Florida’s chief financial officer demanded Friday that social media companies be held accountable for creating disappearing messages that handicap child sex trafficking investigations.
Blaise Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican and former state senator, accused social media platforms of “destroying evidence” of messages between groomers and minors by installing instant vanishing features across platforms. His comments came Friday, amid a broader legal battle waged by Florida officials trying to impose age restrictions on social media companies.
“A lot of these tech companies are in this state of de facto protecting these predators,” Ingoglia said during a Winter Haven press conference, speaking alongside Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, adding that a case that should be a “slam dunk” for law enforcement is stopped by vanishing messages.
“These social media companies need to be held accountable for destroying vital evidence that law enforcement needs to put these predators in prison,” he told The Florida Phoenix in a phone call later. “It’s severely hindering and handicapping their efforts.”
Ingoglia, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as CFO in July, had sponsored a bill during the 2025 session that would have required social media companies to decrypt messages if subpoenaed by a court, and would have prohibited minors from having access to disappearing messages. The measure failed, despite passing the Senate.
This isn’t Florida’s only venture into targeting the social media world. The predominantly GOP-led Legislature in 2024 passed a law banning social media companies from allowing children under 15 years old to create accounts, sparking a massive legal battle between state officials and two trade associations representing social media giants. The law was blocked by an appellate court over the summer, but the case remains pending.
Earlier this year, Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against Snapchat, a social media platform allowing users to send each other photos and messages that can vanish instantly after viewing. He heralded the April case as just the beginning of his continued crackdown on social media platforms, building off of a separate investigation into the gaming platform Roblox.
Other platforms that allow for encrypted messages include Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.
As a lawmaker, Ingoglia also sponsored a new law funding a grant for law enforcement to ramp up online sting operations to capture and imprison child predators. During Friday’s press conference, which announced 246 arrests of human traffickers, child predators, and prostitutes in just seven days, Ingoglia added that parents need to become aware of the “depravity” of online predators.
“You have no idea of the depravity that is waiting to take advantage, take hold of them, abuse them, and turn their lives upside down,” he said. “Social media companies should stop the encryption of any message that has a minor account so law enforcement can have the proof they need to put these scumbags away for life.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
After months of demands from the Florida governor’s office to slice property taxes, a Belleview Republican announced Tuesday his three-part plan to phase them out.
Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, from Marion County, serving his second term, revealed his “Freedom 1,2,3” proposal to reporters during a Zoom press conference. The move came months after Gov. Ron DeSantis first pressured state lawmakers to eliminate the tax.
The demand set the stage for a tax-cut feud between DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez during the 2025 legislative session; Perez wanted to focus instead on slashing the state sales tax.
“If we do this, no one’s gonna be able to touch us. And we will be the first state in the country to take a dramatic step toward eliminating the most hated tax in America,” Chamberlin, 51, said Tuesday, noting that property taxes statewide have risen by more than 45% since 2019.
Chamberlin’s first point involves legislation to roll property tax rates back to where they were in 2022. He acknowledged that much of his proposal could be subject to change pending further debate but, for now, he wants to eliminate roughly $34 billion of the $43 billion levied through county school and non-school property taxes.
This would mirror 2007’s property tax rollback under then-Speaker Marco Rubio, which forced rates down to reflect the 2006-2007 fiscal year’s levels before the voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding homestead exemptions and capping assessment increases on non-homesteaded properties. It came in direct response to the then-looming 2008 housing crisis, which saw a major market downturn ahead of a crashing stock market.
‘Political risk’
Once the new rollback removes a slew of property tax revenue, Chamberlin acknowledged, something will have to be done to replace the lost money — traditionally used to fund firefighters, public schools, and other crucial services statewide. This is where “2 and 3” of “Freedom 1,2,3” come in, said Chamberlin, a former consultant and entrepreneur.
