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Tampa Bay is no longer a swing region, DeSantis says. Is he right?

On a Thursday afternoon earlier this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis made a bold pronouncement. The Tampa Bay region, which for decades has been a swing region within a swing state, is a toss-up no longer. Now, DeSantis says, it can be penciled into the Republican column.

“Hillsborough (Tampa) is about to flip from D to R, which will mean every county in the Tampa Bay market has a R advantage in this previously ‘swing’ region of the state,” DeSantis wrote on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, on April 4, citing local voter registration numbers.

The region went solidly for DeSantis during his 2022 blowout reelection win against Democrat Charlie Crist, and Republicans have since made significant gains in voter registration in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties — the swingiest counties in the region.

Democrats still have about 9,000 more active registered voters than Republicans in Hillsborough, but the Democratic voter registration advantage is smaller than it has been in at least two decades.

Capitol makeover moves Gov. DeSantis administration to temporary digs

Executive Office of the Governor employees are expected to return to the Capitol offices before the next Regular Session in March 2025. Amid ongoing renovations to the Capitol, employees of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office have moved out of their offices there to a spot near the Governor’s Mansion until the work is completed.

The move took place two weeks ago. The renovations on the Governor’s wing of the Plaza Level, the entrance floor of the Capitol, aren’t expected to be completed until the end of the year, a DeSantis spokesman confirmed. At the latest, employees will return before the start of the next Regular Session, which begins March 4, 2025.

Employees in Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Department of Legal Affairs, who occupy the same side of the Plaza Level, have also been temporarily displaced.

The renovations are part of a planned refurbishing of the Capitol, which was built in the 1970s. Improvements to the other side of the Plaza Level, which houses the Agriculture Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer offices have already been completed.

This Florida airport wants to expand — but just ran into a big problem with the FAA

Federal government officials may have thrown a wrench into Sarasota Bradenton International Airport’s long-term expansion plans. In a recent letter to airport leaders, the Federal Aviation Administration said it does not approve of a sale agreement between SRQ and New College.

Under the agreement, the airport authority would have sold nearly 31 acres of airport property that the neighboring college leases. The airport authority would also have reclaimed 3.88 acres of leased land north of General Spaatz Boulevard that it needs as a buffer for a possible future concourse.

All of the property is east of U.S. 41 and north and south of General Spaatz Boulevard. New College began leasing the property for $108,000 a year in 1957 as part of a 99-year lease agreement.

The rent arrangement is also well below the current market price. New College’s lease on the airport property isn’t set to end until 2056.

Investor interest, urban development drive sharp rise in Miami, Tampa home values

Home prices in Miami and Tampa have doubled since 2018, with median home values rising from $250,000 to approximately $500,000 in 2024, among the most rapid price appreciations in the nation.

The increase is largely attributed to a high rate of investor interest and extensive urban development projects that have enhanced the appeal of the two metropolitan areas, according to a housing market report published by Point2.

“To put things into a bleak perspective, single-family homes in Tampa are now twice as expensive as they were in 2019,” the report reads.

The doubling of home prices in such a short span has brought significant wealth gains for property owners but has also introduced new challenges in the housing market. The affordability crisis has deepened, particularly affecting new homebuyers and middle-income families whose earnings have not kept pace with the escalating housing costs, the report contends.