Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) set a new 2022 gubernatorial campaign fundraising record. During April, DeSantis raised approximately $10.5 million. Around $2.3 million was raised by his reelection campaign and $8.2 million was raised by DeSantis’ political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis.
In total, DeSantis has raised over $113 million for the election cycle, which is over 10 times the amount of his next closest competitor, Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13).
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Earlier this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill that established November 7 as the “Victims of Communism Day” where Florida will honor the hundreds of millions “who suffered under communist regimes across the world.”
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Attorneys representing the State of Florida, particularly Secretary of State Laurel Lee, issued an 18-page document consisting of their arguments against the groups filing suit. Leon County Circuit Judge Layne Smith is scheduled to hear a request for a temporary injunction to block the maps from proceeding.
Much of the focus of the redistricting process has been centered around District 5 currently held by Congressman Al Lawson (D-FL-5). Civil rights groups and Lawson have said that the new map backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “infected by racial discrimination” for eliminating a historic minority majority voting district.
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Florida’s two likely gubernatorial candidates have had successful months in preparation for the 2022 election. Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) pulled in another $1 million during the month of April and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) finished second in a hypothetical GOP presidential poll in North Carolina.
Crist issued a press release and indicated the million-dollar month was from contributions from both his campaign and his Friends of Charlie Crist political committee. It is unclear how much money is coming from each entity. However, individual donors who give less than $50 consist of approximately 44,000 of the contributions and the large donations are funneled through the political committee.
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Florida is once again at the center of a Twitter war, this time by an Orlando pension fund attempting to slow its purchase after Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state was looking into ways it can potentially “hold accountable” Twitter’s board of directors.
The city of Orlando’s Police Pension Fund filed a class action lawsuit May 6 in an attempt to block or slow the sale of Twitter. It argues Delaware law prevents billionaire Elon Musk from immediately purchasing Twitter because it alleges he’s “an invested stockholder.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis, when suggesting President Joe Biden’s economic policies will “plunge the United States into a recession,” says Florida will be prepared.
At a news conference this week announcing funding for flood control and water management projects in Lee County, he said that while inflation continues to worsen, Florida’s economy is strong, with revenue exceeding expectations.
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Former President Donald Trump announced that he is endorsing Kevin Cabrera for the Miami-Dade County Commission in District 6.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed the largest tax relief bill in Florida history, delivering $1.2 billion in savings to Floridians.
DeSantis signed HB 7071 into law, which includes permanent tax relief through a range of sales tax exemptions, corporate income tax credit expansions, and ad valorem tax and exemption provisions. They are expected to generate an additional $190 million in tax savings over two years and $140 million annually thereafter.
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A Republican U.S. Congressman from Florida Thursday issued a letter, signed by 170 colleagues, to the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after that executive branch agency announced the formation of a chilling new board aimed at tackling “disinformation.”
“The creation of this Disinformation Governance Board is an alarming attempt by the Biden administration to use the Department as a political tool,” said Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL-15) of the letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “DHS has no business determining what is and is not disinformation. This ‘Ministry of Truth’ will undermine the public’s confidence in the Department’s mission to protect the homeland and will tarnish its reputation. This is especially concerning as Americans continue to suffer a drug epidemic and have safety concerns with DHS’s failure to properly secure our border.”
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Recent data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) shows abortions numbers are down in Florida from year-to-year. Records indicate there have been just over 16,500 abortions so far in 2022, and if the trend continues, would be a 38 percent decrease from 2021.
During 2021, there were 79,811 abortions, which was a 6.6 percent increase from 2020. The data also showed that the overwhelming majority of abortions performed were elective which backs up other data points from across the country.
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Florida state Representative Jason Shoaf is calling for the removal of a Leon County middle school principal after the principal posted on Facebook that parents are “getting in our way.” Shoaf’s call for action is in response to a media report about comments in a Facebook post by Sarah Hembree, the principal of Elizabeth Cobb middle school, is located in Leon County.
On Tuesday, Tallahassee Reports published a story about the Facebook post by Hembree which stated in part, “Today I say – Parents, Quit pushing for stupid bills and getting in our way…schools are going to do what’s best for your students in spite of you..”
The “Quit pushing for stupid bills” statement appears to be a reference to the Parental Rights in Education bill that was recently signed into law by Governor DeSantis.
Hembree added that teachers “want to decide what they teach in their classroom based on the needs of the students in front of them….I am SO TIRED of being told we don’t know what we are doing or that we are messing with parents’ rights.”
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In the wake of the national news that an initial draft of a United States Supreme Court decision had been leaked to the public indicating the high court’s intentions to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case, Florida officials have both been chanting and jeering the news. Florida’s anti-abortion politicians have said this could be a good indicator, while pro-abortionists are worried this will lead to more restrictive abortion laws.