He’s proposing a 5% transaction fee on real estate sales, which he says could generate roughly $12 billion a year; a 5% transaction fee on rideshares, hotels, and amusement parks as a “travelers’ fee” to create $3.8 billion in lost revenue; and a 3-cent sales tax going specifically to schools to spawn at least $20 billion to replace the “required local effort” of school property taxes. That money would be collected against purchases in a county and redistributed depending on how many students are in each school.
Chamberlin said he knows this won’t be received well by everyone. Republicans have traditionally opposed raising taxes and, although DeSantis has been chief among Floridian politicos calling for a solution to property tax rates, he also vowed not to sign any tax increases — even if it’s to supplement lost income. DeSantis instead offered a more vague interim proposal involving a $1,000 rebate to homeowners.
“There is a political risk for me or anyone else who rolls out an actual plan, because immediately, there’s going to be those who organize opposition,” Chamberlin said, noting that although many people may try to “poke holes” in his plan, he welcomes the discussion. “It’s easy to talk about doing something about property taxes without ever getting specific about doing anything about it. But I’m convinced that we must have a starting point.”
The loud debate yet lack of action surrounding property taxes dominated the 2025 session. DeSantis and Perez, a Miami Republican, battled over which tax should be cut. Ultimately, the Legislature approved a $1.3 billion tax cut package and Perez created a committee to research the best way to lower costs for homeowners while ensuring state-funded facilities could still operate.
Chamberlin, who’s a member of the House’s 37-member property tax committee, insisted that his plan is not affiliated with DeSantis, the property tax committee, or anyone besides himself.
Still, he mentioned that he’d had recent conversations with the governor, former House Speaker — and GOP gubernatorial candidate — Paul Renner, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, and state Sen. Stan McClain — the former House Ways and Means chairman — on cutting property taxes.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
A federal appeals court last week ordered the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center to remain open partially because it lacked federal ties. A week later, Florida formally applied for federal funds.
The state’s request for reimbursement for its spending on the migrant detention facility in the heart of the Everglades came just days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit hit pause on a federal judge’s order shutting down the center over environmental concerns. The 2-1 vote claimed that federal environmental laws don’t apply because Florida officials haven’t used any federal money.
But less than eight days after the ruling — which stayed all aspects of the case — the Florida Division of Emergency Management asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be reimbursed, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Florida Phoenix in an email.
“The State of Florida submitted an application for reimbursement to [FEMA],” the spokesperson said. Although they didn’t comment on what day the application was made nor for how much money, this confirmed Politico’s reporting that FDEM’s executive director, Kevin Guthrie, said the state had applied for federal money.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has long promised that Florida would be reimbursed for its detention center spending, although neither his office nor FDEM ever clarified when they planned to ask for the money. Federal authorities similarly lauded the facility as a joint effort, but showed no signs of chipping in until last week.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” the DHS official said. “These new facilities are in large part to be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.”
The Shelter and Services program allocated $608.4 million toward FEMA’s new Detention Support Grant Program, specifically designed to expedite Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mass detention and deportation agenda. If FEMA approves Florida’s request, the money will be awarded by Sep. 30. The Everglades facility is estimated to cost around $450 million for the year.
The attorney general’s office redirected questions to FDEM, which did not respond to questions about the application’s timeline.
‘So what do you say, judges?’
In a 2-1 decision on Sep. 4, the Eleventh Circuit both paused federal trial judge Kathleen Williams’ order to shut down the facility and fully stayed the case. The lawsuit was brought against the state by the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental groups Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biodiversity.
They claimed the center, located within the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve, was harming the environment and violating the National Environmental Policy Act.
But judges Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch, both Trump appointees, ruled that Williams had erred by applying the federal law to a center that had exclusively received state funds. Florida hadn’t even applied for federal reimbursement, they argued. The activists have since asked the appeals court to reconsider their decision to halt the lawsuit.
If the judges don’t, Miami attorney Joseph DeMaria said the plaintiffs would be stymied unless they can “un-stay” the case — even though the majority opinion was largely predicated on the lack of federal ties.
