Florida Democratic Party - February 6, 2026 Republican lawmakers are advancing legislation that would make it harder for eligible U.S. citizens to vote instead of addressing the state’s growing affordability crisis. Florida House Bill 991 and Senate Bill 1334 could force every voter in the state to re-verify their citizenship just to stay registered, throwing millions of lawful voters into an error-prone system, and putting them at risk of being wrongly purged if paperwork ca

Clean water is a foundation of democracy. Communities depend on it to live, work, and participate fully in civic life. When control over water is taken from the public and handed to corporations, democracy erodes alongside public health. For fifty years, Section 401 of the Clean Water Act has empowered states and Tribes to protect their waterways by reviewing federal projects before they move forward. This authority allows communities to defend drinking water, fisheries, wetl

Nearly two years ago, Sarasota’s then-City Manager Marlon Brown had an ambitious idea to purchase downtown property near City Hall and turn it into large-scale affordable housing.   In an effort that would become the first-of-its-kind across Florida, Brown secured millions of dollars in pledges from the area’s largest philanthropic foundations and millions more earmarked from the Florida Legislature.    The blueprint promised to tackle one of downtown Sarasota’s most pressing

Liz Freeman, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News Tue, February 3, 2026 at 5:07 AM EST Ave Maria in eastern Collier County has at least 11 cases of measles so far that appear to be based at Ave Maria University. It is the first measles outbreak in Southwest Florida,  part of a surge in the highly contagious illness that is likely due to fewer people get vaccinated. There were six confirmed cases but the expectation is there are 11 positive cases as of mid-day Feb. 2, acc

The Senior Caucus held an exciting Candidate Kick Off night on Thursday, January 29 th  at the Mellow Mushroom restaurant in Sarasota.  The event was sold out. Here’s a brief summary of the meeting and links to upcoming events.    A huge thank you to our Democratic Party Chair, David Dean, Senior Caucus President John Hervig, and to all of our incredible candidates and their dedicated staff for making this event such a successful and energizing campaign kickoff!   Running for

A rebound in vaccination—which may depend on government support  By  Katherine J. Wu   Feb. 5, 2026 Since measles vaccination became common among Americans, the logic of outbreaks has been simple: When vaccination rates fall, infections rapidly rise; when vaccination rates increase, cases abate. The United States is currently living out the first half of that maxim. Measles-vaccination rates have been  steadily declining for several years ; since last January, the country has