Ed Danko and U.S. Rep. Randy Fine have parted ways a week after the former Palm Coast City Council member was named Fine’s district director in Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns Counties. On Thursday, Fine called for the nuking of Gaza, the small enclave of 2 million Palestinians. Fine will be a featured speaker at Palm Coast’s Memorial Day commemoration, and at the county’s commemoration later on Monday.
Elections 2024
Federal Judge Hears Challenge to Florida’s Law Sharply Restricting Ballot Initiatives
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker listened to about three hours of testimony on Florida Decides Healthcare’s and Smart & Safe Florida’s request that he block certain provisions of the law while the legal challenge moves ahead — including a requirement that sponsors turn in completed petitions within 10 days after the voter signs the petition, as well as stepped up fines and criminal penalties.
Palm Coast Council’s Charles Gambaro Calls Norris Lawsuit Against Him ‘Frivolous’ and Mayor’s Conduct an ‘Abdication’
In a letter to the community, Palm Coast Council member Charles Gambaro on Sunday said Mayor Mike Norris’s conduct, from suing to get Gambaro off the council to conspiracy theories to evading City Hall deeply concerning, and the mayor’s refusal to fulfill numerous responsibilities “a troubling and unprecedented abdication of the fundamental duties he swore to uphold when taking office and deprive our citizens of full representation in their government.” Gambaro, for his part, intends to continue to serve.
In Palm Coast Town Hall, David Jolly Gives Local Democrats Something to Cheer About as He Readies Run for Governor
David Jolly gave a crowd of a couple of hundred Democrats something to cheer about in a town hall-style appearance Wednesday evening at Palm Coast United Methodist Church. Two weeks ago he also launched an electoral committee, Florida 2026, and now says he’s “actively considering running for governor.” Based on his polished, carefully calibrated and stump-like appearance in Palm Coast–and based on the rousing response he received–his announcement appears to be a matter of when, not if.
Court Sets Arguments for July 3 on Legitimacy of Charles Gambaro’s Palm Coast Council Seat
A July 3 hearing is set before Flagler County Circuit Judge Chris France to determine the validity of Palm Coast Mayor Norris’s lawsuit claiming that Council member Charles Gambaro was appointed to fill out a two-year term last October in violation of the city charter. Norris contends the council should have held a special election for the District 4 seat, and Gambaro should not have continued past Election Day in November.
Palm Coast Council Launches Review of City Charter, This Time Seeking an Actual Advisory Committee
The Palm Coast City Council is launching a review of the city charter. The year-long process will include the appointment of a five-member committee and public hearings. Any proposed amendments will appear on the Nov. 3, 2026 general election ballot, should the council vote to place them there. Theoretically, the council could vote down any amendment recommended by the charter review committee, which, like all other council committees, sits only in an advisory capacity.
Mayor Mike Norris’s Lawsuit Against Palm Coast Has Merit. And Limits.
It is one of the mocking ironies of the Palm Coast reality show known as America’s Next Top Mayor that the same man found to have violated the city charter is now invoking it to boot fellow Councilman Charles Gambaro off the island. Yet the lawsuit Norris filed against the city this week, arguing that the council violated the charter when it appointed Gambaro last October, has merit. The strict wording of the charter, poorly written though it is, is on Norris’s side. But a less fundamentalist interpretation of the charter is not.
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine Picks Ex-Palm Coast Councilman Ed Danko as District Director in Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, the unfiltered provocateur and former member of the Florida Senate who won a special election in April to claim the Flagler County-centered congressional seat vacated by Mike Waltz, has chosen the like-minded former member of the Palm Coast City Council to be his regional director in Flagler, Volusia and St Johns County: Ed Danko. Danko begins his job on the federal payroll Friday.
Palm Coast Mayor Norris Sues Palm Coast, Seeking Councilman Gambaro Booted and Special Election Held
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris today filed an emergency suit against Palm Coast government and Council member Charles Gambaro, charging that Gambaro’s appointment last fall violated the charter. The suit seeks to have Gambaro removed through “a judgment of ouster” and a special election declared for the District 4 seat. Norris has been claiming that Gambaro’s appointment was illegal since soon after he was sworn-in late last November. The lawsuit was filed days after Gambaro made an unsuccessful motion for the council to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Norris from the council.
