The state's largest teachers' union is pushing for lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott to delay a new system of teacher evaluations, saying the formula for measuring teachers' performance is flawed and could wreak havoc on their careers.

In some ways, the fight is a continuation of a long-running battle between the Florida Education Association and state officials over whether and how to pay teachers for their performance. The union has repeatedly stressed that it is not opposed to accountability -- but that the systems that the state has designed so far are flawed or unworkable.

With last week's elections quickly slipping out of the rearview mirror, the new political reality began to take hold in Tallahassee this week.

House Republicans tapped a new speaker for the 2014-16 term after the defeat of their first choice for the position. The incoming speaker for the next two years laid out some of his priorities for the session that begins in March. And both sides began to fill out the leadership teams for the policy and political battles of the next few months.

Cuban-Americans voted for the Democratic candidate in historically high numbers in last week's presidential election, analysts say, a continuation of a years-long trend that could be eroding the GOP's standing among a core portion of the party's base in Florida.

There are differences of opinion on just how much of the Cuban vote in South Florida President Barack Obama captured mostly depending on how the counting was done.

The Florida Ethics Commission said Wednesday it found "probable cause" to believe that Congressman David Rivera broke the state's ethics laws as a state legislator, jolting his re-election bid less than two weeks before Election Day.

The first female president of the state Senate is facing a well-financed challenger in her South Florida seat, putting more than three decades of experience against a youthful neophyte saying the district needs new leadership.