Outspoken Florida supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign mourned his decision, announced Sunday, to drop out. Many quickly endorsed former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.
“I’m proud of the work that he did,” said state Rep. Chip LaMarca, the only Republican elected official in a partisan office in Broward County. “As he said, there’s not necessarily a path forward for him, so I think he’s doing the right thing.”
“To be honest, I’m disappointed,” said Joe Budd, the elected Republican state committeeman from Palm Beach County.
Both were outspoken...
In a race seen as a bellwether for Democratic chances in November, Democrat Tom Keen flipped what had been a Republican state House seat in Central Florida in a special election held Tuesday.
Keen, a Navy flight officer who works in the aerospace training and simulation industry, defeated Republican Erika Booth, a teacher and member of the Osceola School Board. Unofficial totals for the District 35 seat had Keen with 51.3% of the vote to Booth’s 48.7%.
“A huge THANK YOU to all our supporters, volunteers, and voters who believed in our vision for a better, brighter District 35,” Keen wrote on...
Florida’s move to cut off a high-end private school in Weston from state subsidies to parents has raised political and policy questions: Were the schools really an “imminent threat to the health, safety, and welfare” of the students and the public? Or was the state’s move a political stunt to bolster Gov. Ron DeSantis’ struggling presidential campaign?
At least 229 students were receiving taxpayer-funded scholarships at the two Sagemont Preparatory School campuses in Weston that were targeted late Friday by DeSantis for alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
His office on Monday referred...
MIAMI BEACH — The speeches were done, the politicians were off the stage, but the night wasn’t over for Florida Democrats.
Party Chair Nikki Fried feigned surprise when the lights went out Saturday night. But the show was just getting started.
For the finale of the Florida Democratic Party’s annual Leadership Blue conference and fundraiser, Fried arranged for an appearance by drag queen Velvet Lenore, who performed several numbers along with her backup dancers.
The audience, Democratic activists and elected officials from throughout the state, erupted in applause.
LeNore, 51, who lives in West...