Florida Lawmakers Raise New Barriers to Citizens’ Ballot Initiatives
With Democrats calling the changes an “assault on the very spirit of Florida’s democracy,” the Republican-controlled Legislature on Friday finalized a plan that will impose additional hurdles on the ballot-initiative process and heighten penalties for wrongdoing. Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed lawmakers to crack down on the process after highly contentious and expensive battles over proposals last year that sought to place abortion rights in the state Constitution and allow recreational marijuana for adults.
House Panel Drops Investigation of Casey DeSantis Charity That Funneled $10 Million to Political Committees
After weeks of investigation, a state House leader said Thursday his panel is halting a probe into a foundation linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ signature economic-assistance program, Hope Florida. Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who chairs the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, spent weeks scrutinizing the foundation’s receipt of $10 million as part of a $67 million legal settlement that Centene, Florida’s largest Medicaid managed-care company, reached last fall with the Agency for Health Care Administration, then redistributing the $10 million to two anti-pot political committees.
Bunnell Commission Bids Farewell to 5-Year Commissioner Tonya Gordon as New Members Are Sworn-In
The Bunnell City Commission bid farewell to Commissioner Tonya Gordon, who was elected in 2020 and chose not to run for re-election. Commissioners David Atkinson and Dean Sechrist were sworn-in, as was Mayor Catherine Robinson. John Rogers was named vice-mayor again. In Robinson and Rogers, the commission has the longest- and second-longest serving elected officials on major boards in the county.
Ex-County Commissioner Dave Sullivan Appointed to Palm Coast Council After Bruising Process
Dave Sullivan, the former county commission member, was appointed to the Palm Coast City Council’s District 3 seat vacated by an ailing Ray Stevens in late February. It’s a wonder Sullivan wasn’t himself ailing by the time he got the council’s vote: his appointment was not elegant. The council’s decision was on a 3-1 vote following several fractious, at times injurious and ageist public comments about Sullivan.
Eager for Experience, Palm Coast Council’s Top Two Choices for Appointment Are Dave Sullivan and Dave Ferguson
In Dave Sullivan and Dave Ferguson the Palm Coast City Council’s choices clearly point to its eagerness for a tested, knowledgeable colleague who won’t need much of a learning curve as the council readies to appoint a new city manager and start budgeting for the coming year. Ferguson and Sullivan also have close ties with the local business community. Neither is a firebrand. Neither is foreign to humor and a degree of self-deprecation that has been lacking on a council more high-strung than an unsecured trigger.
In Flagler, Voters Cast Half a Million Ballots in 8 years; 5 Were Non-Citizens. Where’s the ‘Fraud’?
An executive order requires that all votes be counted by the end of Election Day. It also requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The order relies on a lie: that fraud is corrupting American elections. Let’s not look far and take Flagler County’s recent elections to test the claim.
Florida House Approves Draconian Restrictions on Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendments
The Republican controlled Florida House of Representatives has passed a measure that will make it prohibitively harder for a citizen-led constitutional amendment to get on the ballot. The vote was 76-31. Its passage comes just five months after two constitutional amendments that would have respectively enshrined abortion rights and legalized recreational cannabis for adults narrowly fell short of passage.
Interviews of 10 Candidates for Appointment to Palm Coast Council Give a Choice Between Experience and Ideals
A defining line sharpened as the interviews progressed. It was drawn between candidates who spoke the pragmatism of public-service experience on one side, and candidates who spoke of ideals and private-sector careers they hope to translate into public service. This council has limited time to make a limited appointment with specific aims ahead, in a term limited to less than two years, and for a position whose learning curve typically takes two years fully to scale.
It’s Randy Fine After All as Election Day Surge Helps Trump Pick Defeat Josh Weil and Democratic Hopes
Powered by an Election Day surge that helped erase early-voting advantages the Josh Weil campaign had built up, Randy Fine, the Melbourne Republican, Florida Senate member and Donald Trump pick, won the special election for the 6th Congressional District this evening–not handily at all, but he won it all the same, to his patron’s (and his own) relief.
Democrat Josh Weil Riles GOP Panic Over Special Election: ‘We Are Going to Have Our Own Surge’
Democrat Josh Weil, the Orlando teacher, and the GOP’s Sen. Randy Fine of Melbourne, are running so close in the special election for Waltz’s 6th Congressional District seat–which includes all of Flagler County–that even if Weil doesn’t win Tuesday, the race is sending seismic waves through a magaland.
