Charlie Crist hasn’t even won the Democratic primary yet, but he’s already picked his general election running mate. Crist tapped Annette Taddeo-Goldstein, a Miami businesswoman who has made a few unsuccessful runs at office before and now is the chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Democrats and vice chair of the state…
When LeBron James announced he’s heading back to Cleveland, most high-profile Floridians responded with understanding and gratitude for what he accomplished here. Gov. Rick Scott, of all people, was one of the lone exceptions. In a cheap attack that’s as insulting to Floridians’ intelligence as it is completely idiotic, his…
What interesting timing. Just hours after LeBron James announced he was heading back home to Cleveland, allegedly crooked politician David Rivera had an announcement of his own. Rivera suspended his quixotic campaign to regain his seat in the U.S. House that he lost two years ago amidst scandal, and announced…
“Gerrymandering” is a big, strange word, but in Florida it describes a simple enough problem: The state’s legislative districts are so artificially drawn that one of the nation’s most purple electorates has a lockstep Republican state house that will never face a serious challenge. Four years ago, voters backed change…
David Rivera is a free man and running for his old congressional seat that he lost to Democrat Joe Garcia in the last election cycle. Justin Lamar Sternad, the man many suspect Rivera used as a ringer in the Democratic primary against Garcia, will spend the next seven months behind…
The photo is reminiscent of a poster for The Sopranos. Three men dressed in natty suits with slicked-back hair saunter down a dimly lit, brick-paved alley. They leave little room to pass. It seems like they are intentionally blocking someone’s path. The pretty boy on the left scrunches his face…
Florida’s first openly gay legislator will return to Tallahassee next year… because his GOP opponent’s filing fee check bounced. So much for Republican fiscal responsibility. David Richardson, who represents a district that includes parts of Miami Beach and the City of Miami, was elected to the house in 2012 as…
How dumb is the continued refusal of Florida’s GOP-dominated legislature to accept the federally funded Medicaid expansion? So dumb that even Gov. Rick Scott — who essentially ran on an anti-Obamacare platform — reversed course last year and admitted, yeah, a state full of uninsured poor folks probably should let…
Just days after launching a radio ad in the Orlando market blaming Charlie Crist for “for a lost generation of African-Americans,” the mysterious political group Progressive Voice is back with a new ad running in North Florida that calls one of Crist’s marquee political efforts as a Republican state legislator…
We’re still five months away from when Florida elects a new governor, but the latest round of advertisements in the race have gotten ugly. Florida Republicans are urging television stations not to air a new ad from Democrats highlighting the legal problems of Scott’s former companies. Meanwhile, a racially tinged…
Rick Scott, a man who ran the first time around on a later abandoned platform of bringing Arizona-style immigration laws to Florida, is now desperate to get the Hispanic vote in November. Someone at Scott reelection HQ noticed that Hispanics tend to like soccer, and with this whole World Cup…
Earlier this month, disgraced ex-Congressman David Rivera got whacked by a state judge who found “corrupt intent” in the way he’d double-billed his campaign and fudged his spending records. His surprise bid to win the Republican primary for his old seat, meanwhile, has been stalled in the water with virtually…
The United States now has its first openly gay black federal judge, and he’s from South Florida. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Darrin P. Gayles’ nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida was approved by the Senate today in a 97-0 vote. Gayles was nominated…
One of the hazards of having a governor who financed his way into office with his own immense fortune is that he probably has money stashed in all kinds of places that conflict with his political decisions. That certainly applies to our own magnate-turned-leader. New disclosures this morning show that…
Florida now officially recognizes marijuana as a substance with medical benefits — well, at least in some very narrow cases. As expected, Gov. Rick Scott signed the “Charlotte’s Web” bill into law today. The bill allows certain strains of noneuphoric marijuana tincture to be used to treat a very short…
via Miami-Dade School BoardCarlos Cubelo, left, at a high school pep rallyFor years, Florida’s 26th U.S. Congressional District has been defined less by politics than by outright scandal. Two years ago, Republican David Rivera lost the seat amid revelations that he had funded a shadow campaign in the Democratic primary…
David Beckham’s downtown stadium is dead in the water, but Miami’s second-most contentious bayfront proposal is very much alive and kicking. Developer Jeff Berkowitz’s 1,000-foot tall paperclip, the SkyRise Miami tower, could be on a ballot for city voters as early as August. But first the city commission has to…
Need more proof that spending dump trucks full of cash can win elections in America? Take a look at Florida’s percolating governor’s race, where Rick Scott — yes, the same guy who has had trouble cracking 30 percent approval ratings for the past four years — has suddenly pulled even…
A poll in May found 88 percent of Florida voters supported medical marijuana. A March poll showed support at 74 percent. One from November had support at 82 percent. So a bipartisan poll released today showing that only 70 percent of Floridians plan to vote to legalize medical marijuana in…
South Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schutlz may be chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, but when it comes to medical marijuana she sure sounds like a Republican. Wasserman Schultz aired her “concerns” today about the ballot initiative that would legalize medical marijuana in Florida by claiming that it may be…
The most important constituents to Florida Republicans are old people and gun nuts, but what happens when these two groups come in conflict? The Colbert Report dug deep last night on residents of Big Pine Key, hardworking people who just want to enjoy a bit of peace and tranquility without…
Hillary Clinton’s coronation party will not be held in Miami. Local leaders have decided to drop their bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, citing lack of time to prepare a competitive package. Though, organizers still have an eye on hosting a party convention in 2020. See also: Miami…
