Florida's Latest News

Which 2026 Florida candidates are raising the most money?

With every campaign finance report, the 2026 midterm field comes into clearer focus.

More than a year from the general election, candidates up and down the ballot are already raising millions of dollars.

The quarterly filings, which appeared on a state database late Friday, show who’s got momentum in key statewide races — and which powerful interests will likely have a seat at the table during the next administration.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is term-limited, meaning he can’t run for reelection in 2026.

As would be expected in what is now a solid red state, Republicans dominated the fundraising. The Republican Party of Florida raised more than $6.2 million, while the Florida Democratic Party raised about $540,000. The frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for governor, David Jolly, garnered a fraction of the financial support of his Republican rivals. The same was true in races down the ballot.

USF St. Petersburg will launch a new four-year nursing program

By 2035, Florida is expected to have a nursing shortage of nearly 60,000, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

The University of South Florida St. Petersburg is launching a four-year nursing program that will welcome freshmen.

Usha Menon, the dean of the USF College of Nursing, said it will help alleviate the staffing shortage in Florida.

The program is expected to accept 85 students. However, there are only 70 seats for the higher-level courses, meaning there will be a cutoff after the second year, according to Menon.

She said that's because of faculty challenges.

“The challenge we have in nursing is that we also have a nurse faculty shortage,” Menon said. “And per our accreditation guidelines, we have to have a certain ratio of faculty to students in the clinical setting. So, if I bring in an extra student, I have to have almost a half-time person hired.”

Ron DeSantis appoints William ‘Chad’ Bailey to fill vacant Gulf County School Board seat

The Gulf Coast County School Board has a new member who’s replacing a former Chair who stepped down at the beginning of this year.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this month that he has appointed William “Chad” Bailey to fill the open seat on the School Board of the Panhandle county, which is home to Port St. Joe, just east of Panama City.

Bailey will take the place of Denny McGlon, who officially resigned from his seat on Jan. 31. McGlon was once the Chair of the School Board. But McGlon vacated his seat following a Lynn Haven Police investigation, and he was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor stalking of a woman, according to a Channel 13 WMMB report. Although the incident began in 2022, a judge dismissed the case, claiming it did not constitute stalking.

Bailey is 43 years old and has an engineering background and a resume chock full of community service. He’s long been an engineer with Consolidated Communications, which provides high-speed internet, television, and mobile phone service to the Gulf Coast area in the Panhandle region.

How does Florida rank when it comes to schoolbook removals?

Florida has been leading the nation in book restrictions for public school students, according to recent reports.

Some of the books the Florida Department of Education has said are inappropriate and not permitted on school library shelves include "The Stolen Life," "Tricks," "All the Boys Aren't Blue and Lucky," and more.

Under Florida law, parents of students in a district can challenge a book they consider sexually explicit, pornographic, obscene, or age-inappropriate. A local committee then reviews the material. Parents without kids can also issue challenges, but only one every month.

Critics of removals have also warned about books with LGBTQ+ or racial topics being targeted.