Patrick Murphy, the Democrat who wants to take over Rep. Allen West’s seat in 2012, says West’s attack on Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz shows he’s “incapable of controlling himself,” and says he should face a censure.Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith today demanded an apology from West, citing his “long…
Ben Preston, the first African-American firefighter in Deerfield Beach’s history, has been chosen by voters through a special election as the city’s newest commissioner.According to unofficial results from the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, Preston has defeated former Commissioner Gloria Battle by 15 votes to become the District 2 commissioner…
Haven’t you always wondered if the companies you’re doing business with are steadfast supporters of the Tea Party?The South Florida Tea Party has the answer to that with the “Tea Party Chamber of Commerce.”On its website is an index of businesses — 95 at the moment — that they say…
If you live in District 2 of Deerfield Beach, today is Election Day.Thanks to the fact that the last commissioner, Sylvia Poitier, has been suspended for allegedly falsifying public records a few times, today’s special election will find someone to replace her for the rest of her term — which…
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos announced this morning he’s dropping out of the race to take on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.Haridopolos was competing in an overly crowded field of GOP candidates to take on Nelson, and despite leading fundraising out of the Republican Senate hopefuls, political reports have…
In case you haven’t noticed, Gov. Rick Scott’s approval rating is getting so low that people are running out of politicians to compare him to.A few weeks ago, Public Policy Polling surveyed Florida voters about hypothetical gubernatorial matchups in which Scott was wrecked by everyone he was compared to –…
Yesterday, NPR host Robert Siegel interviewed U.S. Rep. Allen West about the federal debt fight. West, a member of the House Tea Party caucus, is adamantly opposed to raising the debt limit. He doesn’t want the U.S. government to borrow any more money, even if that means the feds will…
Rick Scott held a news conference today at the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association in which said organization presented him with a model of the ship he served on from 1972-74.According to the Herald’s Naked Politics blog, Scott waxed nostalgic about supplementing his government paycheck by hoarding sodas on land…
This week’s New Times cover story, “Enemy of the State,” details the dozen worst accomplishments from Gov. Rick Scott’s first six months in office. Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of dirty deeds that didn’t make the list. Here are a few of the highlights:1. Following a property-tax-cutting proposal from Scott, the…
Former Gov. Charlie Crist is still in the good graces of Florida voters, according to what we swear is the last Sunshine State News poll we’re publishing this week.Crist was the only one — between himself and Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson — to receive a favorable rating above…
Jesus apparently hated manatees, according to a new Tea Party platform circulating around Florida.Originating from the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots group, teabaggers are crying about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s intent to place restrictions against boating and other things near the city of Crystal River — and now…
Even the GOP-friendly Sunshine State News can’t pull Gov. Rick Scott’s approval rating out of the crapper.The governor has now set a new personal record for disappointing voters, posting a 27 percent approval rating, according to a poll commissioned by the paper.That edges out the Quinnipiac University poll in May,…
Let the horserace begin — in a poll commissioned by Sunshine State News, pollsters say Florida voters would vote for Republican Mitt Romney over Democratic President Barack Obama in a hypothetical matchup between the two for president.In a survey of 1,000 likely Florida voters, the poll company Voter Survey Service…
Craig Miller, the former Ruth’s Chris Steak House CEO, announced he’s running for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Bill Nelson.Miller, running as a Republican, has decided to enter quite a busy field of candidates wishing to overtake Nelson, including Adam Hasner, George LeMieux, and Florida Senate President…
Recently, thousands of pages of emails from Sarah Palin’s tenure as governor of Alaska were released to news organizations. (It took three years to get the records, partly because Palin shared Rick Scott’s disdain for public email accounts.)But now, readers can get a small peek at Palin’s previously private conversations,…
We’re still a pair of Novembers away from seeing the fate of Rep. Allen West’s congressional seat, but 28-year-old Patrick Murphy looks like he’s already giving the congressman a run for his money — lots and lots of money.Murphy announced that he raised $450,000 in the second quarter, on top…
Even though Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s comment that Florida’s voting laws were Republican attempts at Jim Crow laws led to her half-apology, former President Bill Clinton made a comment along the same lines yesterday.As a speaker at the Campus Progress National Conference, part of Clinton’s comments came in reference to Gov…
We’re all about improving Gov. Rick Scott’s image over here at New Times — and now we could use your help.That’s why we created the game “Ricky’s Rugs,” so you can help rebuild the man that is Gov. Scott and help get his approval ratings back on the incline.Posting a…
There aren’t many things more spine-chilling than Gov. Rick Scott saying he’s already planning on running for a second term — except maybe the governor hinting that he wants to run for president.Both of those things came out of his mouth in an interview this weekend, according to the St…
Apparently it takes a $1.2 billion train for the Tea Party folks to figure out they don’t really like Gov. Rick Scott.”Rick Scott IS A LIAR,” the South Florida Tea Party says.”This decision has completed the governor’s transformation from businessman to political insider,” Republican Sen. Paula Dockery says in a…
After six months of conflict-of-interest questions about Gov. Rick Scott’s urgent-care chain Solantic, the deal has finally gone through.The investment firm that bought Solantic — which the Jacksonville Business Journal reports bought a controlling interest in April — finished its purchase of the company yesterday.At the time Scott took office,…
Joe Kaufman really, really doesn’t like Muslims, and apparently that’s enough of a political platform to run for congress.Kaufman, the head of the oxymoron crew Americans Against Hate, has announced he’s challenging Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her congressional seat in 2012.The first order of business for Kaufman’s campaign was…
