Ratcheting up a fight with Walt Disney Co., Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded a special legislative session to consider eliminating a decades-old governing district set up for Disney World and nearby properties.
Elections 2026
How Ron DeSantis Is Campaigning on Taxpayers’ Dime
Gov. Ron DeSantis traveled to the Florida Panhandle on Friday to dispense $23 million in infrastructure grants but spent the bulk of his time complaining about the Biden administration and culture war sore spots. During his 35-minute event in Port St. Joe, for example, the governor spent about seven minutes discussing the grants and handing out checks; the rest was politics.
3 Incumbent Judges–Andrea Totten, Kenny Janesk and Stacia Warren–Speak (Almost) Freely at Candidate Forum
A Flagler County Republican Club forum Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Hilton was a chance for the three incumbents–Flagler County Judge Andrea Totten, Circuit Judges Kenny Janesk, who sits in Volusia and Putnam, and Stacia Warren, who sits in Volusia–to speak about themselves without the strictures of their robes and in unusually personal terms, but within the bounds of Canon 7, the unique ethical rules that frame judicial races.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Florida’s New Limits on Voting Access, Calling It ‘Cynical Effort to Suppress Turnout’
A federal judge has stricken key voting restrictions that the Florida Legislature passed last year as unconstitutional, concluding that they make voting more difficult for everybody but “intentionally target” minorities and “unduly” burden disabled voters.
How Palm Coast City Council Skirted Charter Change on Its Own Salaries Even As It Was Claiming to Clarify It
Palm Coast City Council member Nick Klufas, like many residents, thought council members’ salaries could only be changed by charter–not, as Mayor Alfin is proposing, by mere council ordinance. His confusion reflects how the last time the council changed the charter had the effect of deceiving voters into thinking exactly what Klufas thought, even as the city was ostensibly trying to clarify the charter. It’s a revealing history of obfuscation by omission that now undermines the legitimacy of council salary increases.
DeSantis Wanted His Own Re-Districting Plan, so He Vetoes Legislature’s and Orders Special Session
DeSantis threatened the veto even before the Legislature ignored his demand that lawmakers follow his own plan for drawing new districts — a plan that diminishes Black voting power and would give the GOP 18 of the 28 seats to which Florida is entitled following the 2020 U.S. Census.
Federal Judge Orders Information on Florida’s Newest Bill Regulating Voting
A federal judge considering a constitutional challenge to a 2021 state elections law ordered attorneys Monday to quickly file briefs about the potential effects of a bill that the Legislature passed this month to make further changes in the elections system.
Mason-Dixon 2.0: Some States Make It Easier To Vote, Some Harder.
There’s been a good deal of crying foul about what are being called anti-democratic new state laws that make it harder to vote. But it turns out such laws might have little impact on voter turnout and vote margins in an election.
A Fringe Legal Theory Could Reshape State Election Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court this month left open the possibility that it could endorse a fringe conservative legal theory–the “independent state legislature doctrine”–that would give state legislatures unchecked powers over election rules before the 2024 presidential election.
‘Is Our Democracy At Risk?’ Answer Question in Flagler/Volusia ACLU Essay Contest; $850 in Prize Money
If you’re a high school student in Flagler or Volusia counties, here’s your chance to answer the question in an original essay of up to 2,000 words and participate in the ACLU of Florida’s annual essay contest, with cash prizes sponsored by FlaglerLive. The deadline is April 4.
8 Candidates, Most With Strong Credentials, Apply to Fill Palm Coast Council Seat Vacated by Barbosa
The eight applicants for appointment to the District 2 seat of the Palm Coast City Council are Tony Amaral Jr., Bob Coffman, John Fanelli, Larry Gross, Hung Hilton, Carl Jones Sr., Perry Mitrano and William Schreiber. The council meets in special session on March 22 to consider making the appointment, which must be final by the end of the month.
DeSantis and Florida Republicans Discover Their Inner Soviet
It’s been a grim few weeks. Democracy, human rights and free speech are under assault as they’ve not been in generations. Misinformation and fabrications are carpet-bombing reality. Thought policing is muzzling expression and rewriting history as a worship-jerk. Individual freedom is in retreat. Authoritarianism–bullying, vengeful, exultant–is triumphant.
