Florida's Latest News

Gov. DeSantis signs bipartisan bill cracking down on windshield repair lawsuits

Legislation designed to eliminate most lawsuits over windshield repair claims in Florida is now law.

That’ll help courtrooms whose dockets have grown increasingly congested with auto glass claim cases in recent years, and potentially good news for policyholders hoping to see their premiums drop or at least level off.

Speaking for Safelite, lobbyist Ashley Kalifeh said the company sometimes performs dual roles for insurers. Still, she denied it engages in steering and noted Safelite is not the only company operating in Florida with its business model. She offered to provide lawmakers with audio records of claims calls Safelite Solutions handled to prove customer interactions have been above-board.

SB 1002 passed unanimously in the Senate. It Wasn’t as uniformly supported in the House, where 16 Democrats voted no on May 2 before the measure the chamber approved and sent to the Governor.

DeSantis campaign brings in over $8M in first 24 hours since 2024 launch

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign has raked in $8.2 million in the first 24 hours since it launched, The Hill has learned. 

The governor’s campaign team confirmed a New York Times report detailing the dollar amount, which includes $1 million raised during a single hour.

After months of moves that hinted at a possible White House bid, DeSantis joined the race on Wednesday with a glitchy discussion alongside Twitter CEO Elon Musk on the platform’s live-audio feature “Twitter Spaces.” 

DeSantis blamed the technology shortfalls on the large volume of listeners who joined the event, claiming during an interview with Fox News that the audience was “the biggest they’d ever had.”

“If you make a donation, maybe we can break that part of the internet as well,” he later added.

DeSantis campaign announces first stops of ‘Great American Comeback Tour”

In an attempt to garner political momentum in states commencing the 2024 primary season, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday morning that the first stops of his presidential campaign will take place in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

According to the governor’s political operations team, DeSantis will conduct “speeches, stops, and fireside chats” between May 30 and June 2. The announcement comes less than 12 hours after DeSantis took to Twitter Spaces alongside Elon Musk to formally announce his candidacy for the 2024 election cycle.

Throughout the four-day trip, DeSantis is planning to visit five cities in Iowa, with the official campaign kickoff taking place in the capital, Des Moines, followed by visits to four cities in New Hampshire and concluding with three cities in South Carolina.

“We are laser-focused on taking Governor DeSantis’ forward-thinking message for restoring America to every potential voter in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina,” said campaign manager Generra Peck. “Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states.  No one will work harder than Governor DeSantis to share his vision with the country — he has only begun to fight.”

In Miami, DeSantis supporters get campaign intel on how governor plans to beat Trump

A day after Ron DeSantis unveiled his presidential campaign, his top pollster met Thursday with a group of fundraisers at a Miami luxury hotel to outline exactly how they plan to knock down former President Donald Trump in the race for the GOP nomination.

The early morning presentation at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami was led by pollster Ryan Tyson and campaign staff. The team ran through data on how they could win the party’s nomination: namely, winning over Republican voters looking for an alternative to Trump and competing fiercely in the earliest primaries.

The briefing was closed to reporters, but multiple fundraisers remarked afterward that they left feeling convinced that it could be done.

Those in attendance included a mixture of political strategists and lobbyists, wealthy health care executives and developers, as well as some Florida politicians. The crowd included contingents from key early states like Nevada, as well as big-state heavyweights like California and Texas.