Florida's Latest News

DeSantis taps high-profile Republicans to Florida Elections Commission, including Marva Preston

Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed three notable fellow Republicans to the board that investigates and determines violations of state elections law: 

One ran for state Senate and lost. Another was a lawyer for the governor. The third was a lieutenant governor. 

DeSantis on Friday tapped former Senate candidate Marva Harris Preston, attorney Nicholas Primrose and former Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera to sit on the Florida Elections Commission. 

The nine-member board, however, remains two commissioners short. But now it can resume business: The panel needs at least five members for a quorum; since May, it had had only four.

Ben Albritton wins race to be Florida Senate President in 2024

Sen. Ben Albritton has won the race to be President of the Florida Senate for the 2024-26 term.

After an intense, behind-the-scenes battle with Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., the Wauchula Republican secured the votes necessary to take over the gavel after Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, who is set to preside over the chamber for the 2023 and 2024 Legislative Sessions. (This assumes Republicans still control the upper chamber then; they currently hold a 24-16 advantage.)

“It’s a real honor and privilege for me to have earned the support of my colleagues in the Senate,” Albritton said in a statement first provided to Florida Politics. “Senator Manny Diaz is a valued colleague and a friend, who puts people above politics. We share a vision for the future of Florida, and we’ll work together in the years ahead to advance policies that are in the best interest of the state of Florida.”

Florida’s peak of the delta wave could be days away, university models show

Florida is rapidly approaching the peak of new infections of the delta wave, when the highest single-day counts could come, according to two models created by researchers at Florida universities.

One model created by University of South Florida researchers predicts the state will hit the most daily infections by Aug. 24, bringing about 23,000 that day, said Dr. Edwin Michael. Because the delta variant has infected so many unvaccinated people, and more than 66% of Floridians have been immunized, he said the state will likely hit herd immunity in early September.

If immunity gained from infection proves to be long-lasting — though research has indicated it offers shorter protection than that of the vaccine — and if vaccines hold, Michael said the pandemic could end by early next year.

Before Glades water flows, small community needs flood protection. This project is the hope

South Florida water managers on Friday broke ground on a 2.3-mile-long underground wall intended to protect properties in Las Palmas, a small community in far western Miami-Dade that runs an increased risk of flooding as more water starts to flow to Everglades National Park.

The additional, and long-awaited, flow is possible now as a result of two new bridges over Tamiami Trail and other projects that are part of a multibillion-dollar effort to restore the Everglades.

Las Palmas, a collection of small ranches and nurseries once known as the 8.5 square mile area, has long been considered by environmentalists and scientists as an obstacle to reviving the parched southern half of the River of Grass. The community, west of U.S. 27 and the boundaries of a flood-protection system meant to protect developed areas of Miami-Dade County, has suffered frequent flooding. That problem would only grow worse under plans to recreate something close to the original flow of the River of Grass.