Funding for Daytona International Speedway and a temporary tax break on gym memberships could be casualties when the House and Senate meet next week on their opposing packages to complete Gov. Rick Scott’s $500 million election-year tax cuts.
Elections 2024
Palm Coast Voters Lose Again: The City Of Low Turnout Gets a Spoiled Election
Even if Palm Coast and Supervisor of Elections Weeks work out their differences, as it now looks like they have, voters have already lost as this months-long manufactured controversy will become election campaign fodder for candidates who don’t have anything more substantial to offer.
Palm Coast Prepares to Run Its Own Elections, But Cost Would Rise and Turnout Drop
Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks and Palm Coast have been in talks to resolve their differences, but in case they don’t, Palm Coast is planning on running its own elections in 2014, with paper ballots and at a single location only, which would most likely hurt turnout significantly.
Corruption Theorem: Money as Speech and the Supreme Court’s Death Blow to Democracy
We’ve come a long way from the days of Lawton Chiles, who won his election for governor despite limiting contributions to $10 a pop. There is no longer any bidding limit on the vast auction block American politics has become since, writes Martin Dyckman.
My Agreement Or Else: Elections Supervisor Weeks Bluntly Rejects Palm Coast Proposals
Reaffirming a stalemate, Weeks’s refusal to conduct the Palm Coast elections on any terms but hers means the city may have to go it alone, triggering costs and confusion.
Senate Approves Proposed Constitutional Amendment Giving Scott Court-Packing Power
The proposal, passed by the Senate in a 26-14 vote, would give the next governor the ability to pack the courts and is intended to give incumbent Gov. Rick Scott, who is seeking re-election, the ability to reshape the Florida Supreme Court.
Federal Appeals Court Declares Scott Administration’s 2012 Voter Purge Illegal
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Rick Scott’s administration that the effort to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls did not violate a federal law barring wide-ranging efforts to cleanse those rolls within 90 days of an election.
Pitching Two Proposals Back to Elections Supervisor, Palm Coast May Call on State to Resolve Conflict
The Palm Coast City Council approved two separate agreements calling on Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks to run the 2014 city elections, asking her to pick one, though Weeks has been unwilling to negotiate. The city may call on Secretary of State Ken Detzner to resolve the issue, should a stalemate persist.
Lifelong Republican Turned independent: Howard Holley Launches All-Business Bid For County Commission
Howard Holley, a Hammock business executive, would face Flagler County Commissioner Frank Meeker in November if Meeker doesn’t have a primary opponent, no black candidate and no independent candidate has ever won a county commission seat.
Rick Scott’s Dilemma: Helping Undocumented-Immigrant Students Or Sticking to His Base
While Scott has repeatedly said he supports a proposal to end annual 15 percent tuition hikes, he’s remained mum about the portion of the bill that would grant in-state tuition to undocumented students, or Dreamers.
Weeks Against the World: Elections Supervisor Holds Out on Palm Coast Elections Despite Secretary of State’s Admonition
The only higher official who hasn’t yet told Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks to move beyond her feud with the Palm Coast City Council over the city’s 2014 elections is Gov. Rick Scott. Sill, Weeks remains obstinate as time runs short for Palm Coast to decide who will run its 2014 elections.
Chris Christie’s Hormonal Problem
Would someone please call Chris Christie and tell him that if he thinks he could be President of the United States, he doesn’t have a prayer. By insinuating that the lane closings were the handiwork of a woman suffering from a romantic setback, Christie’s lawyers have ensured that he will be scorned by every woman who has had to endure the canard that women are ruled by their hormones and their feelings.
Palm Coast Cancels Special Meeting as Conflict With Elections Supervisor Again Flares
Tuesday’s special meeting between the Palm Coast City Council and Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks was to have ironed out a mutual agreement for Weeks’s office to run the city’s municipal elections this year. Weeks, however, is demanding that the city approve the agreement she drafted without such a meeting, and virtually without changes, something to which the city is not likely to agree before the April 2 deadline set by Weeks.
