Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur won decisively in Flagler Beach, Jan Reeger won by two votes in Bunnell, incumbent Bill Baxley won by a far larger margin, and in Beverly Beach, newcomer Doug O’Connor unseated one of three incumbents.
Elections 2024
In Flagler Beach, Four Candidates for City Commission Reveal Sharp Differences Despite Surface Agreement
Incumbents Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur appeared with challengers Paul Eik and Deborah Phillips at a Woman’s Club forum that showed their paper similarities and vast personality differences.
Federal Appeals Court Hammers Florida For Imposing ‘Serious Burden’ on Right To Vote
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Florida law requiring voters’ signatures on mail-in ballots to match the signatures on file with elections officials imposes “a serious burden on the right to vote.”
Flagler Supervisor of Elections Wants To Know Why You Love Voting: Take the Survey
Flagler County Elections Supervisor Kaiti Lenhart is asking registered voters to take a five-question online survey about why and where they like to vote, grist for further voter outreach in the future.
Renner Wants ‘Objectivity’ To Drive Felons’ Voter Restoration, But Hurdles Are Multiplying
Elections officials could face a Herculean task trying to verify whether people who’ve registered to vote have met all the conditions required to make them eligible to cast ballots.
Starbucks’s Howard Schultz: Another Billionaire Presidential Candidate Who Doesn’t Get It
Privileged candidates from Donald Trump to Howard Schultz don’t have any idea what life is really like for a single parent raising two kids while working and attending night classes.
Report Details Ethics Allegations Against Gillum; His Attorney Calls It ‘Trivial Stuff’
The ethics commission also found probable cause to believe the former mayor “misused his position to accept things of value for himself and others in return for access and influence.”
Florida Ethics Commission Finds Probable Cause Gillum Violated Law in Accepting Gifts
The ethics complaint added to questions that dogged Gillum throughout his gubernatorial campaign about possible ties to an FBI investigation of Tallahassee City Hall.
In Restoration of Felons’ Voting Rights, Meaning of ‘Murder’ Becomes Stumbling Block
A new constitutional amendment grants “automatic” restoration of voting rights to felons who’ve completed their sentence, but it excludes people “convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense.”
Two Incumbents and Two Challengers Running in Flagler Beach’s March Election
The Flagler Beach March 5 election has drawn two incumbents, Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur, second-time challenger Paul Eik, and newcomer Deborah Phillips, a business owner in town.
Democrats Are Afraid Of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Too. That’s A Good Thing.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is upsetting fellow Democrats over her support for progressive primary challenges against centrist Democrats. But it’s a sound idea for the party of alleged change.
Bunnell’s Catherine Robinson Yet Again Re-Elected Unopposed, 6 Running For 3 Seats
By the time Catherine Robinson takes the oath of office for her next term, she may face a very different commission, certainly with two new commissioners at the table, and possibly three.
Was Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes Treated Unfairly? Federal Judge Weighs Due Process
Brenda Snipes’ lawyers accused Gov. Rick Scott of trying to embarrass and humiliate the long-serving elections official. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker is hearing her lawsuit.
2018 Roundup: For Florida, Another Massacre, Another Hurricane, Another Shift To the Right
Florida was struck by a hurricane for the third year in a row, was the site of yet another mass shooting, saw the end of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing and the election of a Donald Trump acolyte as governor.
Broward Elections Supervisor Sues Scott, Calling Suspension ‘Malicious and Politically Motivated’
Suspended Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes has filed a federal lawsuit against Scott and Senate President Bill Galvano as she tries to regain her job.
Democrats’ Arafat Complex
Early possibilities for the 2020 election–Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton–suggest Democrats aren’t learning lessons but clinging to habits of self-destruction.
Ethics Commission Finds Probable Cause School Board’s Janet McDonald and Husband Dennis Violated Law on Disclosures
A state ethics investigation found that both Dennis and Janet McDonald inaccurately reported assets on disclosure forms ahead of election runs. The late Frank Meeker, a county commissioner, filed the ethics complaints shortly before his death in 2016.
