Florida State Senate

News Wrap Up - Governor Solicits Sex, More Gambling for Florida, and Droopy Pants

Kendrick Meek Interested in Senate Seat

We've been criticizing ol' Jebby Bush for positioning his possible run for Senate as an end to the problems of the GOP, and not the end to the problems of America and Florida. Well, along comes Broward Congressman Kendrick Meek, who told the AP that indeed he is considering running for the Senate s ... More >>

The Perfect Resumé for a Florida Senate Seat

Political math god Nate Silver put together a handy pie chart showing that the career stop for a majority of current U.S. senators is a U.S. House seat. Good news for Kendrick Meek, Connie Mack IV, and the handful of other representatives who might be angling for the seat, but don't expect to see a ... More >>

News Roundup

Alex Sink is NOT RUNNING FOR SENATE. Florida's Senate race in 2010 will be one of the hottest in the nation, so why has everyone notable chosen not to pursuit it? [Naked Politics]Chairman Moss reorganized the county commission committees, and a certain sector isn't too happy. [Eye On Miami]Awww, D ... More >>

What Does Mel Martinez Do Now?

One has to wonder what was going through Sen. Mel Martinez's mind when President Bush's helicopter took off from Washington this past Tuesday. Before Bush chose Martinez to be his first HUD secretary, he was a little-known Florida fixture who had run an unsuccessful lieutenant governor campaign ... More >>

Meek Outraises Gelber By Over 3-to-1

Warhol, ok. Both Democratic U.S. Senate candidates announced their fundraising haul for the first quarter of 2009 today. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who benefited from a few fundraising appearances by none other than Bill Clinton, raked in $1.49 million. That's roughly on track with other early, non-i ... More >>

The Bad Seed Awards

They all deserve one, but who will take it home?

Videogames: Just Say No

Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex

The Last Pony Show

Owner John Brunetti is determined to save Hialeah Park, but market pressures may spell doom after 76 years of racing

DeFede

Brothers to the Rescue

How To Save the Neighborhood

Let's say you've got a serious zoning problem. Here's what you do: Show up at county hall with armed with allies and solid arguments. Surely your elected representatives will do the right thing.

Buckley: Joe Scarborough Has the Best Face in the GOP

Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and current MSNBC host, laughed away talks he might run for Florida Senate: "I don't really think it would be good to run in 2010 with a party that is actively associating itself with the Taliban." Christopher Buckley, son of conservative icon Willia ... More >>

Piece of Mind

Jackson's mental health unit fails Miami.

Super-Hot Senate Poll Action: No One Likes Corrine Brown

Mason-Dixon released another Senate poll, and like every single 2010 Florida Senate poll before it, it finds Charlie Crist is far and away the frontrunner. Ninety-seven percent recognize Crist's name, and 49 percent of regular voters find him favorable. Marco Rubio is raising his statewide name reco ... More >>

Will Marco Rubio Lead The March of Conservatives out of the GOP?

​If there's one point Riptide has been consistently making about Marco Rubio is that his values and policies are more in line with the right-wing, super-conservative blogosphere then they are with Florida voters. He pretty much hammered that point home this weekend by speaking at the RedState Gath ... More >>

Mel Martinez Will Resign

​Woah, boy. Grumpy Sen. Mel Martinez has apparently had enough of this "serving the people" stuff. Several sources report he will resign, possibly as early as today. His term would expire in early 2011, and he had previously promised to serve the rest of it. But the race to replace him had already ... More >>

Marco Rubio Would Love Sarah Palin's Endorsement

​Marco Rubio says he would love to get Sarah Palin's endorsement in his race against Charlie Crist for the Senate. From CBS News: Asked if he would welcome the support of former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Rubio offers an unqualified yes, ad ... More >>

News Roundup: SunRail Passes Senate

Miami students got some of the best math scores in the nation for urban schools. [CBS4]The Florida Senate passed SunRail legislation yesterday. Now the bill goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it. [Reuters]A mother of seven was killed in a hit-and-run early this morning. [Herald]Sport ... More >>

Move Over, Limbaugh and Drudge, There's a New Head Wingnut

via True/Slant​Whether you like it or not, South Florida is home base for two of America's most influential conservatives. You've got the reclusive Matt Drudge, who takes time out of listening to Junior Vasquez records somewhere in Miami Beach to update the DrudgeReport, and you've got Rush Limbau ... More >>

