Elected officials and civic leaders offered a dire assessment during a panel discussion Wednesday about the forces shaping the Suncoast region: Local control over rapid development has essentially crumbled. “The state legislature has been held entirely non-accountable for the deterioration of home rule and their empowerment of developers,” said former Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton. “Hold them responsible,” he added, to applause. Thaxton and four other panelists spoke before a crowd...

The pendulum is swinging - a note from Executive Director Rachel Berger “Congratulations, it paid off, thank you, etc. FL Democrats are back” messages have flooded my phone this past week, but here’s the thing: we never left. For years, we’ve been rebuilding, brick by brick, race by race, volunteer by volunteer. We’re starting to see the returns on that work, but it’s only the beginning. I’ve spent much of the last decade inside this fight. I started volunteering with the Party in college,...

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida is barreling into a mid-decade redistricting fight with Republicans in and out of the state pushing for action — but party leaders are split on how far to go and when to start. Florida is the crown jewel in Republicans’ national redistricting ambitions.  Those pushing the effort believe the state could yield three to five additional GOP House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms — a haul big enough to influence control of Congress. But the drive comes amid an...