When Jeremy Ring first moved to Florida from New York City, he hated it. He said so in the prologue in his 2017 memoir, We were Yahoo! But since he moved to Fort Lauderdale in 2001, Ring found a rekindled affinity for the state. He served Parkland as a state senator from 2006 to 2016 and…
DetailsActivists who believe in second changes mailed postcards to voters today-the day Vote By Mail ballots were sent out by the Charlotte County Supervisor of Elections. The group has helped the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition increase voter turnout for Amendment 4, which would restore eligibility to vote for people with prior felony convictions, excluding murderers…
DetailsTime to reel back the insanely premature chatter about Andrew Gillum starting to leave Ron DeSantis in the dust in Florida’s governor’s race. On the heels of a Sept. 20-24 Quinnipiac University poll showing Democrat Gillum leading Republican DeSantis by 9 percentage points, a new Mason-Dixon poll shows Gillum drawing 46 percent support and DeSantis…
DetailsEditor’s note: The Sun’s account of Monday night’s election appeared in the Wednesday edition. Charlotte County Democrats received the news on CharlotteDems.com Monday night, only minutes after the election was completed. CharlotteDems Newsletter subscribers received the breaking news in their inboxes at 5:00 AM on Tuesday. These are compelling reasons to check our Web site frequently…
DetailsWalt Disney Co. and the Seminole Tribe of Florida are pumping money into efforts to support Amendment 3, which would give voters the final say on whether to expand gambling in the sunshine state. Disney has given the most money to Voters in Charge, the group that is supporting the amendment—$19.6 million; the Seminole Tribe…
DetailsHow to Watch the Debate The debate will be broadcast in Spanish at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the Telemundo stations in Miami, Orlando, Naples, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach. It also can be seen online at Telemundo51.com, Telemundo31.com, and Telemundo49. com. It will be streamed in English at nbcmiami.com. After months of battling across…
DetailsA Charlotte County commissioner will face a Democratic opponent for the first time in 10 years in the Nov. 6 election. Two-term incumbent and Republican Stephen R. Deutsch will face Democrat Joan V. Fischer to decide the District 4 seat. Deutsch narrowly defeated a Republican opponent, Thomas Sullivan, in the August primary. (Read more in Sun)
DetailsThe Florida Democratic Party has asked a federal judge to order a further delay in the selection of a candidate to replace April Freeman as the party’s nominee for the open seat in the 17th Congressional District. Arguments were scheduled for noon today at U.S. District Court in Tampa on whether candidates who sought a different…
DetailsPuerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló ended months of equivocation and endorsed Democratic U.S. Sen Bill Nelson for re-election Monday, calling him “an enormous fighter” for the island — while sparking rebuke from some Puerto Rican supporters of his Republican opponent, Gov. Rick Scott. (Read more in OrlandoSentinel.com)
DetailsBill Nelson leading Rick Scott by 4 points in latest poll The turnaround may be real for incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, as he is leading Republican challenger Rick Scott in yet another poll. The newest Public Policy Polling survey puts Nelson up 4 points against Scott, the outgoing Florida Governor. (Read more in FloridaPolitics.com) Another poll, another lead…
DetailsFive years ago, the federal government shut down. And on Monday, three Florida Democrats reminded Florida media of Ron DeSantis‘ role in “masterminding” it. DeSantis, now the Republican nominee for Governor, was in his first term representing Florida’s 6th Congressional District at the time. And he and his Tea Party colleagues were uniquely positioned to exact…
DetailsNikki Fried, the Democratic candidate for the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, sent a clear message to the National Rifle Association Monday morning: “I won’t be beholden to you.”
The message comes in the form of a signed letter to NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer. Fried says the letter was prompted by a Tampa Bay Times report that unveiled emails exchanged between Hammer and officials within the agriculture commissioner’s office.
DetailsFlorida’s Gov. Rick Scott was a political unknown before he ran for governor eight years ago and rode into office on the tea party wave. Reelected in 2014, the term-limited state leader wants to move to the national stage. Floridians should say No. There is too much at stake for Florida — and the nation…
DetailsLate August, we were fortunate to have a full-time coordinator, Jake Burbach. Jake was sent by the State Florida Democratic Party to help us with staffing the office and organize voter outreach. He had helped us for a few weeks when the Democratic Party decided Jake was needed more in Lee County and he was…
DetailsAhead in the polls, a confident Andrew Gillum predicted victory in the Florida governor’s race Saturday night during a soiree at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. “We’re gonna flip this country blue in 2018 and it’s gonna start right here,” Gillum, the 39-year-old mayor of Tallahassee, said confidently during a gala for the Miami-Dade…
DetailsThe field of potential candidates for Congressional District 17 includes four who applied to the Florida Democratic Party by the Friday noon deadline: Eileen Game of Avon Park, Allen Ellison of Sebring, Christopher Cause of Davenport, and Greg Pilkington of Indian Lake Estates. Surprisingly, April Freeman’s opponent in the Democratic Primary, Bill Pollard, was not…
DetailsA Florida State law written more than a half-century ago is telling Democrats who they can and cannot pick to replace the late April Freeman in the election against right-wing Republican Greg Steube. A Federal judge is now weighing whether that ancient law will deny the Party the choice of highly-qualified candidates. Charlotte County Democratic Party…
DetailsWe have known April Freeman from her campaigns for Congress in 2016 and this year. She made a favorable impression on people she met for her detailed knowledge of grass roots politics at the local level, and her tenacious commitment to give voice to the average person. On a personal level, she made whomever she…
DetailsFlorida Democratic Party officials have been forced to delay selection of a replacement candidate in the election of FL US Representative Dist. 17 until at least Monday. United States District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich ordered the delay at the request of two potential candidates, Pam Keith, and Roy David Walker. The delay was announced during a 10…
DetailsA U.S. District Court judge has ordered the Florida Democratic Party to hold off picking a new candidate for Congress to replace April Freeman, who died last week. Candidate Pam Keith, who is suing to overturn a state law that prohibits her from running, said a temporary restraining order issued late Friday will give her the…
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