Florida's Latest News

Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis seek breakthrough at critical GOP debate.

The stage is literally set here at the University of Alabama for the final GOP debate of 2023. The stakes are huge for the two highest-polling candidates who will appear: former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Haley has been on the rise, in part thanks to strong debate performances. She looks to be on the brink of supplanting DeSantis for second place.

DeSantis can’t let that happen, as it would shatter one of the central planks of his candidacy — that he is the most viable alternative to former President Trump. DeSantis and Haley are way behind Trump. The former president is 46 points in the clear in the national polling average maintained by data site FiveThirtyEight.

Haley and DeSantis need to do more than gain an edge over each other at the debate Wednesday evening: They need to find a true game-changing moment. That will be an uphill battle, but it’s not impossible. For a start, this will be the least cluttered debate stage so far. Only two other candidates have qualified and will participate — businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Court ruling on police transparency might only be temporary.

One law partner said the court’s ruling on Marsy's Law was broader than what media and civil liberties groups had expected. In a unanimous ruling welcomed by civil liberties groups, the Florida Supreme Court ruled last week police cannot grant blanket anonymity to alleged crime victims under a victim’s rights provision known as “Marsy’s Law.”

The court said the Florida and U.S. Constitution’s guarantee that an accused has a right to confront their accuser, along with Sunshine provisions of Florida’s Constitution, mean that the 2018 voter-approved amendment cannot be used to always hide the names of victims.

“Marsy’s Law does not guarantee to crime victims a generalized right of anonymity,” said Justice John Daniel Courieal, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The justices overturned a ruling that had protected the names of two Tallahassee police officers who used lethal force to shoot their assailants in two separate cases. A police union argued that because the officers were “victims,” they had the right to block release of their names.

Paul Renner, a UF grad, sides with FSU in playoff snub squabble.

'Go Noles, you'll never hear me say that again.'

House Speaker Paul Renner is a proud graduate from the University of Florida and doesn’t often find himself sympathetic to players for their rival university, Florida State University (FSU). But during an appearance at the Capital City Tiger Bay Club, Renner uttered the two words he probably never thought he would: “Go Noles.” The House Speaker joined with many other Florida politicians to criticize the selection committee’s decision to leave FSU out of the national championship hunt. 

“I think the mistake that the committee made is if they came to the conclusion that they ultimately came (to) based on strength of schedule, fine. But they never should have been No. 4 in the first place,” Renner said. “When you put somebody No. 4 and all they do is win, it’s kind of hard to justify taking them out of that fourth place slot.”

For now, Renner said FSU should settle the dispute on the field when the team takes on the University of Georgia (UGA). UGA was ranked No.1 by the selection committee until the team lost its conference championship game to the University of Alabama.

DeSantis urges Florida Supreme Court to reject challenge to gambling deal.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders late Friday urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject a challenge to a deal that allowed the Seminole Tribe to offer online sports betting statewide, saying it does not violate a 2018 constitutional amendment that restricted casino gambling.

State lawyers filed a 55-page brief that disputed arguments by the parimutuel companies West Flagler Associates and Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., which have fought the sports betting plan in state and federal courts.

The battle centers on part of a 2021 deal between the state and the tribe that allowed gamblers to place mobile sports wagers anywhere in the state, with bets handled by computer servers on tribal property. The deal said bets “using a mobile app or other electronic device, shall be deemed to be exclusively conducted by the tribe.”

The deal between the state and the tribe, known as a compact, was negotiated by DeSantis and tribal leaders and ratified by the Legislature. It was not put before voters.