Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Associated PressSeptember 6, 2017

Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico’s northeast coast Wednesday as Hurricane Irma roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida. The strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever measured destroyed homes and flooded streets across a chain of small islands in the northern Caribbean, passing […]

Scott PowersAugust 29, 2017

Florida state Reps. Bob Cortes, Rene Plasencia, and David Santiago are headed to Puerto Rico Wednesday for continuing talks on developing relationships between the commonwealth’s government and Florida’s government. The trio of Central Florida Republicans all have Puerto Rico heritage and represent districts with large populations of Puerto Rican migrants. Cortes is from Altamonte Springs; […]

Scott PowersJuly 11, 2017

Brevard County Commissioner John Tobia‘s local resolution urging Congress to deny statehood to Puerto Rico died for lack of a second Tuesday evening, and then he endured a half-hour of criticism and belittling from residents angry about his proposal. Tobia, a former state representative from Brevard, withstood 10 public speakers – some Puerto Ricans living […]

Scott PowersJuly 10, 2017

A Brevard County commissioner is taking on Puerto Rico, in a confrontation that is rumbling through Central Florida’s Puerto Rican population and bound to lead to a showdown Tuesday night at the county commission meeting. John Tobia, a Republican former member of the Florida House of Representatives who now represents southeast Brevard on the county […]

Scott PowersJuly 5, 2017

How big is the Puerto Rico migration to Florida? In one county, in one single service, the number plays out: an average of 104 people every workday are transferring their driver’s licenses from Puerto Rico to Florida, just in Orange County. The Orange County Tax Collector’s Office reported that in a six-month period recently sampled […]

Scott PowersJune 26, 2017

Democratic U.S. Sen. Stephanie Murphy said Monday she intends to introduce legislation that would rework how the federal government provides funding for English as a second language programs, in order to account for incoming Spanish-speaking students from Puerto Rico. Appearing at a Puerto Rico forum in Orlando Monday morning, Murphy, of Winter Park, said the […]

Scott PowersJune 19, 2017

A Puerto Rican activist in Central Florida is calling on President Donald Trump to give as much attention to Puerto Rico as he is giving to Cuba. Peter Vivaldi, a Republican who has unsuccessfully run for Congress and the Florida Senate and who is a frequent organizer of bipartisan efforts in Central Florida to address […]

Bill RuftyJune 12, 2017

Sunday’s landslide vote in Puerto Rico to determine statehood and perhaps add the 51st star to the American flag, was almost ignored by news media, until the last minute, because of all the political controversies emanating from Washington. But some officials like U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, an Orlando Democrat representing the 9th Congressional District had […]

Scott PowersMay 1, 2017

The $1 trillion stop-gap budget deal congressional leaders have struck to keep the federal government open through September includes $295.9 million to shore up Medicaid in Puerto Rico, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto‘s office said Monday afternoon. That’s a little less than halfway between the $500 million congressional Democrats such as Soto were pushing for, and […]

Scott PowersApril 27, 2017

President Donald Trump has thrown Puerto Rico into his Twitter cannon, bringing angry responses from Puerto Rican leaders and activists in Florida, including from Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, who charged Trump was declaring war against Puerto Rico. The president sent out two tweets, one Wednesday night and one Thursday morning, tying Puerto Rico relief to Democrats’ budget demands […]

Tag: Puerto Rico

Rains from monster Hurricane Irma begin hitting Puerto Rico

David Santiago, Rene Plasencia, Bob Cortes headed for Puerto Rico for talks

John Tobia’s Puerto Rico anti-statehood resolution dies in Brevard, then he gets grilled

Brevard resolution opposing statehood outrages Central Florida Puerto Ricans

Puerto Rican migration causes flood of Central Florida driver’s license requests

Stephanie Murphy seeks to rework ESOL funding to account for Puerto Ricans in Florida

Peter Vivaldi calls on Donald Trump to give Puerto Rico as much attention as Cuba

Darren Soto cautiously eyeing Puerto Rico statehood effort

Federal budget bill deal offers $296M for Puerto Rico Medicaid

Donald Trump tweets on Puerto Rico infuriate Puerto Ricans, raise budget deal questions