Can Democrats Get Their Act Together Before Its Too Late?
For more than a century, Democrats were the party of slavery, states’ rights, and Jim Crow, but, gradually and imperfectly, became the party of civil rights, voting rights, and workers’ rights, switching places with Republicans, who once had a strong streak of social progressivism. For 30 years, Florida elected New South governors such as Reubin Askew, Bob Graham, and Lawton Chiles, leaders who believed in education, open government, protecting the environment — crazy stuff like that. Where are they now?
13 Applicants, Including Several Familiar Names, Apply to Fill Palm Coast Council Seat Vacated by Stevens
Thirteen candidates have filed for the District 3 seat on the Palm Coast City Council that Ray Stevens resigned at the end of February. The list includes several familiar names, among them Dave Ferguson, a former appointee to the council, Dave Sullivan, who just ended two terms on the County Commission, Cornelia Manfre, who has had three unsuccessful runs for a council seat or the mayorship, Mark Stancel, who lost a primary vote to Stevens by two votes, and Andrew Werner, who lost to Stevens.
After a Protest, Flagler Beach Again Changes Rule for Large Annexations, Requiring Supermajority Vote
A year after removing the requirement that annexations of 5 percent or more of its land mass would require a referendum, the Flagler Beach City Commission again changed the rule, now to require at least a supermajority of the commission before such annexations may be approved. The change is the result of a protest lodged about the original amendment by the attorney representing a non-profit group that has opposed Veranda Bay, the large development seeking annexation into the city.
Five Apply for Ray Stevens’s Palm Coast Council Seat Amid Mounting Turmoil; Window Closes March 19
Just five candidates have applied for the District 3 seat on the Palm Coast City Council that Ray Stevens resigned at the end of February, including Mark Stancel, who lost a primary vote to Stevens by two votes. Whoever the council appoints will be joining a county and a city in turmoil. The council will make its choice in early to mid-April.
Jane Mealy Exits Flagler Beach Dais After 19 Years, Cunningham Is Sworn-In and Sherman Named Chair
Jane Mealy for 19 years had been the Flagler Beach City Commission’s unrivaled workhorse and its sharpest study long before successive commissioners mostly modeled themselves after her, whether they knew it or not. Thursday evening, Mealy cast her final vote and exited after her defeat by John Cunningham, and the re-election of James Sherman, who was elected chair. Rick Belhumeur was elected vice-chair, to his recurring chagrin.
GOP Lawmakers Seek Draconian Obstacles on Citizens’ Ballot Initiatives
After fierce — and expensive — political battles last year about abortion rights and recreational marijuana, Florida lawmakers Thursday began moving forward with a proposal that would place additional restrictions on the ballot-initiative process.
Palm Coast Council Contends with 7th Resignation in 9 Years as Application Window Opens for Ray Stevens Replacement
The Palm Coast City Council has had seven resignations since 2016: Bill McGuire. Steven Nobile. Jack Howell. Victor Barbosa. Milissa Holland. Cathy Heighter. And now Ray Stevens. Over the same time-span, the council has had four mayors (Jon Netts, Holland, David Alfin and now Mike Norris) and 22 council members, a turn-over rate unmatched on any other local government board. The volatility of the council. is likely scaring off some of the better candidates for city manager as the council seeks to fill a post that has not lacked for its own precariousness.
John Cunningham and James Sherman Win in Flagler Beach, Defeating Jane Mealy; David Atkinson and Dean Sechrist Win in Bunnell
In a changing of the guard, John Cunningham, a newcomer to politics in Flagler Beach, took the largest share of the vote and defeated nearly 20-year incumbent Jane Mealy to win a seat on the City Commission, with James Sherman winning re-election to a second term. In Bunnell, two newcomers, David Atkinson and Dean Sechrist, won the seats that Tonya Gordon and Tina Marie-Schultz left uncontested.
From Byron Donalds to Casey DeSantis, Florida’s 2026 Race for Governor Lunges for the Bizarre
The sitting governor is limping around like a disabled waterfowl with a bad beer hangover, inspiring a high level of schadenfreude in the Florida Legislature. So — even though the next gubernatorial election doesn’t take place until November 2026 — it’s past time to look to the future: Who will rule the citrus-cankered, gun-crazy, storm-battered Sunshine State?
