Politics
DNC: DeSantis’ Failed Economic Agenda Is Leaving Floridians Behind
While Ron DeSantis has been busy traveling across the country trying to sell his extreme agenda to voters and courting the most extreme fringes of the GOP base, his failed MAGA economic policies are proving disastrous at home.
Here’s a look at what’s been happening in DeSantis’ Florida since he launched his campaign:
Miami Herald: ‘It’s brutal’: As premiums continue to soar, another home insurer is leaving Florida
Key Point: “Floridians pay the highest property insurance premiums in the nation, and 13 companies have gone insolvent in recent years. Many others have stopped writing new policies or pulled out of Florida.”
Politico: Florida Playbook: Rising cost of living in not quite so free Florida
Key Point: “There’s more — Other victims of the state’s affordability crisis? Florida residents being pushed out of southwest Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, according to a new story by POLITICO’s Zack Colman. Middle class and working class homeowners who bought their homes in years past cannot afford to rebuild to meet modern building codes as required by federal rules and wind up selling their property as vacant land. ‘I hate to say it,’ Isabel Arias Squires, a Fort Myers real estate agent who works with the real estate broker Redfin told Colman. ‘Only very, very, extremely wealthy people will be able to rebuild.’”
CBS News: Florida is now America’s inflation hotspot
Key Point: “Florida is America’s inflation hotspot, thanks to a persistent problem with sky-high housing costs.”
WPTV: Florida gas prices most expensive in 4 weeks amid insurance rate hikes
Key Point: “Florida gas prices rebounded last week, rising an average of 20 cents per gallon. Meanwhile, Florida drivers are also paying more for their insurance premiums with the highest rates in the nation.”
Yahoo Finance: Homeowners in DeSantis’s Florida face a costly and unique problem
Key Point: “Instead, Category 5 fraud and abuse have made Florida’s homeowners insurance market so unprofitable that 15 carriers have become insolvent in the state since 2020 — and others refuse to do business there. ‘This is a man-made catastrophe,’ says Logan McFaddin, vice president of state government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. ‘It’s not just the weather. It’s frivolous litigation and fraud.’… Critics say DeSantis should be doing more to help Florida homeowners now instead of campaigning out of state. That’s shaping up as a liability for DeSantis if his presidential campaign gathers steam and he becomes a serious contender for the Republican nomination.”
HuffPost: As Ron DeSantis Barnstorms New Hampshire, Thousands Of Floridians Lose Health Insurance
Key Point: “Over the past few weeks, roughly a quarter-million Floridians have lost health insurance coverage through Medicaid. And that’s just the beginning. In the coming months, even more Medicaid beneficiaries in Florida could lose their coverage as well ― with many, and quite possibly most, ending up uninsured altogether.”
Orlando Sentinel: Florida, stop taking Medicaid away from kids, parents who need it | Editorial
Key Point: “What DeSantis knew — what most Florida families probably did not know — was that even as he spoke, state officials were rushing to dump hundreds of thousands of Floridians off Medicaid rolls. Roughly one-third of those losing coverage are children. And as the Sentinel’s Caroline Catherman reported last week, some of those children are so sick they’re not supposed to lose coverage at all.”
CNN Business: Florida’s homeowner insurance rates are four times the national average. That’s not getting better anytime soon
Key Point: “Meanwhile, the regional and local insurers left to provide coverage are in bad shape. Just more than half of insurers based in Florida are on the state insurance regulator’s watch list due to their financial health. Six were forced to liquidate last year, another one earlier this year. And to try to stay solvent, the remaining insurers are charging rates nearly four times as high as the national average. Homeowners in the state pay private insurers about $6,000 a year, compared to a national average of $1,700.”
KTVO: As costs for some double, what’s behind skyrocketing increases in homeowners’ insurance
Key Point: “‘It’s frustrating. Florida is really becoming too expensive for people like my dad. Retirees used to come here all the time, but they’re going to have to find another place because regular folks are getting priced out,’ Vince Arcuri said.”
WPLG: Florida homeowners pay more on average for property insurance than any state, expert says
Key Point: “Florida homeowners are paying more on average for insurance than any other state in the country and rates increased about 40% this year, according to Mark Friedlander, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, a U.S. industry association based out of New York.”
Florida
DeSantis’ New Florida Congressional Map Could Spark Lawsuits, Legislative Showdown, and Statewide Protests
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FNN) — Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a proposed congressional redistricting map that could significantly reshape Florida’s representation in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The proposal, released Monday, outlines districts that could favor Republicans in 24 seats, compared to four Democratic-leaning districts. Currently, Florida’s congressional delegation includes 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with one vacant seat.
REDISTRICTING PROPOSAL & POLITICAL IMPACT
The governor said the new map reflects Florida’s population changes and fulfills his commitment to mid-decade redistricting. Lawmakers have been called into a special legislative session to consider the proposal.
The map appears to eliminate four Democratic-held seats, including a Tampa-area district represented by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, an Osceola County district held by U.S. Rep. Darren Soto—the first Puerto Rican elected to Congress from Florida—and a Palm Beach-Broward district that could displace U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz.
The proposal also affects a majority-Black voting district spanning Palm Beach and Broward counties, previously represented by former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, raising concerns about the future of minority representation.
Supporters, including Evan Power, say the map could better align districts with voter distribution. Critics, including Nikki Fried, have called the proposal unconstitutional gerrymandering. Florida law prohibits partisan gerrymandering, setting up potential legal challenges.
Rep. Tray McCurdy, D-Orlando and Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville sit on the Florida Seal in protest as debate stops on Senate Bill 2-C: Establishing the Congressional Districts of the State in the House of Representatives Thursday, April 21, 2022 at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Rep. Daisy Morales, D-Orlando, joins the protest, holding a sign. The session was halted on the protest. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)
LOOKING BACK: 2022 PROTESTS OVER REDISTRICTING
The current debate mirrors tensions from 2022, when Democratic lawmakers staged a sit-in protest on the Florida House floor in opposition to a previous congressional map backed by DeSantis.
Lawmakers including Yvonne Hinson, Angie Nixon, Travaris McCurdy, Felicia Robinson, and Daisy Morales participated in the protest, temporarily halting legislative proceedings.
Morales, a member of the Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee and the only Hispanic lawmaker involved in the sit-in, strongly criticized the map at the time.
“Our democracy is being attacked. The governor eliminating two Black congressional seats is a power grab and it’s wrong,” Morales said in a written statement. “Stripping seats from Black representation is the same as saying the Black voice—the Black vote—doesn’t matter.”
She also warned about potential impacts on Hispanic representation:
“With this map passing, I’m deeply concerned it could target the only Puerto Rican representing Florida in Congress, Darren Soto, to benefit partisan interests. We don’t want to disenfranchise the 1.2 million Puerto Ricans in Florida.”
WHAT COMES NEXT IN 2026
As lawmakers prepare to debate the new proposal, Democrats are expected to push back through legal challenges, legislative opposition, and public advocacy.
The outcome of Florida’s redistricting battle could play a pivotal role in shaping control of the U.S. House and influence the national political landscape heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Politics
Gov. Ron DeSantis Orders Flags at Half-Staff for Slain Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy M. Metayer Bowen