State Election Supervisors’ Attorney Told Kim Weeks a Month Ago That Palm Coast Was on Firm Ground
Despite a clear opinion from Ronald Labasky, the general counsel for the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, telling Weeks to follow Palm Coast’s lead, Weeks a month later was still publicly casting doubt on Palm Coast’s legal standing and delaying her announcement that she would handle the city’s 2014 elections.
GOP’s Jolly Beats Sink in Congressional Election That Augurs Trouble for Democrats’ Midterms
Both parties viewed the special election to replace Rep Bill Young as a critical test of their chances for success in the mid-term elections in November. The result spells trouble for Democrats, who are expected to lose seats in the House–amplifying the Republican majority–and possibly lose the Senate, which they’ve held since 2006.
Marco Rubio Flirts With Immigration Reform Then Capitulates to the Lunatic Fringe
Rubio placed a dismal seventh at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in a straw poll of likely GOP presidential hopefuls, where his kind of immigration talk doesn’t sit well with the GOP fringe, political or lunatic, writes Andrew Skerritt.
The Thaw Cometh: Kimberle Weeks Pledges To Oversee Palm Coast Elections After All
Weeks did not tell the city that she would work with Palm Coast, but rather took to the pages of the Palm Coast Observer to pen a caustic OpEd, essentially coloring her concession by painting herself as the election’s white knight. The city welcomed the breakthrough anyway.
Bunnell City Election: John Rogers and Bonita Robinson Win, As Does Status Quo
John Rogers won re-election to the Bunnell City Commission Tuesday, taking the most votes in a four-way race, and Bonita Robinson won the seat formerly held by Jenny Crain-Brady. Rogers and Robinson defeated Daisy Henry, the former commissioner trying to make a come-back, and Randall Morris, who had been a no-show in most ways through the election period.
With His Job in Mind, Gov. Scott Campaigns to “Keep Working” in State of the State Address
The half-hour speech, delivered before a joint meeting of the Legislature, plowed little to no new ground on the policies the governor will tout during the 60-day session that opened Tuesday. But Scott used the speech to connect his family’s financial troubles when he was young to his quest to bring more jobs to the state.
Politicians’ Pot Dilemma: Whether To Inhale Florida’s Medical Marijuana Joint
The elevation of medical marijuana to a theological level is not unique to Florida. Many legislators from Georgia to Kentucky to Iowa have invoked conversations with God as they came to embrace medical pot.
Ahead of Bunnell’s March 4 Election, Three Commission Candidates Battle With
More Blanks Than Bullets
Few of the candidates’ answers at the only candidate forum before the election grappled with actual issues, ideas or solutions, hewing instead to generally positive statements about wanting to do their best or speaking in generalities that would not distinguish them either from each other or from any well-meaning resident of the city they seek to represent.
Ronald Reagan Republicans Launch Campaigns In Every Local Flagler Race, Signaling Insurgency Against GOP Incumbents
Six candidates introduced themselves Monday evening, including two for school board, two for the Palm Coast City Council, and two for the Flagler County Commission. Six of the seven are running against incumbent Republicans, suggesting that the Triple-R’s are looking to be the insurgent candidates of this election cycle—against their own party.
The Dark Money Man: How Sean Noble Moved the Kochs’ Cash into Politics and Made Millions
Sean Noble was a former congressional aide just starting as a political consultant when he was recruited to help run the Kochtopus — Charles and David Koch’s multi-layered political network.
ACLU May Challenge Elections Division Ruling Blocking UF Student Union as Voting Location
Democrats contend Gov. Rick Scott is “laying roadblocks to voting” because of a state Division of Elections opinion that the student union at the University of Florida can’t be used as an early voting location.
Crist vs. Scott: A Study in Contrast Will Hinge On Who Will Make The Other Least Likeable
Crist has charm, charisma and a Bill Clintonesque-appeal. Scott couldn’t be more of a contrast. He appears awkward on camera and in person. But will Crist’s affability be enough to offset the $100 million Scott’s backers have pledged for the campaign, much of which will go to tear down Scott’s presumed challenger in the battle between two Florida chief executives?
