On Friday, The Obama administration issued a set of guidelines directing public schools to respect the gender identity of transgender students or risk losing out on federal funding under Title IX. The response from Florida has been noticeably quiet. Both Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi haven’t commented…
When your political opponent posts a full, unedited video of your recent cables news interview to his YouTube page it’s probably an indication that the interview didn’t go so well. Rep. Patrick Murphy didn’t even bother to cut an attack ad against Rep. Alan Grayson, his opponent for the Democratic…
Despite being a stronghold of support for Barack Obama in both his presidential races, Miami’s two most prominent mayors — City Mayor Tomás Regalado and County Mayor Carlos Gimenez — are both Republicans. That’s a quirk of the outsized role traditionally Republican Cuban-Americans play in local politics. But that party…
In his short time campaigning for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat, Miami native Carlos Beruff has already earned his nickname — the Cuban-American Donald Trump — with extreme positions like a call to end all travel from the Middle East to the United States. So it shouldn’t be the shock of…
For months, fiery debate has raged over the future of Liberty Square, the notoriously dangerous housing project better known as Pork ‘n’ Beans. After Mayor Carlos Gimenez revealed an ambitious plan to raze the property and rebuild new housing, corruption allegations and fears that current residents will be shut out…
Florida Congressmen Alan Grayson stormed into yesterday’s meeting of the Progressive Caucus apparently thinking he was Beyoncé armed with a baseball bat in the “Hold Up” video ready to righteously smash things up with a devious smile on his face. Metaphorically at least. He was looking for Senate Minority Leader…
On the campaign trail, Marco Rubio painted the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency like some combination of allowing Bernie Madoff and Pol Pot into the White House. A brief selection of words Rubio used to describe Trump include “con man,” “dangerous,” “strong man,” and “catastrophic.” He (correctly) called him…
Medical marijuana will be back on the ballot in Florida in November, and according to the latest poll numbers it should pass easily. Eighty percent of all Floridians say they plan to vote for the amendment, and that includes vast majorities among all groups, including Republicans and those 65 and…
Florida’s Agriculture Commission Adam Putnam clarified today that he intended to vote for Donald Trump. His reasoning: Trump isn’t Hillary Clinton. Which isn’t exactly the world’s strongest endorsement. It’s essentially the political equivalent of the ¯_(ツ)_/¯ emoticon. if there ever was one. Putnam is one of four elected members of Florida’s…
As the GOP primary melted down into a carnival sideshow even Hunter S. Thompson on acid couldn’t have dreamed up, many Democrats and neutral voters have been happy to point and laugh at the mess, assuring themselves that someone as bigoted, xenophobic and misogynist as Donald Trump could never carry…
Flash back to early March in the chaotic Republican primary. Miami’s GOP golden boy Marco Rubio was still clinging onto faint hope that he could bring mainstream Republicans together against insurgent Donald Trump. But then the latest polls started coming out of Florida, and it clear that Rubio was bound…
A very petty local mayor couldn’t help but carry through on whatever point he was trying to make by paying his $4,000 ethics fine in petty coins. Last year, Hernandez was caught up in an ethics scandal for his business connections with Luis Felipe Pérez, a Hialeah jewler who also dabbled…
There are currently 389 inmates in Florida prisons awaiting the death penalty, the second-highest number of any state in the union. If the State Supreme Court agrees with a cadre of lawyers, every single one of them may see their death sentence whipped out replaced with life in prison without…
As if Cuba needed another dictator, fashion’s reigning tyrant Karl Lagerfeld will present Chanel’s 2017 Cruise collection in Havana tonight. It will be the first major fashion show by an international brand in Cuba in decades, but not everyone is pleased. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has taken to Twitter multiple times…
Don’t tell the thousands of tourists and locals who hop in black Ubers or Lyfts every day in Miami, but the rideshare services are still technically illegal in Dade County. For more than two years, the tech firms and local politicians have been locked in a tug-of-war with millions of…
Rick Scott has a habit of trying to lure jobs to Florida from states with Democratic governors in quite an unfriendly fashion. So when California passed legislation that will increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021, Scott couldn’t help but swoop in. He ordered Enterprise Florida,…
Gone are the days of early March when it seemed we were getting new polls and data about the political leanings of Florida voters every other day. Since the primary, it’s been quite a while since a pollster has come along and taken the political temperature of the state. Since…
The state government is firmly controlled by Republicans, but that doesn’t mean that Governor Rick Scott gets whatever he wants. Scott, at times, has a notable aversion to compromise even with others in his party and is no stranger to angering other Tallahassee Republicans. Usually, this puts him at odds with…
Florida Governor Rick Scott wants the rest of the Republican establishment to just stop all the nonsense and accept the fact that Donald Trump will be the party’s official presidential nominee come this summer. In a Facebook post, the Gov called for an official end to the “Stop Trump” movement…
Everyone knows who defeated medical marijuana in Florida two years ago: casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who singlehandedly pumped in millions to pay for scare ads that helped barely keep the amendment below 60 percent approval. But few remember that it was actually a St. Petersburg-based developer who created the anti-pot group…
He’s a successful developer with a net worth that firmly ensconces him in the one percent. He has controversial views on immigration, and isn’t afraid of sharing them. He’s never held office before, and is now running in a crowded Republican primary as an outsider with the help of his…
After putting all his chips on the table in a hyper-ambitious run for the White House, Senator Marco Rubio came up far short. So how ironic would it be if Florida’s other Senator actually came closer to 1600 Penn? Yes, that guy. The one everyone seems to like, but no…
