governors

Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott, who is trying to take Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson’s seat, broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday, saying he sees no reason to doubt nearly 3,000 people died following hurricanes in Puerto Rico last year.

During a morning Twitter rant, the president accused Puerto Rican officials and Democrats of lying about how many people died there after Hurricanes Maria and Irma pummeled the island in a coordinated effort to make him look bad.

OPINION — Remember the time when Trent Lott got in a heap of trouble for remembering the time?

It was 2002, and the Senate Republican leader representing Mississippi was waxing nostalgic for what he considered the good old days at a 100th birthday celebration for South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond. Carried away by the moment — and in remarks that recalled similar words from 1980 — Lott said: “When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years, either.”

Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo said fellow Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis should apologize for a remark he made about his Democratic opponent in the state’s governor’s race that has been criticized as racist.

DeSantis, the Republican nominee for governor, came under fire for saying in an interview with Fox News that Florida could not afford to “monkey this up” by electing Democratic nominee Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is African-American.

Rep. Ron DeSantis, who won the GOP nomination Tuesday for Florida’s governor race later this year, leaned into a comment he made Wednesday on Fox News that voters should not “monkey this up” by voting for his Democratic opponent, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, who is black.

“It has zero to do with race,” DeSantis, who is vacating his seat in Florida’s 6th District to run for governor, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on prime time Wednesday night, just hours after he made the “monkey” remark.

Updated 9:28 p.m. | Buoyed by an endorsement from President Donald Trump, Rep. Ron DeSantis easily secured the Republican nomination for Florida governor Tuesday in the race to succeed GOP Gov. Rick Scott.

With 91 percent of precincts reporting, DeSantis led state Agriculture Commissioner and former Rep. Adam Putnam 56 percent to 37 percent, according to The Associated Press. 

Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat with a reputation for riling Republicans and weathering numerous controversies, entertained a crowd Sunday with a joke about President Donald Trump falling into the Potomac.

The joke, at a rally sponsored by 16 of South Florida’s Broward County Democratic clubs, revolved around the difference between a “crisis” and a “catastrophe.”

Rep. Tim Walz won the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party nomination in Minnesota’s gubernatorial race.

With 99 percent of the vote counted, Walz had 41.7 percent ahead of state Rep. Erin Murphy’s 32.1 percent and Attorney General Lori Swanson’s 24.4 percent, according to The Associated Press.

Former Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson has qualified to run for Senate in New Mexico, according to the secretary of state’s candidate list.

Johnson, who served two terms as New Mexico governor as a Republican, will make a formal announcement on his bid soon, his campaign manager told The Associated Press.

Hawaii Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s loss in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary is the latest example of House members losing their bids for the highest office in a state. 

Hanabusa lost the primary Saturday to incumbent Gov. David Ige. Hanabusa returned to the House in 2016 after the death of former Rep. Mark Takai.