Florida Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, will once again lead the Florida Senate’s efforts on redistricting as a special session looms in August.
Galvano will come back for another round to chair the Senate Redistricting Committee as legislators prepare to return to Tallahassee for a special session on congressional redistricting.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, has appointed Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Hialeah, to serve as his point man for congressional redistricting when the Legislature convenes in special session Aug. 10-21.
Crisafulli announced Monday that Oliva, who is scheduled to become House speaker after the 2018 elections, will lead the House Redistricting Committee.
The Florida Legislature will meet in special session in August to deal with congressional redistricting, the leaders of the two chambers announced Monday.
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, announced the special session will start in Tallahassee on Monday, Aug. 10, and conclude Friday, Aug. 21. Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that eight of the current congressional districts fail to pass constitutional muster after voters amended the state Constitution in 2010 to limit gerrymandering.
With U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., launching a bid for the U.S. Senate on Monday, former Gov. Charlie Crist said he will run for the open House seat if the chips fall his way after redistricting. The Florida Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that several of the current congressional districts, including Jolly’s, violated state constitutional amendments approved by voters back in 2010.
Billing himself as an “effective conservative who delivers results,” U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., launched his campaign to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Senate next year. Rubio is running for the Republican presidential nomination and is not running for a second Senate term. A longtime aide to U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., after that congressman’s death, Jolly entered the special election to replace him, narrowly beating former state CFO Alex Sink in an upset last year. Democrats did not field a candidate against Jolly in November.
The Tampa Bay Times pegged Carlos Curbelo as one of its “Losers of the Week” in Florida politics on Sunday despite things breaking the Republican congressman’s way in recent days.
With the Florida Supreme Court ordering the Legislature to redistrict her current congressional seat, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Fla., could soon be facing more than one major Republican opponent.
Two days after a jihadist gunman killed four Marines and a Naval officer in Chattanooga, Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order to secure Florida National Guard centers.
Scott ordered Florida Adjunct General Michael Calhoun on Saturday to send National Guard members from current recruiting centers to Florida National Guard Armories until security is boosted. Additional security measures involve more coordination with local law enforcement and arming National Guard personnel.
This is the text of Scott's order:
A majority of the Florida congressional delegation wrote the leaders of the Florida Legislature on Thursday, asking them to hold statewide hearings on congressional redistricting as mandated by a state Supreme Court decision.
This week, a new Republican candidate emerged in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., in 2016 even as a potential candidate said she wasn’t going to enter the already crowded primary. Murphy is running for the U.S. Senate instead of a third term next year.
Navy veteran and nurse Carla Spalding filed her paperwork this week in Tallahassee to launch her bid.
