Responding to questions from state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner Kevin McCarty offered a presentation to the Cabinet on Tuesday on what his office has done about two financially unstable insurance companies.
Though 31 RepublicanParty of Floridacredit card holders -- staff members, legislative leaders and political aides-- racked up$7.3 million in American Express charges between 2007 and 2010, those fat AmEx expenditures actuallyrepresented less than 15 percent of party expenses during that period.
It's a fact, said RPOF spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta. The RPOF raised more than $50.9 million during the sameperiod --and spent more than it took in: $51.6 million.
Despite what current polls say, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson insists that the battle for the opening Senate seat will be a two-man race in Florida. Nelson is predicting that Republican Marco Rubio will fade down the stretch, leaving Gov.
The Republican Party of Florida released credit card records Friday containing more than $7 million in charges racked up by 31 Republicans -- not all of them household names, not all of them even party leaders.
Nevertheless, the release of such records would have been virtually unnecessary had Gov. Charlie Crist not vetoed a bill that would have allowed more transparency in fundraising and expenditures. The bill would have created so-called party affiliation committees through which expenditure reports by both Republicans and Democrats would have been more detailed.
With Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Ft. Lauderdale, leaving her seat to run for the state Senate, an intriguing contest is shaping up in House District 91.
District 91 stretches along the coastline of Broward County and into the southeastern corner of Palm Beach County, taking in parts of Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach. The district includes Port Everglades and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
While Congressman Allen Boyd faces a primary fight with Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, the veteran congressman has also drawn a host of challengers from the right.
With Boyd voting for President Barack Obamas health-care legislation in a district that backed his opponent, Sen. John McCain, in 2008, a field of Republicans and conservatives believe the time is ripe to knock Boyd out of Congress.
Former Leon County Democratic Party chairman Rick Minor is posing a serious primary challenge to Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, and is making her support for offshore drilling one of the central issues of the campaign.
Less than a week after filing papers to run, former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns announced at Wednesdays Democracy for America meeting in Coral Gables that he is ending his campaign for the U.S. Senate and will instead run for the state Senate seat that Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, is vacating to run for attorney general.
While Republican Congressman Jeff Miller has supported expanded offshore oil drilling in the past, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has changed his mind.
With the session over, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, wants to focus on his responsibilities as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida as well as his legislative ones.
Having taken over the RPOF after a number of financial scandals under previous chairman Jim Greer, Thrasher now heads the party as it responds to Gov. Charlie Crist leaving Republican ranks to continue his bid for the U.S. Senate as an independent.
