Gary Fineout

5 days ago | politico.com | Gary Fineout

Florida has not elected a governor who is not a Democrat or Republican candidate in more than a century. When reached by POLITICO, Pizzo said he was prepared to highlight his differences with the candidates from the major parties. | Steve Cannon/AP TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who recently proclaimed the Florida Democratic Party “dead” before leaving the party, said Friday he will run for governor as an independent in 2026.

1 week ago | politico.com | Kimberly Leonard |Gary Fineout

Legislators and leaders scattered quickly after the late-night adjournment. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP Good morning and Happy Cinco de Mayo. Well, where does it all go from here? Lawmakers wrapped up most of their regular work for the year Friday — without passing a budget. They also didn’t pass a major tax cut package tied to the budget. Instead, legislative leaders announced a plan to take a break until May 12 and gave themselves until June 6 to pass a spending plan for the coming year.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Gary Fineout

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature is just hours from ending a raucous session full of GOP infighting, broken promises and bitter feelings. And they may soon be doing it again. Legislators are scheduled to end their annual 60-day session Friday without a deal on a new state budget — meaning they will be forced to return to the state Capitol sometime in the next two months to avoid a state government shutdown.

1 week ago | politico.com | Gary Fineout

Despite Republican infighting between Gov. Ron DeSantis and state House GOP leaders, the legislation gives the governor a win on one of his top priorities this year. The measure would place significant restrictions and increased penalties on groups seeking to place an initiative on the ballot, including placing a limit on how many petitions a volunteer could collect.

2 weeks ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Kimberly Leonard |Gary Fineout |Isa Dominguez |Liv Caputo

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday.GOP state Sen. BLAISE INGOGLIA’s name has been batted around for months as the person Gov. RON DESANTIS is expected to pick to be Florida’s next chief financial officer.And it appears he’s still the most likely person to land the job, according to five people close to the decision who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.