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Democrat operatives are continually showing signs that they feel they cannot win in Florida in the 2022 gubernatorial election observing that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seems “unstoppable.” A recent report from Politico showed that Democrats in Florida and Washington, D.C. are not feeling confident, the latter determining how many resources will be sent to the Sunshine State to attempt to unseat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), once again, made a plea for the Florida Legislature to get a constitutional carry bill to his desk. He made the promise to get the policy push done by the time he is no longer governor and even floated the idea of a special session to get it done.
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In a question-and-answer article with the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) said President Joe Biden (D) will go down as “one of the best [presidents] we’ve ever had.” His comments come as he has become the Democrat frontrunner for the 2022 Florida Democrat gubernatorial primary.
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Kevin Cate, the campaign consultant for Florida gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, recently noted the Republican electoral advantage facing Democrats running for statewide office. Cate previously worked on the 2014 Charlie Crist campaign and the 2018 Andrew Gillum campaign for Florida governor.
In a series of tweets, Cate provided his “perspective on the Florida Democratic primary for Governor and the general election environment.”
Cate tweeted, ” I cannot stress enough how tough of an environment the general will be.”
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was a featured guest on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle hosted by Laura Ingraham and said his administration is working on additional legislation to address Disney’s tax status after the Florida Legislature repealed the 1960s-era law that established the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The district allowed Disney to operate relatively autonomously with the ability to tax at its own rate, provide its own police, and supervise its own utilities. Florida Republicans have indicated that the repeal of the improvement district was long overdue.
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Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives this week are working to force a floor vote a bill authored by a Florida Congressman that would ban biological males from competing in female athletics.
“I, Jim Banks, move to discharge the Committee on Education and Labor from the consideration of the bill (H.R. 426) entitled, a bill to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth, which was referred to said committee January 21st, 2021, in support of which motion the undersigned Members of the House of Representatives affix their signatures…” said a Discharge Petition authored by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN-03).
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was a featured guest with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and participated in a Q&A segment. In it, DeSantis tells some of the back story behind the recently signed Parental Rights in Education bill as well as deriding Californians for their main export being ideology.
DeSantis specifically pointed out the number of California companies who are moving to states like Texas and Florida and who are bringing their employees with them.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill earlier Monday related to election integrity. The Florida Legislature prioritized the legislation in order to ensure Florida’s elections process is safe and secure.
DeSantis signed SB 524, which creates an Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Florida Department of State and will “investigate election law violations and increasing penalties for violations of election laws.”
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In what appears to be a racially-motivated attack, a member of the Florida House of Representatives attacked conservative commentator Candace Owens for her support of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
“He knows how to break the law, violate constitutional rights, lie and bully. There I fixed it for you @RealCandaceO You should be ashamed of what #DeSantisDestroysFlorida is doing to Black communities in Florida. But of course…get them coins girls,” said State Rep. Angie Nixon (D-District 14) on Twitter.
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In a video circulated across social media sites, Florida Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) referred to supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as “toothless.” Crist is trying to outlast other Democrat candidates for the 2022 Florida gubernatorial nomination to eventually face off against DeSantis in the November general election.
In the video, Crist is speaking at an event and said DeSantis is trying to score “political points.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 7 into law Friday, the first bill in the nation that bans “corporate wokeness” and Critical Race Theory from being used or taught in the workplace and public classrooms.
The bill includes provisions to prevent discriminatory instruction in the workplace and in public schools and defines individual freedoms “based on the fundamental truth that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights,” the governor’s office said.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) recommended Florida State Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. (R – Hialeah Gardens) to succeed current Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. Corcoran himself was a former Florida House Speaker who is seeking to spend time with family and announced his resignation effective at the end of April.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Friday to strip Walt Disney World’s special status that granted the amusement park broad powers to self-govern.
The old agreement, which took place in 1967, has permitted the venue to work as a quasi-governmental agency and maintain the same authority as a county government.
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A number of Florida’s House Democrats staged a protest on the floor of the Florida House to voice their opposition to Republicans’ efforts around congressional redistricting yesterday. Due to the protest, the Florida House’s procedures were temporarily halted. However, the protest was short-lived, and the House proceeded to approve Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) proposed congressional map.
The Florida Senate had already approved the map, and the House was the map’s final stop.
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Florida’s governor Tuesday signed into law a bill that will increase transparency into the curriculum at state-funded colleges, as well as updated guidelines for tenured faculty members.
SB 7044, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R), ensures that colleges are openly disclosing textbooks, syllabi, and other course-related material on their websites. This way, the bill says, prospective students, as well as parents, can see what students are being taught.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) are both taking shots at President Joe Biden’s administration simultaneously. While each official’s reasoning for opposition to the Biden administration is rooted in different policy priorities, it shows a unique circumstance in which Fried and DeSantis, who are usually at opposite ends of the spectrum, are directing their angst to Washington.