Illinois Could Join Vermont, Maine and DC in Allowing Imprisoned Felons to Vote
Lawmakers in Oregon considered a similar bill in February which would have restored voting rights to roughly 12,000 to 15,000 incarcerated Oregonians, but the effort failed for the second time.
Bill Creating Elections Policing Squad, 1st of Its Kind in the U.S., Heads for Governor’s Signature
In part, the bill would create an Office of Election Crimes and Security in the Department of State. Also, it would require the governor, working with the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to appoint special FDLE officers to investigate allegations of election violations, with at least one officer in each region of the state.
Mealy and Newcomer Sherman Win in Flagler Beach, Incumbents Barnes and Schultz Win in Bunnell
Long-time Commissioner Jane Mealy, one of the city’s more popular elected officials for over a decade and a half, again won handily, with James Sherman second, while in Bunnell incumbents Bob Barnes and Tina-Marie Schultz won, surprising recently retired FHP Cpl. Pete Young, a distant third.
Trump Just Endorsed an Oath Keeper’s Plan to Seize Control of the Republican Party
The “precinct strategy” widely promoted by Steve Bannon has already inspired thousands of Trump supporters to fill local GOP positions, intent on preventing a “stolen election” despite endless evidence that there’s been no such thing.
Flagler Beach City Commission Election Profile: 2 Incumbents Speak Experience as a Newcomer Promises
The Flagler Woman’s Club on Tuesday hosted a forum for the three candidates running for Flagler Beach City Commission–incumbents Jane Mealy and Rick Belhumeur, and newcomer James Sherman. Here’s a complete report and analysis of the evening.
Beyond Ballot Suppression, Florida Lawmakers Are Shackling Voters’ Rights to Change Constitution
Floridians have relied on the ballot-initiative process in recent years to legalize medical marijuana, increase the minimum wage and limit the expansion of gambling in the state. Efforts like that may soon become much harder to pull off as Republican lawmakers aim to restrict the process.
Palm Coast Mayor and Council Call for 365% Pay Increase for Themselves, to $44,670 a Year
In a day of stunning developments, Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin capped a City Council meeting this evening by asking for a 365 percent pay raise for council members–from $9,600 to $44,670 a year–and for a similarly hefty raise for the mayor, to $44,670. The council went along, voting 3-1 to move forward with the proposal.
In Unusual Break with Meeting Customs, a Flagler Beach Commissioner Blasts Another Over Campaign Claims
Flagler Beach City Commissioner Ken Bryan described fellow-Commissioner Rick Belhumeur’s claims on the campaign trail of extravagant spending by the commission as “offensive” and “wrong” in statement unusually critical of a fellow commissioner–at a commission meeting. Bryan isn’t running in the March 8 election. Belhumeur is, and Bryan is backing a challenger.
The GOP Is Now Openly Aligned Against Democracy
Majorities of Republicans report believing the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen — something not even GOP-led investigations have found a shred of evidence for. And an alarming 40 percent of Republicans now say violence against the government is justified.
Florida’s New Elections Restrictions Are Driving Local Supervisors from Office
Some of the officials who supervise Florida elections are considering retiring under the threat of $25,000 fines if they make mistakes, according to testimony produced Tuesday in the federal trial over the GOP-dominated Legislature’s new voting restrictions.
Victor Barbosa Decides to Run for City Council Again, Abandoning County Commission Race Until 2026
In a nearly six-hour meeting rich in surprises and reversals, add Palm Coast City Council member Victor Barbosa’s decision to drop out of his run for the Flagler County Commission and seek to keep his seat on the council instead.
Canada Should Be Preparing for the End of American Democracy
As Canada’s closest neighbor fractures at the seams and slides toward dangerous forms of authoritarianism, we should be deeply worried. The worst-case scenario in the U.S. — blood in the streets — isn’t necessarily the most likely, but we ought to resist the tendency to assign too low a probability to events that could have serious, catastrophic consequences.