“Unless they can get the case unstuck, there’s nothing they can do,” said DeMaria, who once worked as a prosecutor with the Justice Department’s Miami Organized Crime Strike Force. [The state] played it cute by saying, ‘We haven’t formally agreed yet, so federal law doesn’t apply.’”
He posed a rhetorical question to the appellate judges on the case: “You said that the feds haven’t agreed to pay, so there’s no jurisdiction to enforce the federal environmental law, but then almost immediately after you said that, they went and agreed to pay. So what do you say, judges?”
Attorneys for the Friends of the Everglades declined to comment, while the governor’s office, the Miccosukee Tribe, and the Center for Biodiversity did not respond to requests for comment.
Following Wednesday’s decision by the Florida First District Court of Appeal striking the state’s ban on openly carrying firearms, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey says his deputies will no longer enforce the ban – even though the law hasn’t changed yet.
In a video message posted on X Wednesday night, Sheriff Ivey, a longtime advocate for the Legislature to pass an open-carry law, said that he had informed his deputies of the policy shift. The statute at issue (790.053) makes it “unlawful for any person to openly carry on or about his or her person any firearm or electric weapon or device.”
“While the opinion at this point is not yet final as the court allows for time for the filing of a motion for rehearing or reconsideration, there’s no reason to expect that the court will reverse its decision,” Ivey said.
He’s not the only sheriff making that move.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pensacola Police Department will no longer enforce the state’s open carry law either, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday that it has informed officers that they cannot detain or arrest solely based on openly carrying a firearm.
The ruling isn’t final until the 15-day window for a rehearing has run out, but the state likely won’t appeal the decision. Ron DeSantis advocated as recently as Monday for the Legislature to change the ban on open carry, and Attorney General James Uthmeier’s said on Wednesday that the court’s ruling was “a big win for the Second Amendment rights of Floridians.”
The ruling is only applicable to the First District, which encompasses most of the counties in North Florida. Brevard County is not within that jurisdiction.
Ivey said he had consulted with Wayne Scheiner, the state attorney in Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit, as well as the attorney representing the Florida Sheriffs Association. He said he had informed all of the police departments in the county that they no longer needed to enforce the ban.
A spokesperson for the police department in Palm Bay, the largest city in Brevard County, confirmed that it is following suit. “At the direction of the State Attorneys’s Office and Florida Police Chiefs Association, we will not be enforcing that statute as it pertains to open carry,” said Lt. Virginia Kilmer.
Not all law enforcement agencies are dropping enforcement — at least not yet.
“We have not changed our policy,” said Cpl. Jamie Miller with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department.
“We have not issued a change in policy yet on this matter but it is anticipated soon,” said Javonni Hampton with the Leon County Sheriff’s Department.
Several other sheriffs departments did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did the Florida Sheriffs Association, nor the attorney general’s office.
In its ruling, the First District noted that the Florida Supreme Court had upheld the ban on open carry in its 2017 ruling of Norman v. State. However, Judge Stephanie Ray wrote that the court felt bound instead to apply a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case called New York State Rifle & Association v. Bruen, which struck down New York’s concealed carry restrictions.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
Three Florida Cabinet members would support revocation by the U.S. Department of State of visas held by legal immigrants who celebrate the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Attorney General James Uthmeier argue admission into the United States is a “privilege” that shouldn’t be extended to immigrants who praise Kirk’s murder, Ingoglia and an Uthmeier aide told The Florida Phoenix. This comes one day after the State Department warned immigrants against mocking or praising 31-year-old Kirk’s death.
“Immigrants get visas, among other reasons, because the U.S. has First Amendment freedoms they don’t have in their own countries. If they’re caught celebrating the assassination of someone expressing free speech, they obviously haven’t learned the lesson,” Ingoglia, who sponsored stringent anti-illegal immigration legislation as a state senator, said in a text message.
“Send them home.”
