Ryan Nicol

4 days ago | floridapolitics.com | Ryan Nicol

It appears the strange state park development saga is over, with Gov. Ron DeSantis saying he’ll sign legislation limiting such plans from emerging in the future. A reminder that the Department of Environmental Protection last year seemingly tried to slip plans to build pickleball courts, golf courses, and lodging facilities past the public before being caught and forced to backtrack. The strange part of this is … hmm, who was the Governor in 2024?

1 week ago | floridapolitics.com | Ryan Nicol

Ruth’s List Florida is retooling two top leadership posts early in the 2026 election cycle. The organization, which helps elect Democratic women who run as pro-abortion rights candidates, has brought on Haleigh Hutchison as its new Political Director. Ruth’s List is also promoting Jadyn Gonzales to serve as Development Director. Hutchison is a veteran of the Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office, serving as Director of Operations for two years under Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

1 week ago | miamitimesonline.com | Ryan Nicol

After taking over mid-Session following the resignation of former Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo, the caucus’ new leader has named her top lieutenants. Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman says Sen. Tracie Davis, a Jacksonville Democrat, will serve as Senate Democratic Leader Pro Tempore for the remainder of this term. Davis is slated to lead Senate Democrats during the 2026-28 term. Berman selected St. Petersburg Sen. Daryl Rouson for Rules Chair and Boca Raton Sen.

1 week ago | floridapolitics.com | Ryan Nicol

That’s how we led our 2024 edition of this column. Well, so much for that. The 2025 Session was anything but normal. It started with new House and Senate leaders aligning to directly confront the Governor via veto overrides, stripping him of authority in higher ed, campaigning for ballot amendments, threats of investigation into the First Lady’s charitable arm, and more. Some of those efforts stalled.

1 week ago | floridapolitics.com | Ryan Nicol

The scheduled end date for the 2025 Regular Session has come and gone. But due to some serious sniping between chambers and even more between branches, there remains a lot unresolved — the most important being the budget. So Session is now being extended until June 6 to try to land the plane on several bills in addition to the constitutionally mandated budget. We’ve got more to say on the public-facing players later on in the column. And a note, this is still just our weekly winner and loser list.