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

John Thrasher named Florida State University president: The search that began in March and stalled over the summer because of the long shadow cast by a powerful state senator ended Tuesday when the Florida State University Board of Trustees named Sen. John Thrasher the school’s new president. Supporters say Thrasher, 70, is the best person to help FSU reach its $1 billion fundraising goal and its aspiration to become one of the top 25 public universities. Opponents say the fix was in from the start and no one else ever had a chance. Read more

Rubio: Charlie Crist is ‘a political opportunist of the first degree’: Marco Rubio had some choice words Tuesday for Charlie Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor in Florida. Rubio, who discussed the former Florida governor with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto, defeated Crist in the general election for the U.S. Senate in 2010, and is largely responsible for Crist dropping out of the race for the GOP nomination and running as an independent: Rubio: “First of all, the Republican Party didn’t leave Charlie Crist. Read more 

George LeMieux returns to the federal budget, but can he get back to Washington?: Trying to keep a seat at the political table, George LeMieux will be returning to a familiar issue next week: the federal budget. During his brief time in the Senate, LeMieux made something of a national reputation for himself as a fiscal watchdog concerned with the deficit and the national debt. He’ll return to that theme Monday when he takes part in a forum… Read more

Store owner: Miami judge told me ‘Go and f— yourself’ over campaign sign: Miami-Dade County Judge Jacqueline Schwartz spotted an oversized campaign sign for one of her opponents posted in the parking lot outside a Coconut Grove convenience store. It was more than two months before the Aug. 26 primary election. Schwartz, a 12-year veteran of the bench, didn’t like the large political advertisement. So she marched into the Kwik Stop at 3101 Grand Ave. on June 2 and asked to speak to the person in charge, according to the store cashier. Read more

Morgan cleans up medical pot speech ­— mostly: John Morgan toned down his pitch for medical marijuana before a buttoned-down meeting of the Rotary Club of Tampa on Tuesday. The “Morgan & Morgan” lawyer who has been the champion for “Yes On 2,” the campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Florida, vowed to reporters before Tuesday’s luncheon meeting that “I will not be using the ‘F-bomb’ today.” He didn’t, sticking to a standard stump touching on his father’s end-of-life issues and his brother’s struggles… Read more

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

• Author
• Recent Posts

Tom Tillison

Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

Latest posts by Tom Tillison (see all)

• Tucker releases part 2 of Devon Archer’s riveting interview - August 4, 2023
• Biden handlers forced to ‘adjust for age,’ roll out shorter Air Force One staircase - July 21, 2023
• Woman claims self-defense after allegedly shooting neighbor following altercation with playing children - June 7, 2023

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.