Uthmeier’s communications director, Jeremy Redfern, said the attorney general’s office would “absolutely” support revoking these individuals’ visas and denying future entry to migrants who praised Kirk’s murder.
“Getting a visa to come into the U.S. is a privilege, not a right,” Redfern said. After this story was published, Agriculture commissioner Wilton Simpson added that he makes “three members” of the Florida cabinet to support visa revocation.
The Department of State directed staff Thursday to “undertake appropriate action” for immigrants who “glorify” Kirk’s death. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau added that these individuals “are not welcome visitors to our country.”
A State Department spokesperson told the Phoenix via email that the Trump administration doesn’t think visas should be granted to “persons whose presence in our country does not align” with national security interests.
It wouldn’t be the first time the Trump administration has authorized visa cancellation, revocation, or withholding from current or prospective U.S. immigrants. In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the use of artificial intelligence to identify foreign-born pro-Palestine protesters and revoke their student visas.
The move was aligned with President Donald Trump’s January executive order targeting visa holders who “threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology.” It also aligns with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call for the federal government to deport foreign-born students who he said were setting up university encampments to protest Israel.
The governor’s office declined to comment for this story. State Sen. Jason Pizzo, an independent who formerly served as the Senate’s Minority Leader, told the Phoenix that although an immigration attorney would be more clear on the legalities of mass visa revocation, national security and public safety is cause for removal.
“Anyone here on a visa, celebrating the assassination of an American citizen, should be swiftly revoked and removed,” Pizzo said.
Honors planned
Kirk, co-founder of the conservative Turning Point USA, was shot and killed in Orem, Utah, Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University. While highly controversial, Kirk was a massively influential figure on the right who gained popularity by traveling to college campuses to debate students on left-leaning issues.
He’d forged close relationships with President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, who canceled his scheduled 9/11 memorial appearance in New York to instead visit Kirk’s wife and two children. Trump has announced that Kirk will posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, has urged Congress to build a statue of Kirk in the Capitol halls.
Update: This story has been updated to adjust the headline to match comments from Wilton Simpson and to include a quote from State Sen. Jason Pizzo.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
The University of Central Florida sent an email to students Thursday afternoon to share that the school received threatening messages that “directly targeted” Black students.
The email, shared with Orlando Weekly Thursday, does not detail the threats received, but says UCF’s police department is actively investigating the threats along with the FBI.
At the time the email was sent, UCF says, it did not consider the threats to be credible.
The email was sent to students at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, just hours after UCFPD first announced a threat was made via social media just after 1 p.m.
Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities said Thursday they received threats and went under lockdown. Among the schools was Daytona Beach, Florida’s Bethune-Cookman College, which has since lifted its lockdown.
“UCFPD is aware of a recent threat directed at UCF, and similar messages have been reported at other universities around the country,” the X post reads.
The email to students goes on to say that “threats of violence like this seek to create fear and division, and they have no place at UCF. But let us be clear: Violence and threats of violence are never tolerated.”
Officials say that although they deem the threats not credible, the university is taking them seriously and will increase police presence on campuses.
If students see or hear something concerning, the message continues, they are advised to call 911 immediately.
The message comes a day after the on-campus fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Kirk was shot dead while speaking to an outdoor crowd on campus Sept. 10 during his latest tour, dubbed “The American Comeback.” He was speaking about gun violence when he was struck in the neck.
Kirk’s career as a political commentator has long been based on strong opposition to gun control, among other far-right conservative ideals.
University of Central Florida Police Department shared on social media Thursday afternoon that it was investigating a “recent threat” made to the school with the FBI. Campus operations remain “normal,” it said in the post.
“UCFPD is aware of a recent threat directed at UCF, and similar messages have been reported at other universities around the country. Our Threat Management Team is actively investigating and working with the FBI. At this time, we do not consider the threat to be credible,” the post reads.
In a follow-up comment posted at the same time, the department says all campus operations are normal.
