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How Floridians and others are reacting to DeSantis’ failed campaign

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday that he was ending his presidential bid, a decision that came after his distant second-place showing in the Iowa caucuses. Here’s what Florida politicians — some of whom supported his opponent, former President Donald Trump — and others had to say:

Trump’s presidential campaign put out a statement Sunday saying the campaign was “honored” by DeSantis’ endorsement. “It is now time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump to defeat Crooked Joe Biden and end his disastrous presidency,” the campaign said in a statement.

Renner, a Republican, endorsed DeSantis and campaigned with him in Iowa leading up to the caucus. On Sunday, he wrote on social media, “There is no greater governor in America than Ron DeSantis. I am proud to have fought alongside him to achieve major policy victories, and I look forward to his continued leadership for our great state of Florida and our country.”

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, the Naples Republican, who also stumped for DeSantis in Iowa the weekend before the caucus, wrote that she was proud to support him. “He has a bright future leading our state, and one day our nation,” she wrote on X.

Florida makes it official: Universities to drop sociology as a core course

Officials overseeing Florida’s public universities voted Wednesday to stop offering sociology as a core course, despite strong support for the subject from professors, alumni, students and others.

The Board of Governors removed sociology as an option for students when they choose from a menu of introductory courses to fulfill state graduation requirements. The decision followed a vote last week by the State Board of Education to do the same at Florida’s 28 state colleges.

Sociology will be replaced by an introductory course on American history prior to 1877. Both votes “are indicative of a state that does not want to listen to its communities or experts,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.

But the Board of Governors issued a statement calling the replacement an “opportunity to take a factual history course” about “the forces that shaped America.” It said the course “teaches students a historically accurate account of America’s founding, the horrors of slavery, the resulting Civil War, and the Reconstruction era.”

For some voters, the 2024 election is already here | Editorial

For the first time in 20 years, the people of Pembroke Pines will be led by a new mayor in March. It’s history in the making, as Broward’s second-largest city (population 172,000) will elect either its first woman mayor or its first Latino leader to replace long-time Mayor Frank Ortis, who is retiring.

In Delray Beach, as many as three of the five elected City Hall positions could change hands, possibly transforming city government overnight.

These two cities and others will hold municipal elections on Tuesday, March 19, on the same day Republican voters will also pick a presidential nominee from among a list of seven candidates. They include Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, whose name remains on the ballot because he suspended his campaign after the ballots were printed. Any votes for DeSantis won’t count.

Democratic voters do not have a presidential preference primary in March. The state party cancelled it, which in our opinion was a mistake.

Should Florida property insurance look to an earthquake model?

Jim Verhulst’s column details the costly charges paid by Florida homeowners to protect against insurer insolvencies in the wake of major hurricanes. One solution to eliminating Florida’s “hurricane tax” is California’s model for earthquake insurance — the California Earthquake Authority. The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is a nongovernmental organization that sells earthquake insurance policies through participating insurers.

The CEA has 25 participating insurers who provide homeowners, condominium, mobile homes and renters insurance with earthquake coverage. By spreading the risk among these insurers, California has assured its citizens affordable earthquake insurance is available — and assured insurance companies that by taking a small portion of the risk in the state, no single carrier should fail due to an earthquake.

Further, should an earthquake occur, because the CEA is not a direct insurer (unlike Citizens Property Insurance Corp.) the remainder of the state’s citizens cannot be charged for claims they did not incur.

The CEA presents a more sustainable marketplace model, one that can be implemented in Florida. Insurance companies that participate in the CEA include companies that withdrew from writing new homeowners and hurricane insurance in Florida in the wake of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.