Broward Politics

09/10/2025

Election skeptics on the right don't like voting-by-mail and want paper ballots counted by hand.
Florida's secretary of state (Republican appointed by DeSantis) rejects idea of hand counting all mail ballots.
It's less accurate and would delay results, he says.
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Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd is balancing between many Republicans who distrust voting systems and reassuring Florida voters that elections can be trusted.

07/10/2025

After waiting more than seven weeks for Gov. Ron DeSantis to set a special election to fill a vacant state representative seat, a candidate for the job wants a judge to order the governor to act.
“The Governor has refused to perform his statutory duty."
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After waiting more than seven weeks for Gov. Ron DeSantis to set a special election to fill a vacant state representative seat in Palm Beach County, a candidate for the job wants a judge to order t…

05/10/2025

DeSantis-picked state CFO arrives with Florida DOGE claims of wasteful spending and over-taxing in Broward, the state's biggest Democratic county.
Is it profligate spending by Democrats or hyperbole from Republicans?
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The intent was clear: Depict Broward County government as a hotbed of wasteful, abusive and excessive spending. Reality isn’t as clear-cut.

02/10/2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn't called a special election to fill a vacancy he created.
So President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and 114,648 other registered voters in a state House district in Palm Beach County may go unrepresented during the 2026 Florida legislative session.
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President Donald Trump and other residents may not have a member of the state House representing them during the 2026 Florida legislative session.

01/10/2025

Losing candidate in Republican primary supports Democrat in general election.
Says his party doesn't understand the district and its needs.
“Instead they push far right Republican values over the needs of the people.”

The winner of a Republican primary for Florida House wants to end vaccine mandates, eliminate property taxes and thinks Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

01/10/2025

Maria Zack — who wants to end all vaccine mandates, eliminate property taxes, and believes Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election — is the new Republican nominee to run for a vacant Florida House of Representatives in Palm Beach County.
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The winner of a Republican primary for House of Representatives wants to end vaccine mandates, eliminate property taxes and thinks Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

29/09/2025

Florida governments can tout a lower tax rates — but property tax bills go up as values rise.
That's what's happening this year with Broward County government.

Every year, elected officials proclaim they’re holding the line on taxes. Sometimes they brag they’re cutting the tax rate. People often wonder why their tax bills keep going up.

27/09/2025

Will Florida drastically shift away from property taxes?
Beyond the talking points, a thicket of complicated policy issues loom.
The politics are even more complicated.
Some state lawmakers don't fully understand the system.
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Florida lawmakers are navigating a political minefield: whether to radically reshape or even eliminate property taxes that cities and counties use to pay for critical services.

25/09/2025

Desorae Giles-Smith has died.
She was the former city manager of Lauderhill, where she'd worked for many years.
Giles-Smith was also a part of the community in northwest Fort Lauderdale.
She sometimes in recent years worked shifts at Smitty's Wings Sistrunk, the restaurant she and her husband opened several years ago that helped spur revitalization of Sistrunk Boulevard, the main streetof the city's Black community.
Giles-Smith was the wife of Chris Smith, a former Florida House and Florida Senate Democratic leader.
The picture of Chris Smith and Desorae Giles-Smith, from 2013, was from a rally in downtown Fort Lauderdale, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/174HNv1PK7/

25/09/2025

Four Broward County commissioners, two school board members, five state legislators, two mayors and four city commissioners and a long list of former elected officials and Democratic Party leaders from the county endorse David Jolly for governor.

Broward County has lost some of its political swagger in recent years. But it is critical territory for any Democrat with hopes of winning statewide in Florida.

22/09/2025

Two Republicans competing in primary for Florida House nomination.
Candidate one: "My opponent is a single-issue conspiracy theorist."
Candidate two: “To call people names is very ridiculous and very unprofessional."
Primary is Sept. 30.

Candidates in Florida House special Republican primary differ on vaccine mandates, property taxes, and who won 2020 presidential election. Neither one lives in the district they’re running in.

19/09/2025

Maria Zack touted the Italygate theory about how 2020 election was supposedly stolen from Trump.
She's now running in a special primary in Palm Beach County for Republican nomination for Florida House of Representatives.
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Candidates in Florida House special Republican primary differ on vaccine mandates, property taxes, and who won 2020 presidential election. Neither one lives in the district they’re running in.