Ray Stevens, In Critical Condition, Resigns His Palm Coast City Council Seat Two Months After Swearing-In
Elected to the Palm Coast City Council last November after surviving a historically close primary race, Ray Stevens tendered his resignation today, citing ill health. He had missed three successive meetings and attended last Tuesday’s meeting remotely, saying he’d be back in person next week, only to have a grave relapse.
Gaza War Debate Fractures Democrats in Florida’s Third Largest County
It’s unclear how badly the fissure that emerged among Democrats amid Israel’s war with Hamas hurt Kamala Harris’ chances of beating Donald Trump, but the resulting bad blood continues to roil relationships within the Florida Democratic Party. Allegations that a volunteer engaged in antisemitic behavior have split the Hillsborough County Democratic Party, third largest in the state. The bitter feud broke out just as Democratic voter registration in the county dipped behind the Republican Party’s.
DeSantis Touts Wife Casey as 2026 Choice for Governor
Days after Donald Trump endorsed Southwest Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for governor, Ron DeSantis made it clear on Monday that he’s not likely to get behind that effort. Instead, the governor gave some of his strongest words of support to date for someone who could become his choice for 2026 — his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, who has never held elective office.
Florida Court Clears Way for Trump Lawsuit Against Pulitzer Board Over Russian Interference Articles
A Florida appeals court Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to pursue a defamation lawsuit against Pulitzer Prize board members in a dispute rooted in the organization awarding a prize to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
GOP’s Randy Fine and Democrats’ Josh Weil Win Placid Primary for Waltz Congressional Seat
In one of the dreariest elections in recent memory, Randy Fine, the Brevard County state Senator, today won the Republican primary in the race to fill the congressional seat vacated by Mike Waltz, whom President Trump named his national security adviser. Josh Weil won the Democratic primary. Fine and Weill will face off in the general election on April 1.
American Trilogy: OJ Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, Donald Trump
On Oct. 3, 1995, after a trial that had lasted as long as a presidential election campaign, a jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Blacks cheered. Whites were horrified and angered that Blacks cheered. Blacks cheered even louder at whites being horrified. All they saw was white derangement syndrome. Sound familiar?
Republicans Hold Huge Registration Advantage in Special Elections, But Turnout Is Tepid
Heading into special elections to replace former U.S. House members Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz, Republicans hold major voter-registration advantages in the two districts, according to newly released numbers. But turnout has been tepid. Republicans are holding a two-to-one advantage over Democrats turning up at the polls in Flagler County, with 4,859 registered Republicans casting a ballot, to just 2,592 Democrats doing so.
Catherine Robinson Again Re-Elected Mayor Without Opposition; 5 Vie for Bunnell Commission, 3 for Flagler Beach
Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson was re-elected without opposition when qualifying ended last week, extending the longest tenure of any of Flagler County’s 37 elected officials, by a wide margin. Three commissioners and the mayor in Beverly Beach were re-elected without opposition. But two commission seats in Bunnell and two seats in Flagler Beach are being contested. The election is March 4.
Trump’s Coming Tax Plan: Shift Handouts from Poor to Rich
Republicans plan to give the richest Americans a fresh round of individual tax breaks, slash the corporate tax rate yet again, and cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, which would let their Wall Street friends keep even more of their winnings when they sell a stock or are showered with dividends. Then they’ll move to step two: draconian budget cuts for the programs Americans rely on.
DeSantis Names Ashley Moody to Rubio’s Senate Seat, and James Uthmeier as Attorney General
Ahley Moody, a Republican who was first elected attorney general in 2018, has been a close ally of DeSantis in fights against the Biden administration on issues such as immigration enforcement. DeSantis also said he will appoint his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to succeed Moody as attorney general.
Revamped Proposal to Legalize Recreational Pot in Florida Emerges, With Tweaks to Blunt Opposition
Two months after a similar measure failed to garner enough voter support to pass, a political committee bankrolled by the state’s largest medical-marijuana company has launched a new effort to allow recreational pot in Florida. The revamped proposal, filed Tuesday at the state Division of Elections by the Smart & Safe Florida committee, would go on the 2026 ballot. It seeks to address a number of issues raised by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who led a drive to defeat last year’s proposed constitutional amendment.