Hillary Clinton Would Trounce Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Rubio In Latest Florida Poll
The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Clinton beating Bush 49-43 and Rubio 51-41 in 2016, with no clear front-runner among Republicans, in contrast with Democrats, among whom Clinton is by far the front-runner. No Democrat or Republican in at least a generation has had as commanding a lead as Clinton so early in the process.
Charlie Crist Maintains Comfortable 46%-38% Lead Over Rick Scott in Latest Quinnipiac Poll
The poll indicates Crist has comfortable leads with closely watched groups such as independents and Hispanic voters. Also, it continues to show that voters have a generally negative view of Scott, with 54 percent of voters saying Scott does not deserve to be re-elected, while 38 percent saying he does.
Scott Proposes $74.2 Million Budget, Culminating Weeks of Tax-Cutting and Spending Pitches
The blueprint released Wednesday included at least two notable items: an increase in the exemption from the corporate income tax that would cost the state $21.6 million, and up to $70 million for land conservation efforts.
Florida Is Excluded From Congressional Fix of Voting Rights Act Supreme Court Nullified
Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, Congress is working to reinstate a similar provision that would require certain states to acquire federal “preclearance” for new voting laws. Unlike the provision enacted in 1965, though, Florida is no longer one of the state’s that would need oversight.
Scott Pitches Cut of Sales Tax on Rental Properties and $80 Million for Cancer Research
Scott will ask lawmakers to support a $100 million reduction in the commercial lease tax that now brings in about $1.4 billion a year, and $60 million to existing cancer centers as they seek National Cancer Institute designation.
In Bunnell, Crain-Brady’s Election Fiasco Becomes Fodder For Criticism of City Manager’s Leadership
Bunnell City Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady Monday evening took responsibility for failing to qualify for the March election but was then joined by Mayor Catherine Robinson in an explicit and often unfair or unsupported attack on City Manager Larry Williams’ leadership and accountability.
Supreme Court Clears Medical Marijuana Pot Proposal; Floridians Vote On It November 4
In a significant victory for advocates of the initiative, a divided Florida Supreme Court on Monday ruled 4-3 that the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana passes legal muster and can now appear on the November election ballot, giving Floridians a direct say. Polls have shown a 3-to-1 majority of Floridians favoring legalization.
Tea Party’s Allure Dims. Its Zealots Shout On.
Just 64 diehard Republicans opposed the recent budget bill, among them, sadly but unsurprisingly, our own Ron DeSantis, who thinks being a Congressman is a game of grandstanding and TV time rather than dealing with the more prosaic business of compromising in Washington and constituent services in his own district.
Medical Marijuana Initiative Gets Needed Signature to Make November Ballot, Pending Court Clearance
With 710,508 validated signatures statewide in Florida— 27, 359 more than the required 683,149 — and reaching signature requirements in the bare minimum of 14 congressional districts, People United for Medical Marijuana beat a Feb. 1 deadline for submitting petitions to the state.
Crist Lead Over Scott Almost Erased in Latest Poll; Support for Gay Marriage and Pot Grows
The latest Public Policy Poll has Crist leading Scott by an insignificant 43 to 41 percent, well inside the 4 percent margin of error, as Scott’s attacks on Crist pay off. Also, 65 percent favor medical marijuana, and 47 percent said same-sex marriage should be allowed, with 44 percent opposed.
Crain-Brady’s Disqualification In Bunnell Is Final, But Errors Were Far From Hers Alone
Bunnell City Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady disqualified herseolf from the March 4 election when she failed to meet a fee deadline last week, but the error unraveled a series of errors and misjudgments that run through Bunnell’s election process, and go as far as documentation released by the Supervisor of Elections.
Scott’s River of Green Swells as He Asks for $130 Million for Everglades and South Florida
The proposal comes a day after Scott announced he would recommend $55 million to restore and maintain the state’s natural springs, boosting money for the water bodies in Central and North Florida by $45 million from the current year.
In Latest Re-Election Ploy, Scott Proposes 10-Day Sales Tax Holiday, Triple the Usual Length
Scott announced Friday he wants lawmakers to approve a 10-day sales tax holiday in August. The extended tax-free period is the latest of the budget proposals Scott has rolled out in advance of the 2014 legislative session.