In Novel Argument, Constitutional Amendment Spurs Call for Stay of Execution
The arguments center on part of Amendment 11, which was approved by 62 percent of voters and which changed a more than century-old provision dealing with how revisions in criminal laws should be applied to older crimes.
Putnam Stays Out Fight Over Concealed Weapons Permits as His Office Goes to a Democrat
After the concealed-weapons permitting processed revealed serious flaws under Adam Putnam, attempts are afoot to move the process to state police, out of the agriculture commissioner’s purview.
Supervisors of Election Seek Answer on Amendment Restoring Felons’ Right to Vote
Florida officials don’t have a plan for how to carry out a constitutional amendment that restores the right to vote to more than a million Floridians convicted of felonies.
Shortlist of 11 Young Ultra-Conservatives Lined Up for 3 Florida Supreme Court Seats
Ron DeSantis will pick from the list to replace liberal justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince, who have reached retirement age. All nominees were GOP appointees.
Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats Are Out Of Touch With Progressive Insurgents
Positions the timeworn Democratic leadership staked out are being overrun—outmatched by the cumulative power of dynamic social movements that have generated electoral clout.
In a Surprise, Bunnell Commissioner John Sowell Is Resigning, With Eye on County Seat
Bunnell City Commissioner John Sowell is resigning Friday and moving to a different part of the county, and is considering a run for the county commission seat held by Dave Sullivan.
Ambition and Pledges of Openness Frame Swearings-In at County Commission and Palm Coast Council
Joe Mullins was sworn-in as a county commissioner and Donald O’Brien elected chairman while Jack Howell and Eddie Branquinho took their seats on the Palm Coast council today.
It Won’t Be Like Medical Pot: Senate President Pledges Not to ‘Slow-Walk’ Amendments
Galvano said of amendments from restoring felon rights to limiting gambling that the “people have spoken,” and “I want to make sure we are being true to the intent of the voters.”
Nelson Concedes as Scott Wins Senate-Seat Recount With 10,000-Vote Margin
Scott, a two-term Republican governor, held a 10,033-vote edge — or 0.12 percent — over Nelson, a Democrat who was seeking re-election to his fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
In War Over Words, Republicans Continue Easily To Defeat Democrats
The Republican Party lost ground in the Congressional and state elections earlier this month, but the GOP continues to triumph in the all-important contests over words, argues Ralph Nader.
DeSantis Wins Governor’s Race (Again), Manual Recounts For 2 Other Statewide Races
Ron DeSantis maintained almost his exact lead over Andrew Gillum after a machine recount. Manual recounts are ordered for the Scott-Nelson and Fried-Caldwell races.
No ‘Remedy In the Dark’: Federal Judge Rejects Nelson Bid To Extend Recount Deadline
The ruling could resolve questions about whether the recount process will move forward and whether official election results will be certified Tuesday as scheduled.
As Nelson Charges Interference, Scott Will Step Down From Canvassing Board
Democrats have alleged that Scott has improperly tried to use his authority as governor to influence the recount, which could decide his political future.
Democrats Won Big. But the Question Is Whether They Can Now Be Bold.
The reforms Democrats in Congress have championed have often been overly complicated and cautious — and deeply compromised by a fear of annoying deep-pocketed donors.
Recount Totals in Flagler Show Little Change, as in Other Small and Mid-Sized Counties
In Flagler County, each of the candidates in the recount gained a few dozen votes, but in proportions that did not change the winner’s margin or affected the state tally.
Historic Recount of 3 Races Begins in Flagler Amid Relaxed, Tranquil Atmosphere
No surprises and even less controversy is expected in Flagler County’s portion of a statewide recount, which will take much of Sunday and possibly spill over into Monday.
