A coalition of local business groups will host a candidate forum for the special primary election for Floria House and Senate seats on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Coast. The forum is hosted by the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce, the Flagler County Association of Realtors and the Flagler Home Builders Association.
Elections 2024
As Lenhart Replaces Weeks, A Canvassing Meeting Where The Biggest News Is No News
Gov. Rick Scott appointed Kaiti Lenhart Interim Flagler County Supervisor of Elections, and the county canvassing board met for the first time today in the post-Kimberle Weeks era, and in a radically different atmosphere.
Light Up Again: John Morgan Files Medical Pot Amendment Language For 2016 Ballot
The revamped measure clarifies that doctors cannot order medical marijuana for children without their parents’ approval and clears up ambiguity about what diseases would make patients eligible for medical-marijuana treatment.
As Swing States Go, Florida Is Still the Gate to the White House
The state’s central position on the road to the White House remains the state’s great revenge for all of the fun the rest of the country gets from reading about Florida Man, writes Steven Schale.
Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks Resigns
Six years into her tenure, Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks has resigned. Weeks announced her resignation in a letter to her poll workers this morning, citing family and health concerns.
2014 In Review: For Florida, A Year of Same-Olds More Than Change
State government from the governor on down is virtually unchanged, with all major figures and almost all incumbent senators winning reelection, but gay marriage and some legalized marijuana suggest some change for the state.
Florida Legislature Tells Supreme Court That Fair District Amendment Is “Unenforceable”
Lawyers for the Legislature told the Florida Supreme Court in a brief filed late Friday that part of a state ban on political gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution.
Common Sore:
Jeb Bush’s Education Problem
The Republican Party’s tea bag wing is unforgiving – so far – over his embrace of the Common Core standards even though the federal government has had almost nothing to do with them.
In Unusual Vote, Flagler Commission Acknowledges Ethics and Elections Complaints Against All Its Members
County and Canvassing Board Attorney Al Hadeed, who was also served with complaints, asked for the vote to assert three points that framed the complaints within the official duties commissioners were performing at the time the issues arose.
Drawing Mixed Response, Jeb Bush Says He Will “Actively Explore” Running For President in 2016
Bush, 61, made the announcement a day after giving a commencement address at the University of South Carolina — a state that plays a major role in Republican primaries. If he ultimately decides to run, Bush would seek to follow his father and brother into the White House.
Special Election for House: Renner Hauls In $76,500. His Three Opponents Combined: $355
Renner’s $76,500 dwarfed amounts not exceeding $180 raised by three other candidates in the District 24 race — Republicans Sheamus McNeeley and Ron Sanchez and Democrat Adam Morley. Republican Danielle Anderson filed a waiver, as she had not posted a report on the state Division of Elections website by week’s end.
Supervisor of Elections Weeks and Ex-Candidate File Load of Ethics and Elections Complaints on 4 Commissioners
Calling it a “witch hunt,” the four commissioners say the complaints rehash minor issues that were almost all resolved during the election season, and that the ploy mostly is an attempt to tarnish.
4 Years In, Judge Dennis Craig Is Reassigned To Volusia and Replaced By Michael Orfinger
Craig has been reassigned to the civil division in Daytona Beach. He will be replaced in Flagler by Michael Orfinger, who was elected to the bench after running unopposed last summer.
Serious Flagler Candidates All Out of Special House Election; Dennis McDonald Qualifies for Senate
Howard Holley pulled out of the House election race Monday, leaving no serious Flagler candidate in the running, though newcomer Danielle Anderson has qualified. In the Senate race, Dennis McDonald will be challenging Hutson, Renuart and Sweeny in a four-way Republican primary.
Why Voters Don’t Give a Damn Anymore: Government Of the Few, By the Few, For the Fewest
Barely a third of the eligible voting-age population — 36.4 percent — voted in the midterms this month. The major reason people don’t vote is that they don’t think it will make a difference, argues Martin Dyckman.
Election Supervisor Kimberle Weeks Caps Final Canvassing Session With Hit List Frown Song
Kimberle Weeks once again indicted a slew of local officials on evidence largely fictional while portraying herself as voters’ last great hope as she responded to the county’s latest request for an state intervention.
Howard Holley Will Run for Flagler’s House Seat Against Paul Renner, Sullivan, O’Brien Teetering Out
The special election to fill Travis Hutson’s Florida House seat in District 24, made up mostly of Flagler County, is turning into a combination of musical chairs band feeding frenzy.