“UCFPD officers patrol campus 24/7 to ensure your safety. If you see something concerning, say something by calling 911 immediately,” the post continues.
The message comes a day after the on-campus fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
Kirk was shot dead while speaking to an outdoor crowd on campus Sept. 10 during his latest tour, dubbed “The American Comeback.” He was speaking about gun violence when he was struck in the neck.
Kirk’s career as a political commentator has long been based on strong opposition to gun control, among other conservative ideals.
Florida’s political leaders urged people to pray following news that conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot to death during a campus event in Utah.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, opening an afternoon news conference in Miami, said he and the First Lady Casey DeSantis have known Kirk for more than 10 years.
“He’s somebody that a lot of people have a great regard for. He’s done a lot,” the Republican governor said, adding that he was praying for Kirk.
“What happened today was not just an attack on Charlie personally, but, really an attack on the idea that we resolve these things through reason, debate, and elections,” DeSantis said.
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday afternoon that Kirk had died.
Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, said in a social media post, “Leftist violence is out of control,” adding that he and his wife were praying for “one of the greatest conservative leaders of our generation.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott expressed dismay.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody said her office was monitoring the situation and that she was praying “for Charlie Kirk, the students, and this nation.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna credited Kirk for inspiring her involvement in poilitics.
Republican Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said in a social media post that he was praying for Kirk and his family, as did Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez.
“Charlie Kirk is a remarkable and genuine voice for the conservative movement. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family after this senseless shooting,” Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia posted to social media.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson said she was “horrified” and that “Political violence is never the answer and my prayers are with him.”
“This is a human being — a young father and husband. Charlie challenged us to engage in civil discourse, not violence. Everyone’s hearts should be broken right now for this beautiful family,” Florida Sen. Danny Burgess (R-Zephyrhills) posted to social media.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican candidate for governor, called Kirk “an American Patriot” in a social media post. “He did not deserve this heinous act. NOBODY DOES. Pray for Charlie.”
Republican candidate for governor and former House Speaker Paul Renner said, “Charlie was taken from us by a sick and deranged act of political violence,” in a social media post.
“The world stops when we hear of political violence. And it should. Prayers for Charlie Kirk right now, for our nation, and for our politics,” former U.S. Rep. and Democratic candidate for governor David Jolly said in a social media post.
Tuesday, the Phoenix reported on a survey finding that during the past three years, violence against campus speakers was viewed as increasingly more acceptable.
The 2025 College Free Speech Rankings produced by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that 34% of students nationwide consider it acceptable, at least in rare cases, to use violence to stop a campus speech. In 2024, that number was 32%; in 2023, it was 27%; in 2022, it was 20%. In 2020, 24% of students found violence acceptable at least in rare situations.
During a Florida Board of Governors meeting Wednesday in Sarasota, Education Commissioner Anastasio Kamoutsas prayed for Kirk.
“We want to pray God that his soul be resting right now, that his wife, you are there comforting her as well as his children during this incredibly difficult time,” Kamoutsas said and paused for a moment of silence.
Kirk toured the country appearing on university campuses offering debate with people. He appeared at Florida State University, University of South Florida, University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida in February.
(Screenshot via FIRE’s Free Speech Rankings report)
Jeff Meling shoots a 9mm Sig Sauer hand gun at Shoot GTR, located at 1610 NW 65th Pl., in Gainesville, Fla. A Florida appeals court on Wednesday threw out as unconstitutional Florida’s law against openly carrying a gun in public. Credit: via Augustus Hoff/Fresh Take Florida
In a landmark decision, a Florida appeals court on Wednesday threw out as unconstitutional Florida’s law against openly carrying a gun in public, a decades-old statute that had made Florida one of only a handful of such states that banned gun owners from carrying a pistol on their hip or slinging a rifle over their shoulder in public.
