The reality – one that J.D. Vance only subtly acknowledges in his memoir – is that he is not poor. Nor is he a hillbilly. He grew up firmly in Ohio’s middle class. His “Hillbilly Elegy” memoir is part of a genre called “poornography.” Created mainly by middle- and upper-class people for like-minded readers, this long line of novels, films and plays can end up spreading harmful stereotypes about poor people.
Elections 2024
Flagler’s Election Turnout Tracks Down from 2020 But Elections Supervisor Lenhart Applauds Candidates’ Civility
Flagler County’s election turnout is tracking lower than in the 2020 primary as a variety of factors, including new laws restricting voter freedoms, have taken full effect. As of today turnout is less than 16 percent in the primary election in Flagler, with two days of early voting plus election day left. But Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart said she was proud of local candidates, who have maintained a level of civility unseen in years.
Appeals Court Backs DeSantis School Board Appointment, Rejecting Election
Calculating a vacated seat by the moment when a resignation becomes effective rather than when it is announced, a three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected arguments by James Golden that an election should be held in November for the Manatee County school-board seat that will be vacated by Rich Tatem.
Fake Endorsements Roil St. Johns County Republicans
St. Johns County Republican Party Chair Denver Cook says the party “learned that a fraudulent voter guide has been mailed to many Republican voters across the county.”
Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos for a 2nd Trump Term
“Eradicate climate change references”; only talk to conservative media; don’t leave a paper trail for watchdogs to discover. In a series of never-before-published videos, Project 2025 details how a second Trump administration would operate.
Latest Flagler School Board Follies: Hunt Celebrates Mediocrity, Furry Abuses His Seat to Push ‘Endorsements’
“Board member comments” at the Flagler school board have devolved almost always into a disaster, an embarrassment, a circus of ignorance, hypocrisy, stupidity or bigotry, compliments of the board’s trilobites: Sally Hunt, Will Furry and Christy Chong. No wonder they prefer illegal secret meetings. No wonder Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro can’t wait to escape the asylum. The sane ones weren’t there Tuesday to witness the latest drivel from Furry and Hunt, the first illegal, the second just creepy.
County Pulls Back from Heavy-Handed Attempt at Regulating ‘Behavior’ or ‘Objects’ at Polling and Public Grounds
The Flagler County Commission’s latest grapple with the messiness of democracy led it Monday to postpone until after the election any plans to regulate campaign zones or other forms of speech on public property, as it had sought to do last month, not without some controversy.
Hurricane Debby Cancelled Early Voting on Monday in Numerous Counties
Although originally scheduled to begin Monday, there was no early voting in Alachua, Bradford, Duval, Gadsden, Jefferson, Levy, or Taylor counties. As of Monday morning, most of those counties said they would begin early voting on Tuesday.
To Succeed Travis Hutson, Tom Leek’s Battle of the Fliers with David Shoar Is Among Key Florida Senate Races
The Republican primary for Senate District 7–made up of St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler and part of Volusia counties–has drawn a flood of money and endorsements as House Appropriations Chairman Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, former St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar and financial adviser Gerry James seek to represent the heavily Republican district. Term-limited Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, cannot seek re-election in the district.
The Kamala Harris Factor
Donald J. Trump, J.D. Vance, Speaker of the House Mike “Mighty Porn Resister” Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Mensa, British emotional support fascist Nigel Farage, regular fascist Nick Fuentes, comedian Russell Brand, comedian Megyn Kelly, her former Fox “News” klavern-mates, Ronbo DeSantis, and five or six white people in a Midwestern focus group all agree: You must not vote for Kamala Harris.
Florida Officials Want Supreme Court to Approve a Manipulated ‘Impact Statement’ on Abortion Amendment
Lawyers for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner on Friday urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject an attempt to invalidate a revised “financial impact statement” that would appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights. A state panel made controversial changes to the financial impact statement, which Floridians Protecting Freedom–leading efforts to pass the constitutional amendment–wants invalidated.
Abortion Rights Bus Tours Florida Ahead of Convention
The national abortion rights advocacy group Free & Just brought its “Ride to Decide” bus tour to the Sunshine State this week, making appearances in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. The bus tour kicked off in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention last month and is hitting states up and down the East Coast and South for the next few weeks before concluding at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later in August.
Ty Miller, Palm Coast City Council District 1 Candidate: The Live Interview
Ty Miller is one of four candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 1. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Shara Brodsky, Palm Coast City Council District 1 Candidate: The Live Interview
Shara Brodsky is one of four candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 1. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Andrew Werner, Palm Coast City Council District 3 Candidate: The Live Interview
Andrew Werner is one of three candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 3. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Dana Mark Stancel, Palm Coast City Council District 3 Candidate: The Live Interview
Dana Mark Stancel is one of three candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 3. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Jeffrey Seib, Palm Coast City Council District 1 Candidate: The Live Interview
Jeffrey Seib is one of four candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 1. It’s an open seat. The candidates who qualified are Kathy Austrino, Shara Brodsky, Ty Miller and Seib. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Derek Barrs, Flagler County School Board Candidate District 3: The Live Interview
Derek Barrs is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Janie Ruddy in District 3. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.
