Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaOctober 9, 2015

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A Florida judge on Friday endorsed a map drawn by the League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause as the new boundary lines for the state’s 27 congressional districts. What it portends is a topsy-turvy time for Florida’s politics, with some members of Congress virtually ensured an exit from office next election. By late afternoon, […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 25, 2015

The chairmen of the Florida Legislature’s redistricting panels agreed to draw multiple “base maps” and record all meetings of map-drawers as they prepare for next month’s Special Session to redraw Florida’s state Senate districts. The agreement was spelled out in letters between state Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican, and state Rep. Jose Oliva, a Miami Lakes Republican, that […]

Associated PressSeptember 24, 2015

Beginning on Thursday morning, a Florida judge will try to sort out the political mess left because of squabbling over the state’s 27 congressional districts. The Florida Supreme Court in July ordered the Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw the state’s congressional districts after finding the current map violated standards adopted by voters. But the House and Senate […]

Peter SchorschSeptember 8, 2015

If you’re keeping track of time, there is B.T. and A.T.: Before Trump and After Trump. At the beginning of summer, there were (at least) 10 big questions facing Florida politics. But those questions, particularly the ones involving the myriad of presidential candidates hailing from the Sunshine State, are so B.T. On June 16, Donald Trump entered the […]

Jim RosicaAugust 31, 2015

If “self-interested partisans” can’t agree on congressional redistricting, then it’s time for an independent commission to redraw the state’s political boundary lines, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said on Monday. Nelson, who met with a small of group of reporters in his Tallahassee office, referred to the recent Special Session called for lawmakers to draw a new map […]

Jim RosicaAugust 26, 2015

As expected, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis has asked the Florida Supreme Court for guidance in the ever-complicated challenge to the state’s congressional redistricting. In a 2-page filing submitted Wednesday, Lewis noted that the high court charged him with overseeing the details of the case, including the actual redrawing of a new map. The problem is […]

Bill PrescottAugust 26, 2015

Writer, international scholar, FSU English professor, opinion columnist and environmentalist Diane Roberts entertained a crowd of North Florida Democrats Tuesday evening with her incisive wit and pointed observations about the state of Florida and its leaders. Referring to herself as “that professor conservatives warn you about,” Roberts let fly a quiverful of bon mots as […]

Melissa RossAugust 25, 2015

One of the state’s leading pollsters says Republican legislators may live to regret seeing Florida’s redistricting mess turned over to the courts. “There is absolute risk,” says Mike Binder, University of North Florida political science professor and lead pollster at the school’s Public Opinion Research Laboratory. “While the Senate is willing to compromise, the House is […]

Jim RosicaAugust 24, 2015

Lawmakers couldn’t agree on congressional redistricting but they do seem to agree on one thing: Muzzling the Florida Supreme Court. The latest special session ended last week with no new map to apportion Florida’s 27 U.S. House districts. It did result in lots of rhetoric, including from some Democrats, on “judicial overreach” and breaching the […]

Guest AuthorAugust 10, 2015

Welcome back to another Special Session! It’s been fun blaming the Florida Legislature for gerrymandering and all that, but GOP state Rep. Mike Hill from Pensacola wrote penned an interesting letter to House Speaker Steve Crisafulli. In part, he wrote: “Under the guise of interpreting Sections 20 and 21 of Article III of the Florida […]

Tag: special session

Judge rules for plaintiffs in congressional redistricting challenge

House, Senate agree on next redistricting procedures

Redistricting trial set to begin today

Peter Schorsch: Answers to top 10 big questions in Florida politics lurch into view

Bill Nelson on redistricting: ‘Time for an independent commission’

Judge formally asks Supreme Court for redistricting direction

Diane Roberts skewers ruling class during Tallahassee talk

UNF pollster on redistricting: “absolute risk” for GOP leadership

Arguing Florida lawmakers agree on one thing: silence the Florida Supreme Court

Henry Kelley: It’s time to fix high court’s districting overreach