors to the Capitol as they enter the Senate’s 5th floor observation gallery: The “Five Flags Mural,” which includes the Confederate flag near the center of the 10 foot-by-16 foot painting. Critics needn’t worry […]

Tag: Five Flags Mural

With no legislative action, Confederate statue remains in U.S. Capitol

Senate mural will be saved, but removed from Capitol

Still no decision on Florida Senate’s “Five Flags Mural”

State Senate seal could be changing – again

Concern grows over removal of Senate mural

Capitol mural with Confederate flag will be ‘changed out’