Politics

Gov. Ron DeSantis is bringing his statewide "Education Agenda Tour," where he promotes candidates in nonpartisan school board races, to Sarasota on Sunday.

Driving the news: DeSantis is holding rallies to back candidates who agree with him on certain points, such as keeping "woke gender ideology out of schools" and rejecting "the use of critical race theory (CRT)," Axios Miami's Deirdra Funcheon reports.

Michael Flynn is trying to oust the leader of the Sarasota County Republican Party's executive committee for not being hardcore enough.

Driving the news: Flynn recently applied to join the executive committee in the Republican-heavy county and has been targeting its head, Jack Brill, on social media, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

Some Florida swing voters who former President Donald Trump won over in 2016 say Gov. Ron DeSantis' agenda is too extreme for them.

Driving the news: Axios partner Engagious/Schlesinger conducted two online focus groups last week with 12 Floridians who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, then Joe Biden in 2020.

Less than two weeks away is the Florida primary election to decide which Democrats will face off against Ron DeSantis for governor and Marco Rubio for U.S. senator in November.

• Also on the ballot: Candidates for the U.S. House, the state Legislature, state attorney general and agricultural commissioner, judges, school board members, and important local questions.

"Does my vote not count?" a sign read outside at a protest outside the Hillsborough County Courthouse Thursday evening.

• The question echoed throughout Tampa Bay, and Democrat politicians voiced their outrage.

Can a Democrat beat Ron DeSantis to become Florida's governor this fall?

In their only debate before the state's Aug. 23 primary, Democratic candidate and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried faced off Thursday against U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, the state's former Republican governor who has since switched parties.

School may be out for summer, but it just began for St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch.

Driving the news: Welch just returned from a four-day workshop in New York City as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.

Arnie Bellini built his Tampa tech firm ConnectWise from the ground up, then sold it for an estimated $1.5 billion, a deal so big that more than 70 workers at the employee-owned business became millionaires.

• Now the wealthy Republican philanthropist wants to save Florida wilderness from development, and he's putting his money and energy into the effort.