What I learned From Watching More than 500 Jan. 6 Videos
The Jan. 6 insurrection was brutal, and no amount of spin and obfuscation will alter that truth. Hundreds of videos prove that violence did not just occur sporadically as an extreme expression of the crowd’s displeasure but rather dominated the mob’s collective energy. The full weight of the crime that occurred on Jan. 6 is hard for Americans to measure because it is hard to imagine it could have occurred in America.
Supreme Court Rejects DeSantis Request on Cutting Up Congressional District Held by Black Democrat
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denied a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis for an advisory opinion about his proposal to revamp a sprawling North Florida congressional district that has been held by a Black Democrat.
The Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol Was Not ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’
When Trump urged the Ellipse crowd to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell,” his words transformed an occasion of legitimate political discourse into an anti-democratic violent insurrection. The result was real physical violence.” Several people died and many were injured.
Shut Up, Floridians: Sweeping Bill Would Criminalize Protests Near Politicians’ Homes, Parks, Sidewalks
Protesters would be banned from picketing in front of the governor’s house, that of politicians or any residences. The prohibition would apply not only to private property but would extend to public parks, sidewalks and rights-of-way.
In Trial Over Florida’s New Voting Law, Past Suppressions at Ballot Box Reverberate Anew
Post-Reconstruction history, first-hand narrative and statistics have laid the foundation this week in a legal challenge to a state election law that plaintiffs say will curtail Black and Hispanic Floridians’ ability to cast ballots and register to vote.
Florida House Completes Work on Its Own Voting Districts as Litigation Looms
The Florida House voted along party lines to approve a redistricting plan for itself and asked the state Senate to go along amid lingering uncertainty over the fate of congressional redistricting generated when Gov. Ron DeSantis got involved.
League of Women Voters President Blasts Florida’s Shackling Voting Law on 1st Day of Trial
League of Women Voters of Florida President Cecile Scoon testified Monday in federal court that Florida’s new election laws — adopted in 2021 Senate Bill 90 — makes voter-registration drives, voting by mail, and rendering basic assistance to voters in line needlessly difficult, resulting in voting suppression.
Republicans’ Historical Amnesia on Voting Rights
A Trumpified Republican Party that’s left the legacy of Abraham Lincoln far behind, is still flipping Democrats the Byrd as it stands steadfastly in the way of the voting rights legislation that’s now slowly and torturously making its way through Congress.
Bunnell Mayor Robinson Re-Elected; Ex-Commissioner, Police Chief and FHP Trooper Pete Young Runs Again
Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson, in office for all but two of the last 26 years, won another three-year term as mayor, and Pete Young, a former Bunnell commissioner and police chief, will run for a city commission seat, with two incumbents. Two Beverly Beach commissioners were reelected without opposition, but two Flagler Beach incumbents face one challenger in the March 8 municipal elections.
Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Blocking of Jan. 6 Documents: 3 Takeaways
In a legal blow for Donald Trump, the Supreme Court has indicated a willingness to protect a constitutional system that can ensure transparency and accountability by legitimizing legislative branch oversight over the executive.
GOP Lawmakers Back Prohibition on Innumerable Ballot Initiatives
Florida voters in recent years have approved high-profile initiatives about issues such as raising the minimum wage and broadly legalizing medical marijuana. Such initiatives would be barred in the future if the House proposal is ultimately approved.
Floridians for Solar Choice Renews Ballot Initiative
Floridians for Solar Choice is organizing a massive statewide effort to collect the required petitions to get the initiative on the ballot. The language has already passed the Florida Supreme Court’s review.
Actually, Y’All, Some of Us Would Prefer Facts with Our Politics
In the first speech of his 2024 presidential campaign, not-so-cunningly disguised as the “State of the State” address, Ron DeSantis declared, We have made Florida the freest state in these United States. He just hopes you don;t look behind the syrup.
NPR’s Deft Interview of a Totalitarian Liar
Donald Trump has an iron grip on his cultish party, so it’d be a dereliction of duty to ignore him – and the existential threat he represents. But by indulging him in an interview, does that not give him more oxygen? Steve Inskeep at NPR found a way Monday to thread the needle, argues Dick Polman.
