A cavalcade of Hummers and F-150s headed down to the University of Miami on Saturday. They contained scantily clad female models bearing bullhorns, beer pong tables and boxes of pizza. Bros instantly materialized, got drunk and danced to the sounds of DJ Joey. And because no tailgate would be complete…
Last Tuesday, Miami Beach voters overwhelming voted in favor a symbolic vote for medical marijuana and a real vote to approve a queer- and trans-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance. It’s not exactly conservative-land. So it seems strange that a mysterious e-mail went out recently attacking commission candidate Michael Grieco for *gasp* living…
Philip Levine managed to narrowly avoid a runoff in Tuesday’s dramatic Miami Beach mayoral election, and because that margin was so low (just 0.47 percent), state laws mandated an automatic recount. The results of that recount are now in, and Levine is now officially mayor-elect. No runoff against Michael Gongora…
Shortly after Charlie Crist announced he’d be running for governor as a Democrat on Monday, word came that he’d be doing his first big cable news interview as a candidate on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. Crist was likely hoping this would be a chance to raise his national profile…
This year has not been kind to Marco Rubio. It began with talk of Florida’s junior senator being the savior of the GOP. But then the prodigal son got parched on national television, and his insipid immigration reform was roundly rejected by fellow Republicans. In recent months, Rubio has begun…
Good morning Miami Beach. Are you feeling sore and tired from swilling too many flutes of celebratory champagne last night? Are you surprised to find yourself wearing a campaign T-shirt altered to say “Philip Levine Latrine”? Is your living room floor littered with more flyers than a Free Tibet rally?…
Today voters across the county went to the polls for elections in Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah and Homestead as well as a county-wide referendum concerning funding for Jackson Memorial Hospital. As always, we’ll be keeping an update post on those results as they come back. We’ll update results at the…
Since at least 2004, Club Madonna owner Leroy Griffith has been clamoring to overturn a ban on adult entertainment venues serving alcohol on South Beach. It’s unfair, he says, that he has to serve ARIEL wine and O’Doul’s at his strip joint when others across the causeway can be one-stop-shops…
Well, Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist officially announced he’s running for his old Governor gig again this morning, cementing one of the more improbable political evolutions in Florida history. Crist’s name instantly started trending on Twitter, and the Twitoverse isn’t sure what to make of the announcement. See also: Is Charlie Crist…
On Monday it becomes official. After more than a year of speculations, Charlie Crist is reportedly set to announce he’s running for Governor as a Democrat. What was once Florida’s biggest political “What if?” scenario is actually happening…
Back in 2007, the city of Opa-locka made headlines by passing an ordinance aimed directly at the hip-hop trend of sagging your pants so low that half of your boxer shorts are on public display. Any man caught exposing his underwear in public could be fined $250. Now the city…
Bill Nelson finally dragged his feet to supporting a bill that prevent job discrimination for LGBT citizens, but his fellow Florida senator, Marco Rubio, continues to sip on some watered-down Anita Bryant-style orange juice and has reiterated his opposition to the bill. What’s his excuse? Oh, a bunch of things…
Aside from Senator Bill Nelson, former CFO Alex Sink is the only Democrat to get elected statewide in Florida in recent memory, which makes her one of the party’s highest profile pols. She ran a close race with Rick Scott for governor in 2010, opted out of a rematch, and…
Last month, Riptide revealed Michael Góngora’s shady connections to a smear campaign launched against his rivals for mayor of Miami Beach. Now the man targeted by those attacks ads is hitting back, filing complaints and a lawsuit against his detractors. Philip Levine, a self-made millionaire who has spent at least…
Up until this morning Florida’s Bill Nelson was one of just three Democrats left in the Senate who didn’t support the Employee Non-Discrimination Act. After Equality Florida launched a “twitterbomb” on him last week though, Nelson announced he’d sign on as a co-sponsor…
City of Miami residents won’t be given much of a choice when it comes to exercising their right to democracy during the November 5th mayoral elections. Despite an early fund-raising lead, commissioner Francis Suarez dropped out due to some minor campaign hickups and his wife’s pregnancy, leaving the city without…
If there’s any doubt that former Republican governor Charlie Crist will challenge Rick Scott as a Democrat next year, Crist’s new online ad released with the relaunch of his website should erase that uncertainty. It’s not technically a campaign ad, because Crist hasn’t officially announced his candidacy, but it sure…
Pollo Tropical. Snapper. TGIF Friday’s. Dunkin Donuts. McDonald’s. Miami City Commission candidate Richard Dunn loves him some food. And, according to yesterday’s campaign finance report — which arrived three weeks late — he will spend, and spend freely when it comes to terrible food. While other candidates sashay and schmooze…
Since July, one petition has been Florida dope-smokers’ great white hope. By August, People United for Medical Marijuana had already collected 100,000 signatures from people who favor medicinal weed. That milestone meant an amendment to legalize medical marijuana would appear before the Florida Supreme Court. By the latest count three…
Something is rotten in Miami Beach. Construction is soaring in Sunset Harbour. Lincoln Road is log-jammed with tourists. And Art Basel once again approaches like a billion-dollar beast ready to take a platinum piss all over SoBe. But underneath all of this commerce is the cloying odor of corruption and…
Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi has been doing a lot of fundraising lately, but she hasn’t drawn a Democrat opponent yet. Well, George Sheldon, who most recently was an undersecretary in President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services, has announced he’ll run, setting up a duel that could focus…
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi just got a big, fat $25,000 contribution to her reelection PAC from one of Donald Trump’s foundations. Which is sort of odd, because many feel Bondi’s office should follow the lead of New York’s attorney general and investigate Trump’s shady online “Trump University.”…