Jenny Crain-Brady, Not Paying a Fee, Fails to Qualify for Bunnell Commission Election; 4 Others Do
In an unexpected and significant reversal of fortune for an incumbent candidate for the Bunnell City Commission election set for March 4, Jenny Crain-Brady has not qualified for the seat she had gathered petitions to run for. Brady failed to pay the $96 state assessment fee required of all candidates, whether they have the necessary number of petitions or not.
Flagler Beach Holds an Election and Nobody Shows: Kim Carney and Marshall Shupe Are Re-Elected Without Opposition
It is the second successive election cycle in which Flagler Beach commissioners have drawn no opposition. Last year Jane Mealy and Steve Settle were re-elected automatically. Kim Carney and Marshall Shupe were first elected three years ago.
Carlos Lopez-Cantera Is Florida’s First Latino Lt. Governor as He Fills an Office Vacant Almost a Year
Scott’s previous lieutenant governor, Jennifer Carroll, resigned early last year after getting caught up in a criminal investigation into a veteran’s charity that was tied to internet cafes hosting illegal gambling operations.
Extending Spending Spree, Scott Asks for $200 Million Increase For Roads, Bridges and Ports
The $200 million proposed increase for infrastructure follows Friday’s request for $100 million for tourism from Scott, who entered office in 2011 slashing a state budget he said was weighted down with “short-sided, frivolous, wasteful” projects.
Elections Supervisor Skeptical as Palm Coast Tries To Resolve Conflicts Ahead of 2014 Cycle
The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday will set in motion the legal mechanism—through amended ordinances—to resolve an ongoing conflict with the Supervisor of Elections over past and future elections, but Supervisor Weeks says that may not be sufficient if charter requirements are not met.
Weeks After Bunnell Commissioner’s Residency Is Questioned, Lawmakers Float Tighter Rules
A pair of state lawmakers announced a proposal Thursday that would tighten the definition of residency for elected officials, but the measures don’t specify what the punishment might be or who would be responsible for enforcing the standards.
CFO Jeff Atwater’s Lunge for FAU Presidency May Trigger Political Scramble for Cabinet Seat
Atwater is expected to easily win reelection to his Cabinet post and is believed to be considering a run for governor in 2018. A CFO vacancy in this year’s elections could unleash a domino effect in the state Legislature and also open up the door for Democrats to recapture a seat on the Cabinet.
14 For ’14: What Will Command
Florida’s Attention This Year
From the governor’s race to the economy to gambling to common core and the continuing battles over health care, here are some of the issues that will dominate the political landscape in the year ahead, some of which focusing the nation’s eyes on Florida yet again.
Elections Supervisor Again Giving Palm Coast Grief Over 2014 Voting, Jeopardizing Taxpayer Savings
Tangled conflicts over realistically minor matter has been the context of Weeks’s relations with the city over the past four months. She’s not been wrong as much as disproportionately alarmist over problems that have relatively simple solutions. Minor missteps aside, the city has readily offered solutions. Weeks has not been as quick to accept them.
Pam Bondi’s Pot Problem
It’s a matter of time before marijuana is legalized, for medical uses or not, even in Florida. But Attorney General Pam Bondi is doing her best to preserve a prohibition that relies on disinformation to benefit cops and jails at the expense of greater safety, less crime and more compassion, were marijuana to be legalized.
Rick Scott Puts State Employees to Work On Re-Election Campaigning Veiled as “Outreach”
On-the-clock state employees from a number of agencies have been splitting shifts since Monday to call businesses and use talking points that are indistinguishable from the language of campaign ads to help Rick Scott’s re-election.
Medical Marijuana Tangles Up Florida Supreme Court Justices In Weeds of Words
The idea of medical marijuana technically isn’t at issue in the case. Instead, Attorney General Pam Bondi, legislative leaders and medical, law enforcement and business groups argue that the ballot title and summary that would appear on the ballot could deceive voters about the scope of the amendment.