J.D. Vance Eclipses DeSantis. But He Might Want to Watch His Back.
If Trump wins and somehow doesn’t declare himself president-for-life, Vance will be the nominee in 2028. Ditto if Trump loses and the country survives the violence. Vance could end up as president before then, possibly without lifting a finger — except maybe to pass Trump the Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburgers that finally tip him over into massive stroke territory. Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and their autocracy-loving billionaire buds will see to that.
Project 2025 is a Bad Bet for Florida’s Future
Project 2025 is a blueprint for Trump’s next term. It is full of recommendations for clamping down on abortion, banning pornography, abolishing the Homeland Security and Education departments, killing the Head Start program for kids, and putting the entire executive branch, including the Department of Justice, under direct control of the president — no civil service protection.
Ray Stevens, Palm Coast City Council District 3 Candidate: The Live Interview
Ray Stevens is one of three candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 3. It’s an open seat, as Council member Nick Klufas is term-limited. He is running for a County Commission seat. The candidates who qualified are Dana Mark Stancel, Stevens and Andrew Warner. All registered voters in Palm Coast regardless of party or non-party affiliation may cast a ballot in this City Council race.
Revisiting J.D. Vance’s Middletown, Ohio
J.D. Vance’s Middletown, Ohio, his hometown – just north of Cincinnati – risks becoming an abstract symbol of Rust Belt America. Ironically, it is easy to lose sight of the city’s rich, distinctive heritage, from which Vance’s memoir drew its potency.
Kathy Austrino, Palm Coast City Council District 1 Candidate: The Live Interview
Kathy Austrino is one of four candidates in the Aug. 20 primary election for Palm Coast City Council, District 1. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Janie Ruddy, Flagler County School Board Candidate District 3: The Live Interview Template
Janie Ruddy is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Derek Barrs in District 3. The District 3 and District 5 seats are both open as incumbents Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro have opted not to run again. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.
Vincent Sullivan, Flagler County School Board Candidate District 5: The Live Interview Template
Vincent Sullivan is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Lauren Ramirez in District 5. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.
Florida Democrats, Mirroring Nation’s, Quickly Rally Around Kamala Harris
Members of Florida’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention threw their support Monday to Vice President Kamala Harris, a day after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election campaign. As part of a rapidly moving effort to coalesce support behind the vice president, a group of Florida party leaders held a call with reporters to back Harris’ bid to become president and pointed to increased enthusiasm they hope translates down the ballot.
Lauren Ramirez, Flagler County School Board Candidate District 5: The Live Interview
Lauren Ramirez is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Vincent Sullivan in District 5. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.
DeSantis’s Florida: The Who Cares State
Florida’s current regime (motto: “Ignorance is Strength”) operates on the theory that if you refuse to utter certain words — ”racism,” for example, “Covid,” or “climate crisis” — and pretend with all your might that what you see in front of you isn’t real, then the problem disappears.
Recreational Pot Amendment Backers Raise $61.5 Million as DeSantis Attacks
The political committee sponsoring a ballot initiative that would allow recreational marijuana collected nearly $314,000 in new donations, according to its latest campaign finance filing. Smart & Safe Florida has now raised nearly $61.5 million in its effort to pass the initiative.
J.D. Vance Praised Alex Jones as a Truth-Teller and Said the ‘Devil Is Real’
Sen. J.D. Vance, whom Donald Trump named as his vice presidential running mate Monday, told a group of influential young conservatives in a closed-door speech in 2021 that they should stand up for “nonconventional people” who speak truth, such as Infowars founder Alex Jones, projected a time when Kamala Harris would imprison conservatives in droves, and said the financial elite is full of sex perverts.
To Neutralize Write-In Fraud, Switch to Republican: An Open Letter to My Flagler County Neighbors
Jake Scully, a lifelong Democrat until this summer, says the only way to get around the fraud of two-write-in candidates closing two County Commission races to almost 50,000 voters is to switch to Republican before the July 22 deadline.
Sheriff Issues Cease and Desist to Ed Danko Over Unauthorized Use of Images and ‘Endorsement’ Reference
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office today issued a sternly worded letter to Ed Danko, the Palm Coast City Council member and a candidate for the County Commission, immediately to remove images of and references to Sheriff Rick Staly from a campaign video Oliver North recorded for the Danko campaign.
Pam Richardson, Flagler County Commission District 5 Candidate: The Live Interview
Pam Richardson is one of two Republican candidates for Flagler County Commission, District 5, in the Aug. 20 primary. It’s an open seat as Commissioner Donald O’Brien has elected not to run for a third term. Richardson faces Ed Danko, currently serving as a Palm Coast City Council member. Only registered Republicans may cast a ballot in the election.
Ed Danko, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 5: The Live Interview
Ed Danko is one of two Republican candidates for Flagler County Commission, District 5, in the Aug. 20 primary. It’s an open seat as Commissioner Donald O’Brien has elected not to run for a third term. Danko, a one-term Palm Coast City Council member, faces Pam Richardson.
