The Fanjuls: The Koch brothers of South Florida?

Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch have quickly become boogeymen of the left, the liberal answer to the man behind many conservative conspiracies: George Soros. Meanwhile, other billionaires and multimillionaires who have used their wealth to fund their agendas have managed to slip under the radar. Among them are the Fanjul family — Florida sugar magnates who also happen to be friends and neighbors of David and Julia Koch.

Libertarian Party chair hopeful wants to ‘lead the party out of obscurity’

For decades, the Libertarian Party of Florida has sat on the political sidelines watching the Republicans and Democrats run up the score. So says Libertarian AM talk show host Adrian Wyllie, who last week announced his bid to become the party’s next chairman.

Rep. Buchanan named member of powerful congressional committee

Republicans in the House of Representatives named Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, to a post on the powerful Committee on Ways and Means, “the oldest committee of the United States Congress” and “the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives.”

Sarasota ‘Conduct of Election Report’ offers little elaboration on early vote glitch

A post-election report filed with the state Division of Elections by the Sarasota County Canvassing Board offers no additional details on the cause of the vote machine glitch that delayed early voting shortly after a nearby rally attended mostly…

Rock the Vote: Political campaigns failed to engage young voters

Rock the Vote worked to register and turn out young voters in Florida during this general election year, and in a press release issued Wednesday, the group states:

An angry, older electorate erased the Democratic majority last night, but

…

Rubio wins Senate seat

Former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio (R) defeated Gov. Charlie Crist (no-party) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D), capping off a race that went from improbable to inevitable. NBC News projected him as the winner immediately after polls in the panhandle closed at 8 p.m. Rubio led Crist 50 percent to 30 percent, with Meek in third place with 19 percent, with 37 percent of precincts reporting.

Final Florida polls all show dead heat for governor, Rubio winning the Senate race

Several major polling outlets released polls in the days leading up to election day, and they all show much of the same things — the gubernatorial race is too close to call, and Republican Marco Rubio will be Florida’s next…

Fake progressive mailer equates Crist and Rubio

With less than 36 hours before the final poll locations close in Florida, it’s prime time for misleading fliers to go out. A South Florida reader emailed Ben Smith of Politico a flier from a group called the “Progressive Policy…

Comments of the Week: Immigration, voting glitch, West’s union, ‘religious cleansing,’ Scott and Norman

Every Friday here at The Florida Independent, we pick out the best comments we received during the previous week, whether they came from commenters here on our site, or via Facebook and Twitter. Want to be included next week? Assail…

Meek/Clinton rumors a blow to Democratic turnout?

Ben Smith of Politico reported Thursday night that former President Bill Clinton almost got Rep. Kendrick Meek — floundering in a distant third place in the polls in the race for U.S. Senate — to drop out, going as far…