Author Archives: Kartik Krishnaiyer
Why are GOP legislators rushing to move the Florida Presidential Primary?
Two words – Jeb Bush. On Monday, legislators rushed through the House Ethics and Elections Committee a measure that would move Florida’s Presidential Primary back to March 2016 from its current late January date. The Senate passed a similar measure quickly through committee. For years, the Florida Primary was a critical moment in the nomination […]
Awake The State Orlando rally targets Senate President Gardiner
For the fifth consecutive year, “Awake The State” rallied working Floridians and those who care about good government across Florida on the opening day of the legislative session. Activists and concerned citizens in Central Florida rallied in front of Senate President Andy Gardiner’s district office. In wake of the most recent scandals involving Republican officeholders, […]
Some words on the start of session, recent legislative history and where progressive energy should be focused
I have been going to Tallahassee or following legislative sessions for 20 years. I plan to be in the capital city at some point this session though I cannot say I am overly enthusiastic about it. The one thing I can positively say is that Tallahassee has really grown up since I was first driving […]
A Progressive’s Guide to the 2015 Legislative Session: Democratic Players
Session overview here Legislative session kicks off tomorrow in Tallahassee and the Democrats have six less members of the House than last session and continue with 14 Senators. The Republicans have basically maxed out on potential seats (TFS estimates 83 as the maximum number of House seats the Republicans can win under this current map […]
Rules Reform – Differing perspectives in a divided party
Since we began discussing rules reform on this site several weeks ago vastly differing perspectives on this subject have been presented to us from the different people within the party. We have also been told by those outside the party structure that this discussion borders on a red herring that is completely meant to divert […]
Flashback Friday: Florida (and Metropolitan Miami) road map from 1968
Another map from my collection – Florida (and Metropolitan Miami) in 1968. The most fascinating part of this map is to see the development of the Interstate system. By 1968, much of the Interstate system had been either constructed or planned in Florida. One key note was that I-75 ended in Tampa and was not […]
FDP fundraising list draws laughter on social media (UPDATED)
UPDATE: Upon further investigation it appears Rep. Young must have supported a Democrat somewhere along the line (something she probably would rather not admit) to have been placed on a party email list – nonetheless the lack of scrubbing of a list that has one of the House Republican leaders can be debated. For better […]
State and local officials invited to public records training
The Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment (FIRE) has partnered with the First Amendment Foundation to offer a free training tomorrow in Orlando at 9:30 AM on open government. The training will cover topics on open meetings, public records laws, open government, first amendment, and media law topics to help us all hold our elected […]
Rules Reform and the north vs central vs south dichotomy in FDP thinking
One of the major topics of discussion coming off an electoral defeat for the Florida Democratic Party has been reforming the rules that govern the party and how chairs of the state party are selected. A feeling has begun permeate the ranks of the state party that so few stakeholders exist to really make the […]
Thursday Bookshelf: Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington’s Scandal Culture
Normally our focus is on books related to the state of Florida, but this topic in particular was on my mind, and since Richard Nixon was the closest thing we have gotten to having Floridian in the White House (During Nixon’s 1972 reelection he was registered to vote in Florida and was nominated both in […]
The Florida Squeeze 