The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel for the 1st District Court of Appeals concluded that the 2nd Amendment and what it called the nation’s “historical tradition of gun regulation” made Florida’s gun law unconstitutional. The court’s jurisdiction stretches from the college town of Gainesville through the Panhandle.
“History confirms that the right to bear arms in public necessarily includes the right to do so openly,” the court ruled. “That is not to say that open carry is absolute or immune from reasonable regulation. But what the state may not do is extinguish the right altogether for ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizens.”
It wasn’t clear whether the case would be further appealed to Florida’s Supreme Court or when it might become common for people in Florida to begin openly carrying guns.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who in 2023 signed a law that no longer required a government permit to carry a concealed weapon in Florida, applauded the ruling.
“This decision aligns state policy with my long-held position and with the vast majority of states throughout the union,” DeSantis wrote on social media. “Ultimately, the court correctly ruled that the text of the Second Amendment – ‘to keep and bear arms’ – says what it means and means what it says.”
The state’s new attorney general, James Uthmeier, would decide whether to appeal the decision and is a gun rights advocate. He said on social media his office also supports the ruling. He called it “a big win for the Second Amendment rights of Floridians.”
“Our God-given right to self-defense is indispensable,” Uthmeier said.
The ruling involved a case in Pensacola against Stanley Victor McDaniels, 42, who deliberately flouted the law on the afternoon of the Fourth of July in 2022 waving his hand at cars near a busy intersection with a loaded Beretta pistol tucked visibly in his waistband and holding a copy of the U.S. Constitution. McDaniels at the time held a valid Florida concealed weapons permit.
“McDaniels was cooperative. He explained that he wanted to take this case to the Supreme Court,” the appeals judges wrote.
McDaniels, who ran as a write-in candidate for Congress earlier this year, could not be reached immediately for comment. He remained in the Escambia County Jail on the same day the court issued its ruling, convicted of violating a domestic violence injunction involving his estranged wife. He was expected to be released from jail in the misdemeanor case on Jan. 10.
County officials there declined Wednesday to make McDaniels available for a phone interview.
The court’s decision throws out the misdemeanor case against McDaniels, who had been convicted by a jury of openly carrying a weapon. The judge had sentenced McDaniels to six months of probation and 50 hours of community service. He was also banned from owning any guns and had to give up his Beretta pistol. The appeals ruling overturned his conviction and reversed his sentence.
Gun control advocates quickly criticized the ruling.
“In case you don’t die from polio, Florida man has you covered with his AR-15 at Disney,” wrote Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action. She was referring to the governor’s earlier announcement that Florida also was working to eliminate all vaccine mandates.
DeSantis, who earlier this week lifted sales taxes on purchases of guns and ammunition in Florida through the end of the year, said as recently as Monday he would sign any open carry bill the GOP-controlled Legislature passed. The appeals ruling renders moot efforts by lawmakers, who for years have failed to approve such a measure over concerns from law enforcement agencies worried about gun safety.
“I’ve said for years that would be something that I would sign,” DeSantis said.
The court’s ruling did not immediately appear to affect other state and federal limits on carrying guns, such as on school or college campuses, courthouses or federal buildings. Private businesses also may limit who can carry guns in their stores or on their property. Disney World, for example, already bans guns or ammunition anywhere in its parks, hotels and even parking lots. Florida previously allowed openly carrying guns when someone was fishing or hunting.
McDaniels had been convicted in 2000 on a felony drug charge of possessing LSD that he intended to sell, according to court records. A felony conviction typically would preclude someone in Florida from owning or buying a gun, but the circuit judge in that case agreed to withhold adjudication – effectively throwing out the case – if McDaniels complied with terms of his 12 months of probation, including substance abuse therapy and submitting to random drug testing.
In the years after his intentional arrest at the Pensacola intersection, McDaniels also faced misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and violating an injunction involving his estranged wife. She told sheriff’s deputies he parked his motorcycle last year outside the preschool where she worked and later followed her driving on his motorcycle, despite a court order to stay away. A judge sentenced him last week to roughly three months in jail after he wrote her an email discussing their relationship.
