Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJuly 29, 2015

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Many higher education officials, teachers and parents cheered this year when a single Florida GOP senator killed proposed legislation that would allow holders of concealed weapons permits to carry guns on Florida college and university campuses. Although the bill cleared three committees in the House and two in the Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Miguel Diaz […]

Brendan FarringtonJuly 29, 2015

Legislative leaders announced Tuesday they will hold a Special Session to redraw the state’s 40 Senate districts after the chamber acknowledged it violated the state constitution by creating maps that benefit Republicans and incumbents. The decision comes less than three weeks after the state Supreme Court threw out the congressional districts the GOP-dominated Legislature approved, […]

Mitch PerryJuly 28, 2015

Although the Florida Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legality of state Senate districts that a coalition of groups contend were drawn unconstitutionally in 2012, Florida’s political leaders said today that the Court’s ruling earlier this month to invalidate eight of the state’s 27 Congressional Districts guarantees that they will have to redraw […]

Mitch PerryJuly 24, 2015

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Florida is one of only three states that require a governor’s order to restore civil rights to ex-felons. As the law stands, men and women released from the prison system must wait five years before applying for full citizenship rights. Then they must petition the governor and Cabinet for clemency, a process that can take 10 […]

Mitch PerryJuly 9, 2015

Florida’s political world was shaken Thursday when the state Supreme Court ruled that the GOP-led Legislature had gerrymandered eight congressional districts and called on the Legislature to remedy the situation before the 2016 election. Still to come however, is a court ruling on a separate 2012 lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters and […]

Ryan RayJuly 9, 2015

Thursday’s landmark Florida Supreme Court decision invalidating eight congressional districts drawn by the Legislature sends shock waves through Florida’s balance of power. That’s true nowhere more than in the northern third of the state, where a national debate in the courts over U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown‘s 5th Congressional District continued to bleed into adjacent districts. […]

Mitch PerryJune 30, 2015

Floridians for Solar Choice said Tuesday it has filed its answer brief defending its petition language as it tries to get a ballot initiative ready for next year’s elections. Its initiative would allow Florida residents to purchase solar-generated electricity for their home or business from an entity other than a public utility. The brief filed with […]

Mitch PerryJune 23, 2015

Another Democrat is looking at the possibility of challenging Republican David Jolly in 2016, and this one actually lives in the district. St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Darden Rice says she’s been asked “for some time” to consider running for the Democratic nomination for the CD 13 seat, and she says she is giving it the […]

Ryan RayJune 5, 2015

Moments after the House voted down a bipartisan plan to expand access to health care for hundreds of thousands of Floridians, those championing the efforts lamented the missed opportunity. Senate President Andy Gardiner issued a statement saying, “The critical health care challenges facing Florida still remain. This weekend, members of the Legislature will begin a […]

Mitch PerryApril 23, 2015

Political science professor Judithanne McLauchlan endured a rough-and-tumble campaign in her first bid for political office in 2014, but the Madeira Beach-based Democrat says her continued frustration with the Florida Legislature is prompting her to seriously consider a run for the Legislature in 2016. The University of South Florida St. Petersburg teacher is looking to run […]

Tag: League of Women Voters
Image via AP.

Guns-on-campuses bill coming back to Florida Legislature in 2016

Florida Legislature will return to redraw Senate maps

Legislature to convene to draw up new Senate lines October 19 – Nov 6

Bid for constitutional amendment to restore ex-felons’ rights not looking good for 2016 ballot

Jack Latvala hedges bets on possibility of redrawn state Senate seats in 2016

Court-ordered congressional boundary changes could wreak electoral havoc in North Florida

Solar power ballot supporters file petition defense to state high court

Darden Rice seriously contemplating challenging David Jolly in CD 13

FHIX supporters say fight will go in spite of House rejection

Judithanne McLauchlan gives serious thought to HD 69 run