Trump’s Unconditional Discharge Explained
Donald Trump is now a convicted felon, and will be the first president of the United States with a felony conviction. The sentencing brings this phase of the case to an end. Once the sentence is officially entered in a final judgment, Trump can appeal the case, as he has a legal right to do so. Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, made clear during the sentencing that Trump intends to appeal.
Maga’s Mega Mean Girls
Maga Mean Girls take pleasure in tormenting people, especially those weaker than themselves, and causing gratuitous pain. As Atlantic Monthly essayist Adam Serwer wrote in 2018, “The cruelty is the point.” And nobody enjoys cruelty more than Donald Trump, Mean Girl of the Century.
‘God Saved His Life So He Could Save the World,’ Randy Fine Says of Trump, Who Now ‘Needs My Help’
Randy Fine, the Brevard County senator who declared a run for U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz’s seat in a special election, said he is running for Congress to help Donald Trump save the world, and that he would “wash bathrooms in the White House in order to make him be successful,” if that’s what it takes. Meanwhile, he continues to file ideologically incendiary bills in the Florida Legislature.
Trump Names Attorney and Big Donor Dan Newlin Ambassador to Colombia
Trump has named prominent Orlando lawyer Dan Newlin as the next Ambassador to Colombia after Newlin was one of Trump’s top fundraisers in his home state. Newlin also spent millions on billboard and TV advertising promoting Trump in the buildup to the November election and hosted a major fundraiser at his Windermere home with Trump in attendance in April.
Long-Time Tampa Democrat Susan Valdes Switches to Republican, Adding to GOP’s House Supermajority
Elected four times to the state House as a Democrat, Tampa lawmaker Susan Valdes on Monday added to Republicans’ supermajority. Valdes announced she had become a Republican, saying she expected to be “welcomed and treated with respect” by her new party. The move, which drew a rebuke from House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, came a week after Valdes lost a bid to become chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee.
Ron DeSantis Back-Up Defense Secretary If Hegseth Stumbles Out?
The President-elect’s stated commitment to Hegseth comes as Florida’s Governor is seen as a better bet on a prediction market. Ron DeSantis led the field Friday morning on Polymarket, but had fallen back by Saturday. Trump and DeSantis are attending the Dec. 15 Army-Navy football game, deepening the intrigue.
7 Candidates Qualify for Special Election to Replace Mike Waltz. Mullins Is Not Among Them.
Seven candidates had formally qualified as of Friday evening to run in a special election to replace Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, who has been tapped to become President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser. None is from Flagler County.
In Puzzling Move, Palm Coast Mayor Norris Seeks ‘Legal Opinion’ On Gambaro Appointment, But Is Rebuffed
Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris tried and failed Tuesday to get the council’s approval for a “legal opinion” about the propriety of the previous council’s October appointment of Charles Gambaro to the seat Cathy Heighter had resigned. Norris said he wanted a legal document protecting the city in case the city was sued over the appointment. It was a puzzling move.
Florida’s Gen Z Are No Longer Solid Blue
Democrats can no longer assume young Floridians will vote blue, highlighting the need for the party to learn how to sway voters through social media, renowned political analyst Susan MacManus said during the Capital Tiger Bay Club’s post-election deep dive.
Tonya Gordon and Tina-Marie Schultz Will Not Run Again for Bunnell City Commission; Bonita Robinson Will
The Bunnell City Commission will have two open seats in the March 4 municipal election as incumbent Commissioners Tina-Marie Schultz and Tonya Gordon, both have decided not to run again. Three candidates have announced: former Bunnell Commissioner Bonita Robinson and Grand Reserve residents David John Atkinson and Lyle Dean Sechrist. Gordon has been serving since 2020, Schultz since 2021. Mayor Catherine Robinson is running for re-election and is not expected to face opposition.
Randy Fine, One of Florida’s Most Bruising and Bellicose Lawmakers, Will Run for Mike Waltz’s Congressional Seat
Randy Fine, whose latest financial disclosure report showed a net worth of $30.3 million, was an early Trump supporter in the GOP presidential primary and has unabashedly signaled his allegiance to Trump on social media. The only Jewish Republican legislator in Florida, Fine often has taken an openly combative approach to political opponents, an image he has embraced publicly. “Unafraid to say what needs to be said,” Fine’s X profile boasts.