Sheriff Staly Rejects as ‘Misleading’ Ed Danko Campaign Claim of Endorsement in Latest Ollie North Video
As he did in 2022 regarding a different campaign using almost identical techniques and using Oliver North, Sheriff Rick Staly today said he was never endorsed by Ed Danko, as a Danko campaign video claims, and called the Danko video–which uses two images of Staly with Danko–“misleading” at best. Danko said he’s frequently spoken of his support of the sheriff and equates support with endorsement.
Bill Clark, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 3: The Live Interview
Bill Clark is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 3, in an open-seat election, as Dave Sullivan has opted not to run again. Clark faces Republicans Kim Carney and Nick Klufas in the Aug. 20 primary.
Kim Carney, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 3: The Live Interview
Kim Carney is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 3, in an open-seat election, as Dave Sullivan has opted not to run again. Carney faces Republicans Bill Clark and Nick Klufas in the Aug. 20 primary.
Tendentious ‘Statement’ on Florida Abortion Ballot Measure Sparks Controversy
A state panel late Monday finished revising a “financial impact statement” that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights — with amendment supporters accusing the panel of a “dirty trick to mislead voters.” The statement makes several unsubstantiated claims about costs the abortion measures could impose on the state budget.
Nick Klufas, Flagler County Commission District 3 Candidate: The Live Interview
Nick Klufas is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 3. The two-term Palm Coast City Council member, who is term-limited, faces Kim Carney and Bill Clark, both Republicans, in the Aug. 20 primary. Because a write-in candidate has filed expressly to close the election to non-Republicans, only registered Republicans may cast a ballot in this race.
Trump Chooses J.D. Vance Over Rubio for Vice President
Former President Donald Trump on Monday bypassed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in making his vice-presidential pick, averting what could have been a major change in Florida’s political landscape. Trump announced freshman U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his 2024 running mate, a short time after the Republican National Convention opened in Milwaukee.
Assassination Merch
Medieval pilgrims traded gold for relics such as the alleged thumb of John the Baptist or vials of the alleged blood of Christ from his crucifixion. This will be the first presidential race in history when blood will feature front and center in the Trump campaign’s most iconic image, the candidate bloodied but fist-pumping as an Iwo Jima-flag-like clutch of brawn props him up. Trump is the flag. Trump is America. Welcome to assassination merch.
Fernando Melendez, Flagler County Commission Candidate District 1: The Live Interview
Fernando Melendez is a Republican candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 1. He is challenging incumbent Andy Dance in the Aug. 20 primary. Since no non-Republicans filed to run, it will be an open primary: all registered Flagler County voters from all parties or no-party affiliation may cast a ballot in this race, which will be decided on Aug. 20.
Andy Dance, Flagler County Commission Candidate, District 1: The Live Interview
Andy Dance is the incumbent candidate for Flagler County Commission, District 1. Fernando Melendez is challenging him in the Aug. 20 primary. Both candidates are Republicans. Since no non-Republicans filed to run, it will be an open primary: all registered Flagler County voters from all parties or no-party affiliation may cast a ballot in this race, which will be decided on Aug. 20. There is no run-off.
Alan Lowe, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Alan Lowe is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the Aug. 20 primary. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Behind the Smear of Palm Coast Mayoral Candidate Peter Johnson
Peter Johnson, a candidate for Palm Coast mayor, has been the target of the most vicious slander in Flagler County in this year’s election. The claim has been spread through an alleged screenshot of an alleged slur he used, but all the evidence gathered so far points to a fabrication intended to defame Johnson and peddled by discreditable operatives, among them one of Johnson’s opponents in the mayoral race.
Mike Norris, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Mike Norris is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the Aug. 20 primary. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.
Donald Trump’s Ten Commandments, Updated
Diane Roberts lets Donald Trump speak his soul: Like I told the Faith and Freedom Coalition (great people), “If I took this shirt off you’d see a beautiful, beautiful person, but you’d see wounds all over me. I’ve taken a lot of wounds.” You know who else took a lot of wounds? Jesus.
With Nod to ‘Slippery Slope,’ Palm Coast Will Ask Voters for More Borrowing Power Through Vague Ballot Measure
In an understated way that has so far drawn little public attention or interest, the Palm Coast City Council is hoping to convince voters to approve a momentous change in the way the city does business, clearing the way for more borrowing ahead. The council approved a proposed referendum that would go before city voters in November, asking them whether they’d be in favor of eliminating borrowing limits in place since 1999.
Drive Begins to Get Medicaid Expansion on Ballot as 653,000 Floridians Lost Coverage in Past Year
More than 653,000 Floridians who lost their Medicaid coverage over the past year because the state determined they were ineligible. Nearly 315,000 Floridians in the so-called coverage gap, ineligible for Medicaid or insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Florida Voices for Health, a nonprofit advocacy group that works on multiple health issues including expanding Medicaid, is pushing to get Florida to join the majority of states that have expanded Medicaid.
Peter Johnson, Palm Coast Mayor Candidate: The Live Interview
Peter Johnson is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor in the Aug. 20 primary. All registered voters in the city may cast a ballot in that non-partisan election regardless of party affiliation or location in Palm Coast.