It's not quite as painful as Cersei's walk of shame through the streets of King's Landing, but, by God, Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples and Rep. Katie Edwards-Walpole, D-Plantation are walking down those cold, stone steps -- figuratively speaking -- every day of the week.
Nowhere in Florida is the new law dealing with beach access the firestorm it has become in Walton County. The reason is complicated. But many folks along the panhandle's Emerald Coast claim it's not helping that a pair of local crusaders have a lot of citizens convinced House Bill 631 is the worst thing to befall Florida since Mercury went retrograde.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum didn't just shock Florida, he shocked the nation Tuesday, scoring a major victory for the party's progressive wing, putting himself in a position to become the state's first black governor.
Gillum's fortunes against wealthier, better funded opponents began to turn after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and a coalition of progressive groups threw their support and money behind him. Among them were liberal megadonors Tom Steyer and George Soros who donated $650,000 to his affiliated political action committee.
In a victory as much for President Donald Trump as for the congressman himself, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis -- Trump's hand-picked man -- trounced state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, winning the GOP gubernatorial primary for governor by nearly a 20-point margin by the time the race was called.
TV networks called the race just before 9 p.m. ET, with 90 percent of Florida's 5,968 precincts reporting, when the contest stood at 56.4 percent to Putnam's 36.7 percent.
Three people including the shooter were killed and 11 others injured when a gunman opened fire at a popular waterfront mall in Jacksonville, where a video game tournament was going on. Graphic recordings from the scene captured gunshots ringing out and the screams of terrified patrons taking cover.
Politics always turns dirtier a week ahead of voting day, but somebody involved in the Republican primary for commissioner of agriculture crossed the line this year -- flooding phones with text blasts of candidate Baxter Troutman in an orange jumpsuit with a link to a 6-year-old Lakeland Ledger story, "Baxter Troutman Accused of Hitting His Wife with a Bedspread."
It's time for Sen. Bill Nelson to stop the act. He's been caught. His claims of Russian hackers "fixing" Florida's elections system are unsubstantiated.
Beware of swallowing every drop of political bellywash you're fed in these ruthless pre-election days.
Finally, the scientists.
Five-term Florida Congressman Tom Rooney, who surprised Republican Party leaders by announcing in February he wouldn't run for re-election, has applied for a county judgeship in Palm Beach County.
