After Friday, my mind immediately jumped past 2014 elections and I begin to think about 2016 and 2018 already. The most unsettling piece to come out Friday is that obviously no one getting ready to run for governor in 2018 against Adam Putnam. Democratic constitutional office candidate recruitment is perhaps the worst in recent memory – seriously, does anybody know anything about William Rankin, who is supposedly running for CFO? This situation is most unfortunate because Putnam has already begun fund-raising for the job-and already has millions in his political action committee- and will be a most formidable candidate for any Democrat. Whatever happens this fall, the Democrats are looking at a crushing defeat in 2018. Considering that it is extremely unlikely that the Democrats will make significant gains in the House and Senate before then (we can only hope that we can keep Republicans from a veto-proof majority in the Senate this year, much less make gains), the Republican Party will be in control of the House, Senate, and Governor’s mansion in 2020, meaning that once again they will dominate the redistricting process. At this point, local races are more important than ever because in order for Democrats to be able take advantage of any surprises or changes that redistricting will bring, there has to be a bench to draw from. Now is the time to build that bench and invest in depth for the party. We have to recruit for local offices and build up from the bottom; new maps are not going to matter if there are not candidates to run in them. The only way to prepare for this is to think local for the next couple cycles and invest in smaller races.   – KB@BurnettKaty 

Friday was the qualifying deadline for Florida candidates. Many campaigns released tweets, statuses, and photos of their candidates filing their paper work in order to get on their primary and/or general election ballots. The biggest news on Qualifying Day: one third of the Florida Legislature will run unopposed. Or as Michael Van Sickler of the Tampa Bay Times put it: The lack of opposition means candidates for eight state Senate seats — all incumbent Republicans — and 38 House seats, all but one an incumbent, automatically won their seats despite no ballots being cast in those districts. That will make 2014 even less competitive than 2012, when 24 percent of lawmakers ran unopposed. There many different angles that can utilized to explain this. Over the past week or so, Ive spoken with many insiders and activists and the message seems to be pretty clear. One, the Florida Democrats’ recruitment of candidates, as we’ve continually discussed here at TFS is horrible. On top of that, the new Democratic leadership in the House has brought back many of the same party vendors that continually in the past put their own interests ahead of the party’s. Secondly, Florida’s term limits and the gerrymandering of districts play a major role as well. No one, would want to run as Democrat in a FL House race in this environment, with a Republican incumbent fundraising powerhouse, without party support when they can wait a 2-4 years until said incumbent is termed out. Lastly, FDP and House Victory could learn something from the Crist Campaign: conserving their resources. Rather than wasting money in expensive districts where it would be very difficult to defeat an incumbent (see: Jamie Grant and Dana Young) we should focus on other areas. There is some good news here, however. Almost every seat that was left on the table from last cycle, has a Democrat qualified to run, its just a matter of them getting the party support that they need. And, that remains to be seen. As we move closer to November, TFS will continue to examine FDPs progress on this front and where can make make even more progress.  Without help of the party, the New Leaders Council for example, has begun to search for its own candidates, and so have many progressive democrats in some of key areas. see: Orlando and the I-4 corridor. Democrats are making great strides, but more work has to be done.- JS @JustinSnyderFL

As I am sure you have heard, Representative Reggie Fullwood managed to turn his paperwork in on Friday without one little box checked and did not make it onto the ballot, leaving no candidate for District 13. Now, as much as it is hard to really get all upset over one little box, somehow hundreds of other candidates across the state managed to get it done without incident. While it looks like the local Supervisor of Election will simply have to open qualifying for another week, the real question becomes is someone going to primary him? Before refiling he faced no challenger, Democrat or Republican. Jacksonville Democrats are embarrassed and while he won’t make the same mistake twice, they could decide to find someone with a little more attention to details to see how much he really wants his job. While it is a decidedly safe Democratic district, Fullwood is going to have to do a little PR work in order to make it up to his constituents.  – KB@BurnettKaty 

A local issue in my home county of Palm Beach caught my eye this week. The proposed development at the Panama Hatties/Rum Bar lot along PGA Boulevard and Ellison Wilson Road is controversial to say the least. The proposal spearheaded by the same minds behind the Harbourside in Jupiter development project, have completed federal permits to demolish the restaurant and construct an eight f00t sea wall and build condos, restaurants, a hotel and parking garage amongst other amenities. There is no doubt that such a project will continue to bring sustained economic activity to that area, however the unintended consequences of the project might outweigh its upsides. If you are familiar with the area, the traffic patterns surrounding the bridges that lead to Palm Beach Island are a hellscape as it is- especially the bridge  near Panama Hatties and a personal favorite of mine, The River House Restaurant. Before a single brick is laid and a wrecking ball is taken to site, there must be discussion on how we can improve the traffic situation surrounding the proposed site, otherwise  we are looking at a very serious problem that many residents of the area, are already bringing up . The land sits in unincorporated Palm Beach County but is planned to be annexed by the city of Palm Beach Gardens. At this point, the proposal is just that- a proposal, and must be approved by the Palm Beach Gardens city council and pass a whole bunch of other steps before construction can begin. The approval for this development is in the hands of the Palm Beach Gardens City Council. The PBG Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board is scheduled to have a public workshop meeting on July 8th to discuss the project dubbed PGA WATERFRONT WMXD (PETITION #: PPUD-14-01-000034) .

– JS @JustinSnyderFL

The World Cup has captured the imagination like no other soccer tournament has in the United States in the past. As someone who previously worked in the sport full-time and now covers it more or less full-time the past ten days have been a whirlwind for me. Serving as the Managing Editor of World Soccer Talk along with doing work for Univision, USA Today and Soccerly while also appearing on seemingly countless radio programs including on ESPN, CBS, TSN, NBC Sports Radio and Sports Byline has taken a toll on my sleeping patterns and ability to follow political developments as closely as I have wanted to the last ten days. But beginning today, the tournament format changes and I will have far more time to delve back into keeping an eye on all things Florida.

–  – KK @kkfla737