Andrew Bain, the Orlando area State Attorney appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, will seek election without party affiliation. While Bain originally filed as a Republican candidate, he informed the Division of Elections earlier this month he planned to run with no party affiliation instead. On April 24, he signed a candidate oath to that effect and he paid the qualification fee to run for a four-year term running the State Attorney’s Office for the 9th Judicial Circuit. Two Republican candidates, Thomas “Fighter” Feiter and Seth Hyman, have also qualified. Qualifying without party affiliation mean ..read more

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is recommending that a judge suspend Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony’s law enforcement certification for six months because he lied on past driver’s license applications. FDLE Assistant General Counsel Andrew Digby wrote that Tony violated the public’s trust by failing to disclose that his driver’s license had been suspended in Pennsylvania in 1993 and 1998. “The offense of falsifying information on a driver license application is an act involving moral turpitude. Most importantly, (Tony, as) the Sheriff of Broward County, is inherently held to a h ..read more

Jennifer Barbosa, a Republican who once ran for Congress in California, has filed to challenge U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee in a Florida GOP Primary. Now a Plant City resident, Barbosa appears to be the latest Republican to answer a call from former President Donald Trump for an “America First” candidate in Florida’s 15th Congressional District. Barbosa on April 23 filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to run in CD 15, and on April 24 filed paperwork with the state. She has until April 26 at noon to qualify as a candidate. She has run for federal office before, chal ..read more

It looks like former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson will follow through and run for Senate. The Orlando Democrat has paid a qualifying fee to appear on the ballot to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. The move adds one more prominent name to the Democratic Primary ballot. Grayson qualified the same day as former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell — who is running with the support of President Joe Biden — and days after aerospace businessman Stanley Campbell made the ballot. Former state House candidate Rod Joseph and former state House Majority Whip Brian Rush have also qualified. Grayson f ..read more

The Lincoln Project, the group known for its anti-Donald Trump advertisements often written and shot with a combination of humor and shock factor, has won two prestigious awards for its political media.  It won the Webby Awards’ People’s Voice award for its “America or Trump” ad campaign, and a Pollie Award for Best PAC Campaign for its “Audience of One” series. “Our followers are truly the heartbeat of what we do, and we owe a great debt of gratitude to all who voted and selected our campaigns in these awards,” The Lincoln Project Co-founder Rick Wilson said. “We will take these honors i ..read more

Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics. First Shot Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a pair of bills restocking the My Safe Florida Homes program with cash. One measure (SB 7028) adds another $200 million to the program to help erase a backlog. It also prioritizes elderly, low-income residents for new grants. The My Safe Florida Homes program provides free wind mitigation inspections for homeowners and offers matching grants of twice what the homeowner pays for an improvement project, but the grant is capped at $10,000. To be eligible, the homeowner must liv ..read more

New bicameral legislation from two Florida Republicans would give a break to homeowners chafing under insurance costs. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds are introducing legislation (S.4143) to amend the tax code to provide an above-the-line deduction for flood insurance premiums. Scott calls he measure a “commonsense bill to ensure Floridians can maintain coverage without breaking the bank.” The measure emerges as coverage for water damage goes from “nice to have” to must have in the Sunshine State and elsewhere amid ever more powerful storm systems. Flood insurance costs h ..read more

The planned moderator for a Wednesday evening forum of Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chair candidates has reportedly dropped out of the event after learning it will not be open to the public or media members. Miami Herald editor David Smiley agreed on Sunday to emcee the 6:30 p.m. forum, which features four candidates seeking a seven-month stint chairing the troubled Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee (DEC). “But there were a couple sticking points when we met Monday to discuss the structure of the event, including my position that the event had to be broadcast to the general public for m ..read more

Those who oppose the two-party system have another option in Florida’s 4th Congressional District. But they’ll have to go to the trouble of writing the candidate’s name on the ballot in November. Fernandina Beach real estate agent Todd Schaefer has qualified. He will take on incumbent U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, a Republican who got roughly 60% of the vote last time. Bean’s previous opponent, Democrat LaShonda “L.J.” Holloway, has also qualified. Schaefer, a 45-year-old “happily divorced” Indiana native, came to Northeast Florida while in the Navy, where he rose to the rank of senior chief. Pro ..read more

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wants Congress to reverse a federal court decision eliminating a rule allowing Florida to take over part of the federal government’s environmental permitting processes. Patronis wrote to Florida’s Congressional delegation asking them to support legislation from the state’s U.S. Senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, to essentially reverse that decision. “Since its enactment over three years ago, the state 404 permitting program has allowed Florida to build enough roads, housing, and businesses to keep up with the influx of new Floridians,” Patronis wrote ..read more