Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterMay 22, 2017

South Florida voters will have more than one race on their ballot this summer. Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order Monday calling a special election to replace Rep. Jose Felix Diaz in House District 116. Diaz resigned his seat to run in the special election to replace Sen. Frank Artiles in Senate District 40. […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterMay 22, 2017

Rep. Jose Felix Diaz is officially saying goodbye to the Florida House. The Miami Republican sent a letter to the Florida Division of Elections on May 17 resigning from the Florida House effective Sept. 26. Diaz, who is running in the special election to replace Frank Artiles in Senate District 40, sent similar letters to […]

Staff ReportsMay 9, 2017

Jose Felix Diaz is jumping into the race to replace former Sen. Frank Artiles in Senate District 40. “I am filing for Florida Senate District 40. It is the area that I have represented for the past seven years and the place where I am raising my kids,” he said in a statement. “I plan […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterMay 9, 2017

Annette Taddeo is throwing her hat in the race to replace former Sen. Frank Artiles. Taddeo announced Tuesday she was running in the Senate District 40 special election to replace Artiles, the Miami-Dade Republican who resigned last month amid scandal. “Through our campaign, we can right a wrong and show how this community can come […]

Jim RosicaMay 8, 2017

In comments more about family than policy, two House members said farewell to their colleagues Monday. Jose Felix Diaz, a Miami-Dade Republican, could become the next U.S. Attorney, or top federal prosecutor, for South Florida. Barring that, he has said he’ll run for the now-open state Senate seat vacated by Frank Artiles. And Eric Eisnaugle, […]

Staff ReportsMay 8, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott has set the dates for a special election to replace former Sen. Frank Artiles, setting the stage for what could the first in a series of special elections in South Florida. The special primary election in Senate District 40 is scheduled for July 25, with a special general election to follow on […]

Jim RosicaMay 2, 2017

State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the House’s point man on gambling, said an impossibility of compromise over slot machines killed the 2017 gambling bill. “We were too far apart and the Senate wanted to bring it in for a landing during budget conference, and we were not going to be able to do that,” he […]

Jim RosicaMay 1, 2017

The fate of this year’s gambling bill is being held hostage to passage of a homestead exemption increase, sources told FloridaPolitics.com Sunday night. Publicly, lawmakers have been saying that progress on omnibus gambling legislation was taking a backseat to the 2017-18 state budget talks. The Conference Committee on Gaming hasn’t met since last Thursday. The Senate is […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterApril 28, 2017

Mike Fernandez, a billionaire businessman and top Republican donor, is expressing his disappointment in the House and Senate’s decision to “advance and dump” casino expansion efforts on South Florida. In an email to Sen. Bill Galvano and Rep. Jose Felix Diaz on Thursday, Fernandez criticized the decision to move forward with a proposal that would […]

Jim RosicaApril 26, 2017

The Florida House made several major offers Wednesday to get a gambling deal done this session, including authorizing decoupling for dog and horse tracks if county voters OK it in a local referendum. House and Senate negotiators met in the morning in their ongoing effort to agree on an omnibus gambling bill for 2017, including an […]