All posts tagged "Florida"

Florida voters just approved a Republican-backed property tax cut that could gut the budgets of more than 100 cities, and critics say the state’s small towns will be hit hardest.

Amendment 3, which voters passed on Tuesday, creates a $250,000 homestead exemption from non-school property taxes starting in 2028. According to a Florida League of Cities analysis based on state Department of Revenue tax rolls, 108 Florida cities are projected to lose 90% or more of their homestead tax base.

For five cities (Greenville, Jacob City, Jennings, Noma and Otter Creek), the projected loss is 100%....

Three Democrats in Florida beat a Republican map drawn to favor the GOP, dealing Republicans an embarrassing election night blow.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Democrat Pia Dandiya won their House races Tuesday, NBC News projected, overcoming a mid-decade redistricting push by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislators. Decision Desk HQ also projected Moskowitz’s win.

Moskowitz defeated Trump-backed former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer in the redrawn 25th District, winning about 51.5% of the vote with more than 95% counted. Dandiya beat Republican Casey Askar in the 22nd District with about 52% of the vote. Castor, who has represented the Tampa area since 2007, defeated Trump-backed Republican Mike Beltran with about 51% of the vote....

A federal judge is demanding answers from the Trump Justice Department after prosecutors' splashy announcement about a fraud case went sideways.

In an order issued Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Irick directed the government to name the people who wrote and posted a press release falsely claiming all 13 defendants in a Florida immigration fraud case were foreign nationals, according to a post on X by court records researcher Seamus Hughes. Those people must then explain in writing why they should not be sanctioned.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida put out the release Monday under a headline touting "13 Foreign Nationals Charged." Its opening line said the defendants were from Brazil and Cuba....

President Donald Trump was thrice interrupted by protesters during his midterm rally in Florida, which visibly frustrated him.

The Daytona Beach stop is Trump's second Florida rally in a week, part of a red-state blitz in the final days before the midterms, CNN reported. Early in the speech, three different protesters interrupted his remarks, with each coming in short order.

When the third protester sounded off, Trump stopped mid-sentence while touting midterm enthusiasm, pointed and shouted, "Shut up! Shut up, dope!"...

Prosecutors in Florida are warning TV stations of a legal price for airing one campaign ad aimed at a top Republican.

The Tampa Bay Times reported on Tuesday that 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Suzy Lopez sent letters to several Tampa Bay-area broadcasters cautioning them against running a Florida Democratic Party ad that hits Attorney General James Uthmeier over a grand jury investigation into Hope Florida. She told stations she wanted them "fully aware of the potential criminal consequences" of doing so.

Recipients included WTVT, Spectrum Bay News 9, Telemundo and WTSP. Lopez, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed in 2022 after suspending her elected predecessor, warned that violating the state's grand jury secrecy law is a first-degree misdemeanor that can also bring criminal contempt. "Whether to proceed is your decision, but you do so at your own legal risk," she wrote....

One of President Donald Trump's closest advisers privately gave GOP donors a grim assessment of the president, and his former supporters seem to agree.

On Saturday's episode of "The Focus Group Podcast," Politico reporter Kimberly Leonard told host Sarah Longwell that Tony Fabrizio, Trump's longtime pollster, recently warned Florida donors that the president has become a liability for Republicans beyond his base.

Leonard said Fabrizio made the remarks at a fundraiser at Miami Beach's Fontainebleau for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), the Trump-endorsed candidate running for governor of Florida....