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The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) provided guidance Wednesday on treating gender dysphoria for children and adolescents in response to information recently provided by the federal government.
The FDOH press release noted that “gender dysphoria is characterized by a strong, persistent cross-gender identification associated with anxiety, depression, irritability, and often a wish to live as a gender different from the one associated with the sex assigned at birth.”
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo issued a statement criticizing the federal directives.
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Numerous Florida Democrats and officials criticized the Florida Legislature’s process to approve the new congressional maps as the legislature reconvened Monday. Legislative leaders, last week announced they would be working on the new maps entirely proposed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R) office and would not be creating their own.
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In what is being viewed as an escalation in the conflict between Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and The Walt Disney Company, the Florida governor has called a special legislative session to review a 1968 law – designed for the company – that allows it to govern itself.
According to a proclamation from the governor’s office, “it is necessary to review such independent special districts to ensure that they are appropriately serving the public interest,” and that it is “also necessary to consider whether such independent special districts should be subject to special law requirements of the Florida Constitution of 1968.”
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At a recent Leon County School Board meeting, Superintendent Rocky Hanna used a misleading CNN fact-check to publicly criticize Governor DeSantis’ rationale for the Parental Rights in Education bill, while ignoring facts related to a lawsuit filed against the school district.
The CNN fact-check uses selective comments from a DeSantis press conference, related to an incident which took place at a Leon County middle school, to question the rationale for the Parental Rights in Education bill.
The incident involved the failure of school officials to notify parents about a meeting with their daughter concerning gender issues. The parents have filed a federal lawsuit against the Leon County School Board.
Hanna, reading DeSantis’s comments from the CNN fact-check, said that “none of this happened, none of this is true, it is all fabricated…”
While DeSantis’s comments about the specifics of the incident were partly inaccurate, Hanna ignored facts that were consistent with the comments made by DeSantis.
What Hanna did not reveal in his comments to the school board is that school officials initiated an interview with the student as part of a “Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Student Support Plan” without including the parents.
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The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) released their monthly unemployment figures and the state’s unemployment rate is continuing to drop. Conversely, Florida is also seeing consistent job growth from month-to-month.
According to the report, Florida’s adjusted unemployment rate was 3.2 percent in March, which was a decrease by 0.1 percent from the previous month. The national unemployment rate was hovering around 3.6 percent.
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The State of Georgia, led by Attorney General Chris Carr joined a 21-state coalition, which filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration to block the federal government from ending Title 42.
Title 42 is a public health order from the Trump administration that allowed border officials to turn away individuals due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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Jurors in Florida heard opening arguments Monday in the civil case against pharmacy chain Walgreens over its marketing and distribution of opiods.
The lawsuit was filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
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The Florida Department of Education is rejecting more than 40% of the mathematics textbooks submitted to be used in the upcoming school year, citing critical race theory, Common Core and other language included in them that violate the state’s new standards.
“Reasons for rejecting textbooks included references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics,” the department said in a news release.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said this week that illegal immigrants wanting to come to Florida “would not be welcome.”
“To those who have entered the country illegally, fair warning: do not come to Florida,” DeSantis said. “Life will not be easy for you, because we are obligated to uphold the immigration laws of this country, even if our federal government and other states won’t.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill into law dedicating $44 million in support to Florida foster families.
At a news conference held at Miami-Dade College, he said, “signing the bill should leave no doubt … that this state stands committed to the proposition that every life counts. All these kids deserve an opportunity and we’re going to do what we can to make sure that their dreams and hopes and aspirations can become a reality and a loving home.”
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed a 15-week abortion ban into law Thursday, marking two days in a row of significant pro-life victories in the Sunshine State. Wednesday, a Florida circuit judge upheld Florida’s 24-hour waiting period for women who were seeking abortions.
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Brandy Vance, a Leon County school teacher at J. Michael Conley Elementary School at Southwood, is not happy about the Parental Rights in Education bill and she recently took to Facebook to voice her concerns.
The Parental Rights in Education bill, which was recently signed into law, contains a provision that “prohibits a school district from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”
Vance posted a 220 word explanation of her position related to issue with a picture of herself dressed in LGBTQ supportive attire on Conley Elementary school grounds.
The post included below, appears to have been removed from Facebook.
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Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey upheld a Florida law requiring women to wait 24 hours before proceeding with an abortion. The judge tossed a lawsuit challenging the Florida law after a seven-year battle. The law was signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2015.
Dempsey said that the plaintiffs were not entitled to a stay on the ruling as they could not demonstrate that “irreparable harm” would be caused, as well as other states having legal waiting periods on the books.
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With the help of the state legislature, Florida’s governor is one step closer to busing illegal aliens out of the state.