Charlie Crist Is Dick Armey's #1 "Enemy of Liberty"

​Tough day for Charlie Crist, ain't it? First he lost his lead in the Republican Senate primary, and now it's come to light that he is the Tea Party movement's number one "Enemy of Liberty." Dick Armey's FreedomWorks PAC, which is tighter with the Tea Party movement  (coinciden ... More >>

Rubio and Crist Might Face Off in Fox News Debate Next Month

​Most Senate primary debates are lucky to get aired on local channels, but the race for the GOP nomination for Florida's Senate seat is so hot it might end up broadcast nationally on Fox News.According to the Chicago Tribune's Swamp Politics, Marco Rubio has already agreed to the arrangement. Gov. ... More >>

Senate Poll: Meek Has a Shot Against Rubio, Crist's Best Shot Is as an Independent

​Public Policy Polling is back today with its full-fledged Florida Senate general election polling, and it's more or less bad news for Charlie Crist.Yesterday it was announced PPP's new numbers show Crist losing the Republican primary by a whopping 32 points. In fact, as the numbers stan ... More >>

Marco Rubio, Tea Party pretty boy

​Public Policy Polling is back today with its full-fledged Florida Senate general election polling, and it's more or less bad news for Charlie Crist.Yesterday it was announced PPP's new numbers show Crist losing the Republican primary by a whopping 32 points. In fact, as the numbers stan ... More >>

Charlie Crist Stays With Real Housewives Star Jill Zarin While Raising Cash in the Hamptons

​Could Florida's Senate race get any weirder? First, we have revelations that Jeff Greene (also buddies with Mike Tyson and Heidi Fliess) hosted Lindsay Lohan on his yacht during a New Year's Eve vacation on St. Barts. Now we learn that governor and Senate candidate Charlie Crist stayed at the hom ... More >>

With Greene Gone, Meek Still Has Mountain to Climb in US Senate Race

kendrickmeek.comMeek on Election Day​Kendrick Meek will not miss Jeff Greene. Like that guy at your party who shows up uninvited, plays Kelly Clarkson so loud the cops come, and then bolts before you're handed a noise violation, Greene has been a major headache.But Meek will miss Greene's money. T ... More >>

Miami Herald Losing Chief Political Reporter Beth Reinhard To National Journal

via Naked Politics​Bad news for the Miami Herald: its top political reporter, Beth Reinhard, is heading to D.C. to write for the National Journal magazine. Reinhard, a South Florida native who has been with the Herald since 1998, will be the Journal's new chief political correspondent.The only goo ... More >>

Hispanics Might Skip Midterm Election, Leading to Tougher Immigration Laws

​Despite the fact that immigration issues have become a central theme of the 2010 midterm elections, a new poll finds that many Hispanic voters are disillusioned and might not vote at all. Meanwhile, voters who are in favor of Arizona-style laws are fired up and ready to vote, resulting in a clima ... More >>

Report: Kendrick Meek May Drop Out of Senate Race

Democrat Kendrick Meek may drop out of the senate race giving a independent Charlie Crist an big boost in his chances of defeating conservative Republican Marco Rubio, according to an explosive new report from The Wall Street Journal. Whoa, but is the candidate who just yesterday refused to share an ... More >>

Candidates Line Up to Replace Frederica Wilson in Special State Senate Election

​>While Frederica Wilson is up in D.C. preparing to be sworn into the U.S. Congress, her seat in the Florida Senate sits empty. Yesterday, outgoing Governor Charlie Crist announced that the primary election to replace Wilson will take place on February 8, while the general election will be Mar ... More >>

You Can Now Buy Mike Haridopolos' Crappy Book for $9.99 on Your Kindle

​So, this weekend the Associated Press published a story on some crappy book Florida Senate President and likely US Senate candidate Mike Haridopolos got $152,000 in taxpayer money from Brevard Community College to write. Besides being of questionable quality, only one copy of the book existed. We ... More >>

Proposed Bill Would Make It a Felony to Photograph Farms

...and if you dare snap a photo of it, he'll make sure you wind up behind bars for 30 years, E-I-E-I-O!​State Sen. Jim Norman, a Republican from Tampa, is very concerned about a farm's right to privacy, while showing little regard for the First Amendment. He has filed a bill in the Florida Senate ... More >>

