Five of today’s top Florida political stories at your fingertips:

Charlie Crist plays the race card (again): some in GOP bash Obama due to race: In a Tuesday interview with Fusion’s Jorge Ramos, the Democratic candidate for governor said a “big reason” he left the GOP was that he felt increasingly uncomfortable that the party opposed President Obama due to his race.“I couldn’t be consistent with myself and my core beliefs, and stay with a party that was so unfriendly toward the African-American president, I’ll just go there,” Crist said. “I was a Republican and I saw the activists and what they were doing, it was intolerable to me.” Ramos said Crist left the GOP to run as an independent because he was losing the 2010 Senate Republican primary to Marco Rubio. But Crist denied it. Crist has made race an on-again and off-again theme as he campaigns for his old job back with his third party affiliation. Read more.

Miami-Dade to explore possibility of marijuana farmers: With Florida lawmakers approving limited use of medical marijuana this year, the state’s largest county wants its farming industry to be ready if the door opens wider to a potential cash crop. Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss, who represents the farm-rich southern part of the county, won passage of a resolution Tuesday instructing county staff to “assess the the potential impacts of the legalization of medical marijuana on agricultural areas.” Read more.

Bet the Fla. school that banned boy from reading Bible during free time is sorry now!:  It was enough to shake anybody’s faith in the system. But a Florida boy and his father are fighting back after the fifth-grader said his teacher banned him from reading his Bible during free-reading time in school, violating his constitutional rights. Broward County School District says it’s all “a big misunderstanding,” but that’s not what the evidence shows. Giovanni Rubeo and his dad have turned to Liberty Institute, “the largest legal organization dedicated solely to defending and restoring religious liberty in America,” to get things straightened out. Read more.

Death of Florida’s gun evacuation bill sparks feud between NRA and sheriffs: A battle has erupted between the National Rifle Association and the Florida Sheriff’s Association. In response to the emergency concealed carry bill being killed in the Florida legislature during this year’s session, the NRA sent a legislative alert to its members that the FSA ”declared war on the Second Amendment,” according to an Associated Press report. Read more.

DCCC doubles down on David Jolly’s NPA opponent: National Democrats continue to double down on retired Col. Ed Jany’s bid against U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., despite running with no party affiliation. Despite Jolly holding a swing seat and beating Democrat former state CFO Alex Sink by less than 2 percent in a special election in March, Democrats failed to get a candidate on the ballot for November. Jany had been a Republican but moved over to the Democrats last fall, not soon enough to be his new party’s candidate in November. U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and a Sink booster, insisted Jany is gaining momentum for his new congressional bid. The DCCC moved Jany into their “Emerging Races” tier despite not running on the party’s line. Read more.

For more Florida political news, visit BPR’s FLORIDA NEWS page

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Michele Kirk

Michele Kirk is the vice president and senior managing editor for BizPac Review. Michele can be reached at [email protected]

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