The Party of January 6
Trumpism, which started out as a simple-minded rejection of the status quo, has become something else: a thorough rejection of democratic procedures and a darkly conspiratorial hatred of federal power. This corrosive ideology is now orthodoxy within the Republican Party, and that party remains just popular enough to win back Congress this year and, potentially, the White House in 2024.
See the Truth, America, Biden Urges as he Blasts Trump’s ‘Dagger at the Throat of Democracy’
Biden’s speech of Jan. 6, 2022, is of interest not only because of the circumstances that led to its being necessary, but also because of the visual language it employed. The speech expressed a powerful faith in the plain truth. It asked Americans to believe their own eyes. That reflects a long philosophical tradition in Western culture equating sight or light with the truth.
Incumbents a Crowd as Qualifying Soon Closes in Flagler Beach, Bunnell and Beverly Beach for March Elections
For an off-year, 2022 will not be short of elections in Flagler County, starting with elections in Flagler Beach, Bunnell and Beverly Beach on March 8. A combined seven incumbents in the three municipalities are making a play to keep their seats, and absent additional candidates filing to run, Bunnell and Beverly Beach could end up with uncontested elections.
Not All Polarization Is Bad, But the US Could Be in Trouble
For the first time, the United States has been classified as a “backsliding democracy” in a global assessment of democratic societies by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an intergovernmental research group. One key reason the report cites is the continuing popularity among Republicans of false allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Sore Loser Effect: Rejecting Election Results Drives Terrorism and Hobbles Democracy
Acceptance of electoral defeat, something political scientists call “loser’s consent,” is essential for stability and order in democracies. It’s fragile. When it is broken–when losing politicians in democracies refuse to accept election results–citizens begin to see terrorism as more acceptable and domestic terrorism increases.
Trump Troll Chronicles: Bob Woodward’s Peril
Bob Woodward’s and Robert Costa’s “Peril,” third in the trilogy of Woodward’s books on the Trump administration, isn’t history. It’s most revealing in what it does not say. It’s tragicomedy. It’s a chronicle of trash foretold. And it’s prediction. The worst is ahead.
Liberal Flagellant: George Packer’s Last Best Hope
George Packer’s “The Last best Hope,” published in June, attempts to explain how the United States devolved into the furies of Donald Trump’s last year–the pandemic, the BLM marches, the Jan. 6 insurrection–by diagnosing four separate Americas that no longer communicate. It’s a dour, guilt-ridden book by a liberal looking for penance in all the wrong places.
A Few Magnificent Things That Happened in 2021
It would be easy to survey the end of 2021 and see another year in wreckage. There’s the pandemic that won’t end. Rising inflation. Climate disasters. A democracy that looks creakier by the day. But there’s unusual comfort out there.
New York City Will Allow 800,000 Non-Citizens Right to Vote in Local Elections
Nationwide, 14 municipalities allow noncitizens to vote, including two Vermont cities that approved similar measures earlier this year. San Francisco allows noncitizens to vote in school board elections, while nine Maryland towns permit noncitizen voting in local elections.
Flagler County Judge Andrea Totten Announces 2022 Election Run to Keep Seat Created in 2019
Appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to a newly created County Court seat in Flagler in 2019, Judge Andrea Totten announced she will run for the seat’s full six-year term in next August’s election. In her two-year tenure she has established herself as a sharp, serious, unassuming and compassionate judge.
DeSantis Pitches Election-Year Budget Just Shy of $100 Billion, With Big Subsidies from Federal Aid
Saying that Florida is “clicking on all cylinders,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday proposed an election-year $99.7 billion budget that would funnel money to education, the environment and law-enforcement officers while giving motorists a temporary gas-tax break thanks to federal subsidies.
Voters Approved Nonpartisan School Boards 23 Years Ago. GOP Lawmakers Want That to Change.
Florida’s local school boards, which oversee public school districts in 67 counties, are currently nonpartisan. That goes back more than 20 years, following a ballot initiative in November 1998. At that time, voters approved allowing school board members to be nonpartisan. GOP lawmakers are pushing to overhaul those boards by requiring elections to be partisan.