In the Republican primary for Florida agriculture commissioner, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow seems like a natural.But state Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis intends to put up a fight against Putnam in the primary. Claiming the role of the true conservative in the race, he hopes to turn the race into the kind of ideological battle that's becoming common in the Republican Party. ...more

November 23, 2009

Times are quite a bit different today than they were in February when President Barack Obama was in Fort Myers campaigning for the passage of the $787 billion "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." ...more

November 22, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist said he is "hopefully optimistic" that lawmakers will hold a special session soon about commuter rail, which could help the state win federal aid for a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando. ...more

November 18, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist has urged Florida lawmakers to ban texting while driving. ...more

November 17, 2009

In another political blow to Gov. Charlie Crist, dissension in the state Republican Party broke open Thursday as a group of party officials demanded an "emergency" meeting to discuss party problems, apparently including grievances against Chairman Jim Greer. ...more

November 13, 2009

Erin Isaac is resigning as Gov. Charlie Crist's communications director. ...more

November 12, 2009

Some Gulf Coast residents hunkered down at home and in shelters Monday while others ventured outside to watch the approach of a rare late-season tropical storm that brought the potential for high winds, flooding and up to 8 inches of rain in some places. ...more

November 10, 2009

Squalls ahead of a rare late-season tropical storm blew in heavy rain tonight to parts of the Gulf Coast where residents hunkered down at home and in shelters anticipating high winds and flooding. ...more

November 9, 2009

Republicans say it's not a problem that they lost a New York special congressional election last week that was widely compared to Florida's U.S. Senate race. ...more

November 8, 2009

We've given Gov. Charlie Crist grief for pledging during the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary that he would govern along the conservative lines of the man he was seeking to replace, Jeb Bush, and then lurching to the left after he was elected. His enthusiastic backing of the Legislature's decision to have the state, in effect, take over the property insurance industry in Florida was one example of un-Jeb-ish behavior. Another was the governor's backing of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program. The media has been referring to that support for months without a peep of protest from Crist - until Wednesday. ...more

November 7, 2009