Tag: matt caldwell

Was Julius Caesar right?

But while Fried is her party’s top state official, she remains largely unknown to many voters and a poll released last week shows she has some work to do to win the Democratic primary. 

We are watching the old 20th Century political order fall away, while the ceaseless growth wrought by Industrial Revolution is maturing to middle age.  Those changes will lead us to plenty of meaty issues: term limits, gun rights, the decline and fall of republics, etc.  These are the things I want to explore with you: where we’ve been, where we are and where I hope we are going.

Over the past decade, Florida Republicans have made it a habit of winning the close ones. Rick Scott narrowly edged then state CFO Alex Sink in the 2010 gubernatorial race. Four years later, Scott held off former Gov. Charlie Crist. In 2016, Trump beat out Hillary Clinton in the Sunshine State.

“This could be a real clash among Democrats,” said political analyst Michelle Ertel, a commentator on Florida’s I Heart Radio. Ertel said this could be a real problem for Democrats in November if the Sanders camp doesn’t get what they want.

It is an open joke in Tallahassee that if Kimberly Mitchell and the Everglades Trust speak, you will hear her words echoed down Adams Street by the dozens of environmental groups that are bought and paid for by her network.

Rumors and reports started to circulate last week that Caldwell was looking at making a move to lead the Florida GOP right after he announced he would be running for Lee County Republican state committeeman.

Current appraiser Ken Wilkinson has thrown his support to the new candidate. 

In the first week of the current legislative session, with the support of the GOP leadership, the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee unanimously backed a proposal that raised concerns from Second Amendment supporters.

Back in 2016, a strong majority of Florida voters--more than 71 percent--voted for Amendment 2 which expanded medical marijuana use across the state. Republicans had two years to enact the amendment and made some efforts but held off on allowing smokable medical marijuana in Florida.

With Republican Matt Caldwell conceding last week, incoming state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried will be the only Democrat holding statewide office in Florida. 

Saying he did not want to mire the state in a legal battle, state Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres, conceded on Monday, almost two weeks after Election Day, to Democrat Nikki Fried in the race to be Florida’s next agriculture commissioner.