Floridians Are Still Free to Blast Their Car Stereos However Damn Loud They Please

​The right to blast your crappy music through your car stereo at top volume while driving down the road with minimal repercussions is a right that many Miamians hold dear and regularly exercise. But recently some politicians in Tallahassee wanted to strip us of this basic freedom. Thankfully, the ... More >>

Mike Haridopolos Kicked Off Conservative Talk Show For Being Waffling Idiot

​Rep. Paul Ryan's Republican budget plan, which among other things essentially replaces Medicare with a voucher program, is shaping up to a be big issue in the 2012 election, and one would expect any candidate, especially running for a Federal legislative office, to have an opinion on it. Flor ... More >>

Former Senate Candidate Jeff Greene's Infamous Party Yacht Is for Sale

This, for some reason, is the only image we have on file of Summerwind. ​Would you like to own a yacht that once hosted the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Mike Tyson? Would you like to to be the captain of a boat that was described as something like a Studio 54 of the seas for dorks complete with alle ... More >>

Obama Nominates Kendrick Meek to United Nations Post

​We're actually kind of surprised it took this long for someone to appoint Kendrick Meek to something. The White House has announced that it will nominate the former South Florida congressman to a representative position at the United Nations.

Mike Haridopolos Drops Bid for U.S. Senate, Doesn't Have to Refund Contributions

​State Senate President Mike Haridopolos has given up on his run for U.S. Senate.The ethically challenged 41-year-old sent an email to supporters early today saying that his run for Senate is conflicting with his duties in the Florida State Senate, according to Roll Call.

Rick Scott Pays Just $360-a-year For His Taxpayer-Subsidized Health Insurance

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average health plan costs an American family $13,770 in premiums a year. Governor Rick Scott pays just $360 to insure himself and his wife thanks to a state Government plan he's enrolled in. Yep. the average American pays 38.25 percent more for their he ... More >>

Florida Senate Creating a Casey Anthony Committee

​Florida's economy still sits in the dumpster. A recent study shows that Sunshine State ranks fourth in the nation for percentage of children whose parents can't afford to feed them. Yet the Florida Senate has announced plans to form a committee to tackle the fallout from the tabloid-friendly ... More >>

Allen West Is Not on a "Marco Rubio Level"; Sorry, Club for Growth

​Republican insiders aren't exactly thrilled with the crop of candidates who have entered the race for the GOP nomination to take on incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson. Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, a powerful and influential fiscally conservative 527 group that endorsed Marco Rubio in ... More >>

Medical Marijuana's Unlikely New Florida Savior Is 64-Year-Old Larcenia Bullard

via Florida SenateThe new face of Florida pot reform.​If you'd told Larcenia Bullard 35-years ago - back when she was teaching school kids for a living -- that she'd one day use her lofty platform as a Florida state Senator to advocate for marijuana reform, she would have banished you to the princ ... More >>

State Senate Honors "Crisis Pregnancy Centers," Outraging Pro-Choice Activists

Florida SenateSponsor of CPC praise resolution, Mike FasanoLate on Tuesday, three Florida state senators -- Mike Haridopolos, John Thrasher and Mike Fasano -- pushed through a resolution honoring so-called "crisis pregnancy centers," a symbolic gesture that has outraged the abortion rights movement. ... More >>

Hialeah Park, Florida's greatest racetrack, battles mega-casinos and lawsuits

Florida SenateSponsor of CPC praise resolution, Mike FasanoLate on Tuesday, three Florida state senators -- Mike Haridopolos, John Thrasher and Mike Fasano -- pushed through a resolution honoring so-called "crisis pregnancy centers," a symbolic gesture that has outraged the abortion rights movement. ... More >>

The Five Most Important Proposed New Laws For Florida Animal Lovers

​Florida is a pretty horrible place to be an animal. That's due at least in part to the great conglomeration of weirdos and cretins here, of course, but stone-age animal cruelty laws have a lot to do with it as well. A few Florida Senators have done their part in proposing bills that would go a lo ... More >>

Look Ma, No Hands: Senate Passes Bill to Legalize Hand-less Bike Riding

​A Florida law requires all bicyclists to keep at least one hand on a handlebar while riding their bike at all times, which, of course, prevents show offs from looking totally awesome. Republican Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff may have been unsuccessful in her attempt to bring Las Vegas-style casinos to Flo ... More >>