Florida's Latest News

Scott taps longtime aides for NRSC senior staff roles

Incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott has named his chief of staff, Jackie Schutz Zeckman, the organization’s executive director for the 2022 election cycle, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Chris Hartline, the communications director in Scott’s Senate office, will be taking on that role at the NRSC.

Scott, the first-term Florida senator, was elected NRSC chair on Tuesday. He will be taking over for Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who is up for reelection in 2022.

Machine recount in tight Miami state Senate race ends, as margin narrows further.

The machine recount in the race for Senate District 37, the very last state race to be called in Florida’s 2020 election cycle has come to an end, and the margin has grown even smaller.

Republican Ileana Garcia now leads Democrat incumbent Sen. José Javier Rodríguez by just 28 votes, prompting a certain hand recount that Miami-Dade elections supervisor Christina White expects will begin Thursday.

After 10 hours of counting Tuesday, the margin widened to 33 from 31 the day prior, after two overseas ballots came in Tuesday with votes for Garcia. But Wednesday’s final count put the candidates just 28 votes apart.

First wave of COVID-19 vaccine will need to be rationed. How will Florida decide?

About 3.5 million Floridians, mostly healthcare providers, medically vulnerable and first responders, could be given priority status when the first doses of the long-awaited coronavirus vaccine arrive in the state, according to a draft report from the Florida Department of Health.

Will the state even get that many doses? And if not, who decides where the first ones go? Those are some of the many unanswered questions as the state prepares for the first vaccine delivery as early as December.

Optimism over a vaccine to provide protection against the deadly COVID-19 virus increased Monday when Pfizer announced it will pursue expedited approval from the Food and Drug Administration after preliminary and incomplete results showed its coronavirus vaccine was 90% effective.

DeSantis has spent billions in federal cash with little oversight. And the spigot runs dry soon.

The first reports from the state on how CARES Act money was spent show that the large influx of federal funds not only helped Florida cope with the coronavirus pandemic but also helped relieve severe revenue losses.

Florida has spent $4.6 billion in federal funds provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic through Sept. 30, according to reports Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration filed with the U.S. Treasury Department.

The state received $5.8 billion in total and must spend the remaining $1.2 billion before Dec. 31, or else it reverts back to the federal government.