Inside Florida Politics

Life under coronavirus has been hard to adjust to. It seems like every day some monumental change happens. In Florida schools shutdown first. Then bars and nightclubs. Then the governor ordered restaurants and gyms to close. Then he ordered that quarantine rules for passengers coming from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, a region that has been a coronavirus hotspot. But the governor still has not gone as far as many Floridians would like.

The coronavirus response is quickly eclipsing every other aspect of state government, but Florida lawmakers are still moving ahead with one other bit of state business this week.

Coronavirus cases and primaries come to Florida

The first cases of coronavirus have been detected in Florida. Journalists John Kennedy and Zac Anderson look at how Gov. Ron DeSantis is responding to coronavirus, how the results of the Super Tuesday presidential primary contests could impact Florida's March 17 primary and what’s happening in Tallahassee as Florida’s 60-day legislative session winds down.

Democrats across much of the country are feeling the Bern, as Bernie Sanders surges in the presidential primary. But in Florida Sanders’s comments about life in Cuba under Fidel Castro are giving many Democrats heartburn. Journalists Zac Anderson and John Kennedy talk about the firestorm Sanders ignited with his 60 Minutes interview and touch on the latest in the Florida Legislature, including where things stand with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s priorities as the 60-day legislative session nears the finish line.

Michael Bloomberg was on the presidential debate stage for the first time this week after surging in the national polls. His campaign has been on the rise in Florida as well. Journalists Zac Anderson and John Kennedy discuss how Florida fits into Bloomberg’s primary strategy, a big court ruling in the state’s felon voting rights saga and another strange twist in the effort to get an E-Verify immigration law passed through the Legislature.

The New Hampshire primary added more intrigue to the Democratic presidential nominating contest. Journalists Zac Anderson, John Kennedy and Rick Christie discuss what it means for Florida Democrats to have Bernie Sanders ascendant in the primary, a controversial immigration bill that advanced in the Florida Senate and the two-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The Iowa caucus rivaled Florida for election dysfunction. Journalists Zac Anderson, John Kennedy and Antonio Fins discuss the caucus calamity and what it means for Florida’s primary next month, how Trump's impeachment trial acquittal could impact his bid to win Florida again, where things stand at the halfway point of Florida's 60-day legislative session and what Florida's new chief science officer is saying about climate change.

With the first presidential primary votes soon to be cast, more attention is turning to Florida and the state's March 17 contest. Journalists Zac Anderson, John Kennedy and Mark Harper discuss what role Florida's primary could play in the Democratic presidential nominating process, an abortion bill that is poised to pass the Florida Senate and the latest evidence that Florida’s junior U.S. senator may have presidential ambitions.

The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., lashed out at Republican Florida Senate President Bill Galvano recently over the issue of gun control. Journalists Zac Anderson and John Kennedy discuss the GOP feud over guns, along with some priority legislation for Gov. Ron DeSantis that began moving through the Legislature this week.