Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis is retaining Gov. Rick Scott’s budget chief and rehiring a chief inspector general who served under both Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist.

As he helps his Democratic successor, Nikki Fried, transition into office, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is staying out of the fight over the future of the state’s concealed-carry permit program.

Agriculture Commissioner-elect Nikki Fried wants to move the handling of concealed-weapons licenses from the agency she will soon oversee to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Brightline got the green light Wednesday from the state to negotiate for land to add high-speed passenger rail service from Orlando to Tampa --- a link envisioned to eventually connect with Brightline’s existing service in South Florida.

A Treasure Coast lawmaker plans to again pursue more state oversight of private high-speed passenger rail service, as Florida analysts have outlined a number of steps lawmakers could take.

With candidates setting a record this year for pulling in matching funds, Florida taxpayers contributed $4.2 million to the winning campaigns for governor and three Cabinet seats, according to the final totals for the 2018 elections.

Former medical-marijuana lobbyist Nikki Fried is on the verge of being the only Florida Democrat to capture a statewide win, gaining votes over Republican state Rep. Matt Caldwell in the race for agriculture commissioner after a manual recount was completed Sunday.

As machine recounts and legal fights continued in three statewide races in the Nov. 6 election, candidates leading the contests started to act like winners.

Recounts wrapping up in small and mid-sized counties are showing few changes to initial results in the races for governor, U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner.

An attorney for Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Friday compared Gov. Rick Scott’s use of a state law-enforcement agency to investigate the actions of elections officials in Palm Beach and Broward counties to a “Third World dictatorship.”