Growing Concern at Supervisor of Elections Offices Across Florida: Aging Equipment
Secretary of State Ken Detzner said he will meet next month with local supervisors of election in Orlando to determine which counties are most in need of new equipment before the 2016 elections. Flagler is likely to be among those.
New, Younger Faces Sworn In at Palm Coast Council, Same Old at County Commission
The swearing-in ceremonies were a study in contrast, if not a reflection of the election’s paradoxes as Palm Coast showed its desire for change and the county commission stayed the same.
Divided and Diminished, Florida Democrats Choose West Palm’s Pafford to Lead in House
After Democrats lost six seats in elections earlier this month, some members pushed instead for Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach. Taylor pulled out of the race earlier Monday, saying he couldn’t work with the leadership of the state party.
Derek Hankerson Will Not Run in Special Election for Travis Hutson’s Seat After All
Derek Hankerson, who challenged John Thrasher in the Republican primary form Florida Senate last August, sent in the following letter today explaining why he has decided not to run again in the coming special election for either Senate or House.
Florida Supreme Court Orders GOP Consultant to Release Redistricting Records
The documents were requested by voting-rights organizations challenging the state’s congressional districts as Republican political consultant Pat Bainter refused to disclose them. Several media organizations also filed a “friend of the court” brief arguing for the documents’ release.
Times Investigation of Attorney General Pam Bondi Uncovers More Dubious Ties
Bondi’s questionable relationship with Lori Kalani, a lobbyist and lawyer, was reported about two weeks ago as part of an investigation by the Times into Bondi’s work with the Republican Attorneys General Association.
Dave Sullivan Won’t Give Way to Trevor Tucker in Race for House as Hankerson Joins It; Democrats Are No-Shows
Flagler School Board member Trevor Tucker said he was seriously thinking of running for an open Florida House seat in the Jan. 27 primary, but only if REC Chairman Dave Sullivan chose not to run, as Tucker doesn’t want to split the vote., Sullivan says he’s in it to stay.
The Only Mandate From This Election: Protect Florida’s Environment
Earmarking 33 percent of the documentary stamp tax for buying critical habitat, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive properties, got 1.4 million more voters than Rick Scott.
Jeb Bush Could Win in 2016, But He’ll Have To Rely on The United States of Amnesia
Jeb Bush left too much fodder for his detractors, argues Stephen Goldstein, to be a viable candidate for very long in 2016–assuming voters can remember the damaging milestones of his governorship.
Backroom Briefing: The Best and Worst of Election 2014
The 2014 campaign had no shortage of drama, gaffes, mistakes and other attention-grabbing moments. It ended Tuesday with confetti for some and losses for others, but here are some of the highlights and lowlights for the always interesting annals of Florida elections.
Elections 2014 R.I.P.
Why Democrats Keep Failing in Florida
For all its fear-based tactics, the Florida GOP focuses on understanding their base voters, and making them feel respected and protected. Democrats in comparison have no clue.
UF and FSU Get New Presidents, Flagler Loses Sen. Thrasher, Special Election Next
The Board of Governors unanimously ratified Thrasher’s and Kent Fuchs’s appointments. Thrasher’s resignation is expected to set off a feeding frenzy in a special election for what may turn into a Senate seat and two House seats.
Gail Wadsworth Will Not Seek to Resume Family Dynasty in Florida Legislature–For Now
Despite getting ready to retire in two years and having three Wadsworths behind her who served in Tallahassee, Gail Wadsworth said the timing is not right for her to run in the special election soon to be announced for either a House or Senate seat representing Flagler.
“Personhood” Amendment Crushed Even in the Reddest State, Dealing Blow to Abortion Foes
Two proposed constitutional amendments that would have declared life starting at conception were overwhelmingly defeated in North Dakota and Colorado, with two-thirds of voters opposed.
From Washington to Palm Coast City Council, Elections Herald Less Change Than Advertised
Tuesday’s election looked more revolutionary than it was, as political dynamics changed very little, even at the Palm Coast City Council, where two seats turned over, and even more so at the school board and the county commission, where change may be imperceptible.
As GOP Surges Over the Nation, Party Grabs Supermajority in Florida House
The party retained two Republican-held seats where it faced serious challenges, while flipping six Democrat-held seats that were heavily contested in the Interstate 4 corridor.
Commission Incumbents Meeker and McLaughlin Win, McDonald Beats Fischer for School Board, Shipley and Nobile Win Palm Coast; Scott Wins, Pot Busts
With 21,000 votes in–early vote tallies and absentee ballots–County Commission incumbents Frank Meeker and Nate McLaughlin have taken commanding leads against challengers Howard Holley and Denise Calderwood, with Meeker polling 58 percent and McLaughlin close to 60 percent.
