Saying it was good to be back in “Charlie Crist country,” Orlando attorney/entrepreneur/celebrity John Morgan made an entertaining appearance at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. There, he discussed what he says is the very real possibility that he will pull the trigger next year and run for the Democratic nomination for governor.
It’s clear that Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam has been running a careful race for Florida governor. And Republican voters like what they are seeing, according to a new poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
John Morgan — who has been flirting a political campaign — is leading the Democratic field in the Florida governor’s race. In a new poll of 263 likely Democratic voters by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Orlando-based trial lawyer has the support of 23 percent, a number putting him well ahead of former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who is in second place at 15 percent.
Declaring it is time for Florida to “modernize” it’s voting systems, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris King unveiled a policy statement Tuesday calling for universal voter registration and for voters to vote anywhere in their county.
Gov. Rick Scott has “reaffirmed Florida’s commitment to supporting Puerto Rico following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria,” according to a Tuesday news release. Scott “has notified the Florida National Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) to be on standby for deployment following an official request for assistance from Puerto Rico, and the Florida National Guard is already actively assisting Puerto Rico with organizing and submitting relief requests,” it said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham believes Florida should have been better prepared to handle the impact of Hurricane Irma. “The state of Florida was not ready for this storm,” Graham declared Saturday night. The 54-year-old attorney and former Tallahassee-area congresswoman made the comments while delivering the keynote address before a record crowd at the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee’s annual Kennedy-King Dinner in downtown Tampa.
Democratic candidates for governor are hitting Gov. Rick Scott and others hard in the wake of eight deaths in a South Florida nursing home that lost its air conditioning as Hurricane Irma hit the state. But Scott’s office defended the governor’s actions, saying the facility never reported “that conditions had become dangerous.”