Florida Politics

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FLORIDA POLITICS

Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

Older posts [back to 2002]

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The Blog for Thursday, October 29, 2015

Senate approves new map

Florida Senate narrowly approves new Senate map

Senate approves district map in tense session

Latvala says Gaetz owes Floridians an apology

"A leading candidate to be the next Senate president wants Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, to apologize to the people of Florida for mishandling redistricting efforts in 2012."

Lawmakers convened their third special session on redistricting Monday. A coalition of voters groups had filed suit complaining the Legislature violated an anti-gerrymandering law when they drew new statehouse and congressional districts following the 2010 census. The Senate ended the lawsuit by conceding it had violated the constitution.
Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said he is surprised that the man who is responsible for the debacle is not being held accountable.

Latvala: people of Florida owed an apology

Jeb! Belittles Liberal Arts

"Jeb Bush Has a Bad Habit of Belittling Liberal Arts Degrees, Even Though He Has One."

To Replace Rubio

"Export-Import Bank Factors in Race to Replace Marco Rubio in the Senate."

"What's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the Sunshine State"

Marc Caputo: "‘Jedi’ Marco ‘rocked’ Jeb – Hillary’s low-info voters – Naked politics on the beach – SeaWorld’s undue influence? – exploding cigarette threat." "Florida Playbook."

Seminole Tribe sues Florida

"Seminole Tribe sues the state despite progress in gaming talks."

Florida's empty suits debate who is lazier

"Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio at the debate Getty Verbatim: What happened when Jeb and Marco went toe-to-toe last night." See also "Marco Rubio deflects question on missed votes as Jeb Bush goes on attack | Video" and "Fact-checking the Republican CNBC debate."

"The new abolitionists"

"Critics of the Florida Standards Assessment came out in full force to voice their distaste for the statewide education standards at the State Board of Education meeting Wednesday in Orlando."

Wendy Bradshaw, a former Polk County teacher who resigned last week, said she was frustrated that public schools no longer promoted a “love of learning,” instead opting to reinvent the wheel and take a different path.
“Professional educators have been leaving the [education] field at an alarming rate because of these misguided reforms, and that is a problem for you [board members] because your edicts are not what results in student success,” she said. “Teachers, parents and students working together is what results in student success.”
Bradshaw told board members the reason why there was a teacher shortage is because people are “waking up” and realizing the high-stakes testing system is not fair to students.
Similar concerns have led many to join an “opt out” movement which, if successful, would allow parents to withdraw their students from taking the standardized test. Opting out has gathered significant support.
One opt-out parent said Florida was witnessing a “new Jim Crow era” due to high-stakes standardized testing.
“We are the new abolitionists,” she said of her fellow opt-out supporters.

Opt Out Movement to State Board of Education: Get Rid of the FSA