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Donalds, Jolly lead respective primaries for Florida governor

The primaries for Florida’s next governor look like foregone conclusions with the presumptive nominees — Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly — commanding double-digit leads and already campaigning against each other.

Barring any major upsets, the Aug. 18 primary is more like a race for second place.

“I think it’d be a shock if either Donalds or Jolly lost their respective primaries,” said Kyle Kondit, managing editor for Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan political newsletter out of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

“In some ways, both Donalds and Jolly seem like they have been looking ahead to the general election anyway—Donalds even challenged Jolly to general election debates,” Kondit said.

Jolly waved off the debate challenge, responding to Donalds on social media with “Get through your primary and we’ll talk.” But he is already taking jabs at the GOP frontrunner.

Ergin ‘Batman’ Tek calls for small business push to rebuild middle class, construction of Tampa Bay Flood Barrier

Ergin “Batman” Tek is one of eight Republicans running to flip a Tampa-area district held by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who was first elected to Congress in 2006.

Kamala Harris won the previous version of Florida’s 14th Congressional District boundaries by 7.6 points. But Donald Trump won the newly-drawn district by 10.5 percentage points. Republicans have zeroed in on the seat as one of their best pickup opportunities this cycle, though recent polling showed Castor leading potential Republican nominees.

Tek is up against a crowded Primary field that includes former state Reps. Mike Beltran and Kevin Steele, the GOP front-runners and fundraising leaders.

Other Republicans running include Michael Marcel, John Peters, Robert Rochford, Gavriel Soriano and Bea Valenti. Libertarian Brian Lambert and two write-in candidates have also qualified.

Second Florida death related to flesh-eating Vibrio bacteria reported in Marion County

Florida health officials have reported the year’s second death related to Vibrio vulnificus, the so-called flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.

On Thursday, a state Department of Health database listed a Vibrio death in Marion County in July.

No details were added, but another state database included two Vibrio patients this year in Marion, one 60 to 64 years old between July 25 and Aug. 1 and another 70 to 74 years old during the final week of May.

The state’s first death this year from Vibrio was reported in June and involved a Palm Beach County resident who was 80 to 84 years old.

In both cases, only the reporting dates are known, not the days of death.

Florida, which tends to have more infections than other states, has reported 14 Vibrio vulnificus cases this year, compared with 33 cases and five deaths all of last year.

USF College of Marine Science receives $1.5 million to improve coastal hazard forecasting research

Almost three months after a devastating fire that destroyed most of USF's Marine Science Lab on the St. Petersburg campus, the college continues bouncing back.

It recently received $1.5 million in federal money to buy new equipment to enhance its coastal hazard forecasting of hurricanes, storm surge, red tide and other natural dangers.

The funding is part of a spending package enacted in February, aiming to support seven different projects on both USF campuses.

Tom Frazer, dean of the College of Marine Science, said while the money’s purpose is not exactly to make up for the losses from the fire, it helps keep USF from falling behind.

“That money was designed and allocated very, very specifically for the acquisition of oceanographic instrumentation and very specifically for the fabrication of the buoy and the instrumentation of that buoy, as well as the acquisition of an autonomous underwater glider,” he said.