Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanSeptember 18, 2014

Voters across Florida cast ballots in November 2000 to say whether they wanted to continue electing most of their circuit and county court judges or would let the governor appoint them. Election was the overwhelming favorite everywhere. In Duval, Nassau and Clay counties, which comprise the Fourth Circuit, it was the choice of 69.3 percent […]

Guest AuthorAugust 14, 2014

Not a word has been uttered. Not a campaign ad has been created. Not a single news story has been written. Yet, this will be one of the most important decisions the next Florida governor will make – and it only happens every 20 years. And Democrats, in particular, should be very worried. Either Republican […]

Guest AuthorAugust 12, 2014

George Sheldon is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for Florida Attorney General. If he wins, he will face Pam Bondi, the current attorney general, in November. Here are his answers to questions I posed to him: What does the Florida Attorney General do? The attorney general is the chief legal officer for the state, responsible […]

Guest AuthorMay 27, 2014

Last week word leaked out that one of the first agency heads Gov. Rick Scott selected was leaving state government. Wansley Walters, Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, had signed up for a state pension program that required her to leave state employment after five years. So, her time ran out before the […]

Peter SchorschApril 9, 2014

With lawmakers dressed in sweaters to stave off the cold and holiday displays set in the Capitol Rotunda, Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli gaveled in a rare December special session of the Florida Legislature. Almost immediately after Democrat Charlie Crist unseated Republican Rick Scott last month in the most expensive gubernatorial […]

Martin DyckmanApril 6, 2014

Running for re-election in 1974, Gov. Reubin Askew limited his contributions to $300 per person — no more than $100 for each of the three phases of the campaign. The law allowed $9,000. Sen. Lawton Chiles went one better when he ran for re-election in 1976. He restricted his contributions to $10 a pop, or […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 4, 2014

Typical of its genre, Charlie Crist’s recently published campaign memoir, “The Party’s Over,” won’t be a convenient resource for historians. It has no footnotes and no index. Another characteristic of such books–indeed, of much autobiography–is a selective memory. There are some fairly obvious omissions in Crist’s, although fewer than I had expected to find. One […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 12, 2014

The Florida Bar is all but begging lawyers to apply for once-coveted memberships on the panels that nominate judges for the governor to appoint. With too few applications on hand for 12 of the 20 judicial circuits and one of the five district courts of appeal, the Bar has extended the deadline from Feb. 11 […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 26, 2014

Strictly speaking, we don’t save lives. We prolong them. Death is inevitable. The variables are the time and the reason. Will it be one of the disorders that are by far the leading causes of death? Or will it be some abrupt tragedy, such as accident, natural disaster or homicide? We admire the heroes who […]

Darryl PaulsonNovember 13, 2013

Charlie Crist has never had a political job he wanted to keep. He has served one term as state senator, one term as education commissioner, one term as attorney general and one term as governor. Not once did he seek re-election to any of those positions. “One and done” Charlie was always looking for his […]

Tag: Lawton Chiles
Rodney Guttman, image via University of West Florida.

Martin Dyckman: How the First District Court of Appeal ignored Florida voters

Brian E. Crowley: Makeup of next Constitutional Revision Commission should worry Democrats

Stephen Goldstein: A Q&A with George Sheldon, Democratic candidate for AG

Barney Bishop: Wansley Walters: A visionary leader in juvenile justice

Peter Schorsch: Here’s what a December special session might look like

Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court ruling is a death warrant for democracy

Martin Dyckman: Despite obvious omissions, Crist’s memoir is good reading

Martin Dyckman: Scott is trying to pack the courts with compliant judges

Martin Dyckman: Decline in smoking-related deaths shows government works

Darryl Paulson: The battle for governor: charisma versus competence