Florida's Latest News

DeSantis’ challenge with Republican voters is building a base that exceeds Trump’s

When Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy for president Wednesday, confirming years of speculation, he made a speech to the Twitter-verse that hit on themes most Republicans would get behind: He would build a border wall, end inflation and, most importantly, he would beat President Joe Biden in November 2024.

The governor’s early state primary strategy seems geared toward proving to Republicans that he’s a winner. He’s shifted much of his campaign energy toward early primary states, scrapping a rumored event in his hometown of Dunedin for events next week in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Nick Iarossi, a key DeSantis fundraiser and longtime ally, said that he noticed an “instant transformation” now that he’s officially in the race, saying DeSantis is excited to compete.

“He was tired of operating with one hand behind his back,” Iarossi said. “The guy I saw [Thursday] night was super personable, high energy ... [and] is going to be very effective on the campaign trail.”

Ron DeSantis adds 5 more New Hampshire endorsements

Five more Republican members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives are endorsing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bid for the White House.

The additions bring his total level of support in the Granite State to 56 state Representatives, according to a count maintained by pro-DeSantis Never Back Down.

“What we’re seeing in New Hampshire and across the country are conservatives rallying behind Gov. Ron DeSantis to move our country forward as the next President of the United States,” Never Back Down spokesperson Jess Szymanski told the Daily Caller, which first reported on the added endorsements Friday.

The list of new endorsements includes state Reps. Tom Dolan, Daniel Popovici-Muller, Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien, Matthew Simon and Kristine Perez, who flipped from previously endorsing Donald Trump.

Also flipped is Majority Leader Jason Osborne, who was a delegate for Trump twice but said now people “aren’t buying what he’s selling anymore.”

DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa as he steps up criticism of Trump

Ron DeSantis plans to kick off his presidential campaign in Iowa on Tuesday, the start of a busy week that will take him to 12 cities in three states as he tests his pitch as the most formidable Republican challenger to former President Donald Trump.

The Florida governor’s two-day trip to the leadoff caucus state — starting at a suburban Des Moines megachurch and ending at a Cedar Rapids racetrack — comes after a stumbling online announcement last week that formalized his long-anticipated entry into the growing Republican field. It will be followed by stops in early primary states New Hampshire and South Carolina.

DeSantis’ scheduled Tuesday evening stop at Eternity Church in Clive is a conspicuous nod to the evangelical Christians who wield outsize influence in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses. His visit will give voters an opportunity to meet the new candidate just as he has been stepping up his criticism of Trump.

“He’s got a big hill to climb — and I think everybody would agree with that — to be able to convince people that he can overcome Trump, that he can do a job as good as, if not better than, Trump,” said Bernie Hayes, the Republican chair in Linn County where DeSantis plans to wrap up his Iowa jaunt Wednesday.

5 bills that could reshape criminal justice in Florida

This year, Florida legislators dramatically reshaped the state's death penalty and quickly passed a bill allowing people to carry firearms without training.

Those bills garnered statewide and national headlines, hourslong debates and broad public interest.

Less noticed, though, was a slew of other consequential criminal justice bills. Here are five bills poised to reshape Florida’s criminal justice system in the coming years.