Muslims Surf the Blue Wave
The election of two Muslim women to Congress is a repudiation of Islamophobic domestic and foreign policies and of hostility to migrants and refugees from a number of countries.
Rhetoric Continues to Heat Up As Recount Is Ordered For Three Races
In Flagler, the recount in Flagler begins at 9 a.m. Sunday in the presence of the three-member canvassing board. The process is open to the public. It is expected to take all day.
As Scott-Nelson Margin Shrinks and Fury Surges, Experts Say Process Is Working
Watching his lead shrink, Scott accused elections supervisors in Broward and Palm Beach counties of “incompetence” and fraud though the process is following state law and timelines.
Flagler Canvassing Board Prepares for Recount Sunday in Senate, Agriculture and Governor’s Race
The Flagler County Canvassing Board is preparing to count more than 54,000 ballots in three statewide races in the first such statewide recount since 2000, when a recount was aborted.
DeSantis Win Paves Way for Most Conservative Supreme Court in Generations
Ron DeSantis’ narrow win in Tuesday’s election for governor will bring an unprecedented expansion of conservative Republican power in Tallahassee.
Hansen, Mullins Win County Commission, Howell and Branquinho Win Palm Coast, McDonald Re-Elected to School Board
The races for Flagler County Commission and Palm Coast council were not close in a mid-term election that saw turnout rise to an astounding 64 percent.
Amendments: Felons Will Get Voting Rights, Dogs Won’t Race Anymore, Homestead Expansion Fails
More than 64 percent of Florida voters had cast ballots for Amendment 4, which is designed to restore voting rights to an estimated 1.4 million felons who have completed their sentences.
Rick Scott Wins ‘Nasty’ U.S. Senate Race, Ending Bill Nelson’s 46 Years in Government
Scott’s win even more firmly cemented control of Florida and the U.S. Senate for Republicans. Nelson for the past eight years has been the only Democrat elected statewide.
Powered by Trump Turnout and ‘Hamilton’ Tickets, DeSantis Defies Polls and Edges Out Gillum
DeSantis’ win was a crushing blow for Democrats, who had pinned their hopes on Gillum making history as the state’s first black chief-of-state and recapturing the governor’s mansion for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.
A Few Big Legislative Races, Scattered Through Florida
Donors, party leaders and political operatives don’t like to toss away money on lost causes. With that in mind, here are some of the races to watch Tuesday in various regions of the state.
Flurry of Polls Show Gillum and Nelson Decisively Edging Past DeSantis and Scott
Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson have built solid leads among independents, women and minorities, with Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott leading only among white men.
Buying Their Election: Mullins and Hansen Shatter Spending Records for Flagler County Commission Seats
The nearly $200,000 Joe Mullins and Greg Hansen have spent so far puts them on pace to match or outspend all 26 other county commission candidates in the past three years combined.
In Miami on Final Stretch, Obama Chides GOP For ‘Repeated Attempts to Divide You’
The former president’s trip to the Sunshine State was sandwiched between two appearances in Florida by President Donald Trump, who held a rally Wednesday in Lee County.
Restoring Felons’ Right to Vote:
Why I’m Voting Yes on Amendment 4
In 46 other states, the right is restored either immediately or on completion of probation. Florida stands out for harshness, accounting for a quarter of America’s disenfranchised.
With 3.7 Million Early Votes In, Election Day Delays May Ease Despite Epic Ballot
While the lengthy ballot will cause some delays, it is not expected to be as bad as 2012 as a majority of voters will have already cast ballots.
Amendment 13: ‘Humane Treatment of Animals’ Would End Dog Racing in Florida
Florida is one of a handful of places in the country with dog racing, and passage of the amendment would be a serious blow for an industry that has been in the state for decades.
From Wing Joint to Hair Salon, Florida Voters Split on Gillum-DeSantis Race for Governor
Interviews with a diversity of Florida voters reveal the searing differences of opinions between voters–and their solidified opinions about Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum, with days left in the gubernatorial race.