“I’m On Your Side,” Charlie Crist Says on Final Push With Bill Clinton in Tow
Crist offered his final pitch as an advocate for middle-class Floridians to blacks, Hispanics, seniors and union workers before heading to Orlando for a final pre-election event headlined by former President Bill Clinton.
Even as Election Culminates, Supervisor Weeks Finds a New Target: Commission Chairman George Hanns
In her latest attempts to recast the Flagler Canvassing Board, Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks tried to have County Commission Chairman Gorge Hanns removed and raised issues with the appointment of alternate and Commissioner Barbara Revels.
In Final Swing Along I-4 Corridor, Rick Scott Promises to “Kick Charlie’s Rear”
Two other Republican governors, Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, both prospective presidential contenders in 2016, joined Scott in what has become one of the most expensive, nastiest and closest governor’s races in the country.
Flagler GOP Chief Dave Sullivan Plans to Run for Hutson’s House Seat in Special Election
Dave Sullivan, chairman of the Flagler County Republican Executive Committee, said he will make a run for the seat to ensure that it has a chance to be filled by someone from Flagler.
Crist Clings To Statistically Insignificant Lead Over Scott in Last Poll Before Election Day
With early voting done and among those who have already voted, however, Charlie Crist has taken a more commanding lead of 44 percent to Scott’s 40 percent.
Crist and Scott Aren’t Both Awful: Scott Wins That Contest By a Mile
Tired of what he calls false moral equivalencies, Adam Weinstein argues that pundits and cynics are wrong to flaunt the conventional wisdom about this governor’s race, and that Scott has been flat-out god-awful for Florida.
Does Life Begin at Conception? Nation Eyes Referendum That May Set Precedent
The battle over North Dakota’s Measure 1 highlights the biggest trend in national abortion politics this November: wide-ranging pro-life ballot initiatives that would alter state constitutions in ways whose long-term repercussions are difficult to predict.
Miscounts Stretch Marathon Canvassing Board Meeting to 16 Hours, Ending After Midnight
Aside from Supervisor Kimberle Weeks hiring a stenographer without the Canvassing Board’s authorization, the meeting Thursday was dominated by attempts to reconcile a four-ballot difference.
Charlie Crist Takes 3-Point Lead in Latest Quinnipiac Poll, With Boost from Independents
The numbers suggest that independents, who decide most close elections in Florida, are migrating to Crist and may have been alienated by Scott’s negative ad blitz.
Crist Reaches Out to Democratic Base in Home Stretch, With a Stop in Daytona Beach
From now until Tuesday, Crist will shake hands and pose for pictures with black supporters in places such as Sarasota and Daytona Beach and focus on the Democratic stronghold of South Florida, all designed to infuse base voters with enough enthusiasm to get them to the polls.
Sheldon Adelson Adds $1 Million to Fight Against Medical Pot Legalization
Sheldon Adelson had contributed $5 million of the $5,842,897 raised by the “Drug Free Florida Committee” as of Sunday. The committee also spent $1,254,013 in mid-October and reported an overall spending total of $5,582,772.
As 32 States Now Recognize Gay Marriage, Pam Bondi Files Latest Delaying Tactic
Same-sex couples should continue to be prevented from getting married in Florida until a legal battle plays out about the constitutionality of the state’s gay-marriage ban, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a federal-court filing.
Elections Supervisor Weeks Suspends Canvassing Business for Radio Gig, Stunning Fellow Board Members
Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Week suspended a Canvassing Board meeting Friday to do a radio interview, without telling fellow-board members, who had other commitments, that that was the reason.
Raising Issues of Accuracy, Canvassing Board Rejects Elections Supervisor Weeks’s Minutes in Latest Strains
It was a striking vote of no-confidence in the veracity of Weeks’s version of events that Canvassing Board Chair Melissa Moore-Stens made even more striking by including disclaimers on each set of minutes, stressing that they are not the official minutes of the board, but Weeks’s own.
Crist and Scott Deadlocked at 42% in Latest Quinnipiac Poll as Early Voting Begins
Among those who have already voted, the poll found Crist leading by 5 points–42 to 38, with Wyllie getting just 3 percent. Scott’s trump card is his ready millions of dollars, Crist’s is the younger voters hoping to pass the medical marijuana legalization amendment.
Charlie Crist:
People’s Governor or Master Chameleon?
Charlie Crist profile: In an interview, the former governor said he is confident he can defeat Scott “by going to people in person and having the chance to reacquaint them with my heart and what I care about, which is them.”