Florida might have its share of Republican presidential candidates but one former presidential candidate who ran twice in the Sunshine State is behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

On the opening day of the 2014 session in the Florida House of Representatives, then-Speaker of the House Will Weatherford spoke at length about an issue that few leaders in government talk about -- generational poverty. During his remarks, Speaker Weatherford noted, “There will always be poverty -- the kind that results from temporary setbacks: job loss, foreclosures, or unexpected challenges … but there’s a far greater and more dramatic problem for some of our Floridians. They’re stuck in generational poverty -- the persistent, year after year oppression and hopelessness that starts with grandparents, is passed on to parents and continues to their children.”

Welcome to The Dean's List -- an Ed Dean-style look at who Florida's political achievers were (and weren't) in the last seven days. What you see here is strictly my opinion, not necessarily the editor's or the rest of the staff at Sunshine State News.