According to several reports, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is working with lawmakers to allocate $12 million from the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) budget for the removal of illegal aliens from the Sunshine State.
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Former NFL coach Tony Dungy responded Tuesday to critics who called him a “fraud” and a “racist apologist” after he attended a press conference where Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new bill directing millions of dollars toward a fatherhood initiative.
Dungy works with the nonprofit group All Pro Dad, which provides parenting information and hosts events.
At the DeSantis press conference Dungy said, “I asked [Abe Brown], how do those young boys (19, 20, 21) get [in prison]? And he told me it’s not socio-economic, it’s not racial, it’s not education, it’s none of that. 95% of these boys did not grow up with their dad.”
Dungy also cited statistics related to fatherless children and said, “This is going to be tremendous and such a good help to fathers in Florida. This bill is so important. I want to thank all of the men and women that have been behind this. It is going to allow groups like All Pro Dad and people like those here today to do great things for our fathers here in Florida.”
Critics pounced.
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The Florida Legislature announced they will not be drawing the redistricting congressional maps but will defer to the maps drawn up by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis interjected into the process earlier in 2022 when he submitted his own plans outside of the legislature’s recommendations.
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A video posted to the Libs of Tik Tok Twitter account features a self-described “trans demiboy non-binary” elementary school teacher who argues parents’ claims that pre-K through third grade children are not ready for indoctrination in gender ideology are signs of “internalized homophobia and transphobia.”
“Hi, I’m a queer teacher and I, 1,000 percent, do not support this bill,” states Amanda Tooley, who apparently now uses the name “Skye” and goes by “Mx. T” in her classroom at Saturn Street Elementary Arts and Media Magnet School in Los Angeles.
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A study comparing Covid outcomes in the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the economy, education and mortality gave nine states – including Florida – an A for their efforts.
The study was published last week by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The authors of the study are University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan and Stephen Moore and Phil Kerpen of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
For economic performance the study used two measures: unemployment and GDP by state. Education performance was measured by the cumulative in-person instruction percentage for the complete 2020-2021 school year, with hybrid instruction weighted half. For mortality, the two measures were COVID-associated deaths reported to the CDC and all-cause excess mortality.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has raised more than $100 million, according to a campaign contributions report, and is the first candidate to reach the nine figure mark in the 2022 election cycle.
DeSantis has extended his lead over all of the likely opponents for the general election: Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13), Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D), and Florida State Sen. Annette Taddeo (D-Miami).
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A misleading CNN fact check related to the Parental Rights in Education bill is being used by some in the Florida statewide media to promote incomplete information related to Governor DeSantis rationale for the legislation.
The fact check – which was published last week – notes that “On several occasions since signing the bill into law, DeSantis has highlighted the story of a woman named January Littlejohn, a registered Republican, who says she was not fully consulted about the school’s gender-affirming plan for her child.”
CNN uses the fact that Ms. Littleljohn initially told school officials – in an email- “that she would not stop her child from using preferred pronouns or name of choice at school” as inconsistent with the DeSantis statement that the school did not get the mother’s consent to address the her daughter’s gender identity issues.
However, what the CNN analysis does not include is the fact that Leon County school officials went beyond Ms. Littlejohn’s initial consent- related to pronouns and name choice – and initiated an interview with their child as part of a “Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Student Support Plan.”
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Statistics provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) show that the number of traffic crash and pedestrian fatalities have increased significantly in 2021 when compared to 2020 and 2019. The alarming increases are consistent with national trends.
In 2021, FLHSMV reported 3,405 crash related fatalities which is 9.0% above the 3,098 reported in 2020. FLHSMV reported a 5.0% increase in 2020 and 1.2% increase in 2019.
Col. Justin Ferrara, with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office located in central Florida, said that “high-stress levels and frustration led to aggressive and unsafe driving.” “Enforcement, education, traffic-calming techniques and common sense are all areas of concentration,” Ferrara said.
Federal data from the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate traffic deaths began to increase in 2019. NHTSA has blamed reckless driving behavior for increases during the pandemic, citing behavioral research showing that speeding and traveling without a seat belt have been higher. Before 2019, the number of fatalities had fallen for three straight years.
Ironically, while the rate of fatalities have increased in Florida, the number of crashes since 2018 has actually declined. Again, this is consistent with national trends. The latest NHTSA crash data shows that crashes have become more deadly.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the No Patient Left Alone Act into law Wednesday. The bill guarantees that Floridians can visit their loved ones in hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities regardless of a public health emergency.
In Florida, and nationwide, families have been kept apart as loved ones died in hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities due to coronavirus safety protocols. In late 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reinstated federal visitation protections for long-term care facilities, which includes waiving visitation policies for hospitals allowing them to prohibit patient visitation.
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