A domestic violence conviction or active injunction can also be grounds in Florida to prevent a person from buying or possessing a gun.
McDaniels’ estranged wife did not immediately return a voice mail or message left with her attorney.
The three district judges in the case were Stephanie W. Ray, appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott; Lori S. Rowe, appointed by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist; and M. Kemmerly Thomas, also appointed by Scott.
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at s.ranta@freshtakeflorida.com. You can donate to support our students here.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier will not defend a fatal road rage case prosecuted by state attorney Monique Worrell if any conviction goes to an appeals court, he warned in a Monday letter.
Instead, he may ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend her. Again. It would be the latest strike in a lengthy feud between the DeSantis administration and Worrell, Orange County’s Democratic chief prosecutor, who only just retook her seat after the governor removed her from office.
Uthmeier will insist Worrell made a “plain error” in choosing to prosecute Tina Allgeo — a 47-year-old woman who shot and killed a man who attacked her in her car during a December road rage incident — if Allgeo is convicted and appeals her case. Uthmeier will also evaluate whether “further intervention is warranted.”
“Your decision to pursue this case as you have despite Allgeo’s self-defense immunity under at least two Florida statutes may very likely require my office to admit plain error on appeal,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter, accusing Worrell of ignoring the state’s “stand your ground” laws allowing self-defense killings.
Uthmeier just hours later asked Worrell to investigate a former state senator for posting the whereabouts of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. He wondered whether the ex-lawmaker, Linda Stewart, was “harassing” law enforcement.
As Florida’s chief legal officer, Uthmeier exercises a general “superintendence” role over Florida’s 20 elected state attorneys, although they function independently of him. The power to suspend a state attorney lies solely with the governor.
“Your actions likely constitute a breach of your ethical obligations. And they may also constitute misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence,” he continued, reciting the Florida Constitution’s provisions allowing the governor to suspend an out-of-line officeholder.
“I strongly urge you to reconsider your prosecution of Allgeo.”
When asked whether DeSantis would consider suspending Worrell, the governor’s office pointed to DeSantis’s comments at the State Freedom Caucus last week:
“If you are a prosecutor, particularly those funded by George Soros, please know that if you don’t enforce the law, I will remove you from your post.”
The Orange County Grand Jury indicted Allgeo in February for the second-degree murder with a firearm of 42-year-old Mihail Tsvetkov. Surveillance footage shows Allgeo outside of her car, taking photos of Tsvetkov’s plates. When Tsvetkov drove away, she pursued him and struck his car with hers.
A red light camera video then follows Tsvetkov as he exits his car, yanks open Allgeo’s car door, and begins to beat her, seemingly attempting to pull her out of her vehicle. Allgeo then pulls the trigger on her firearm, shooting Tsvetkov “in the face” and killing him almost instantly, News 6 reported.
Allgeo later said that she initially confronted Tsvetkov because he tailgated her and allegedly purposely hit her car with his own.
“This is a case of great public importance that needed to be reviewed by the Grand Jury to determine whether the evidence supported an indictment,” Worrell said after the grand jury indictment. “Gun violence stemming from senseless disputes will not be tolerated, and our office will hold those who commit these acts accountable.”
This isn’t the first time Worrell and Uthmeier have clashed. In April, he accused her of both slow-walking and ignoring a mounting backlog of cases. He called a press conference to send six statewide prosecutors to help her with the workload, jabbing at her alleged ties to Democrat mega-donor Soros in the process.
This followed weeks of back-and-forth between the legal politicos, which involved accusations of Worrell being “soft on crime” and Uthmeier being “uninformed.”
Before Uthmeier was sworn in as attorney general in February, he served as DeSantis’s chief of staff. He held this title in August 2023, when DeSantis suspended Worrell for allegedly neglecting “her duty to faithfully prosecute crime in her jurisdiction.”
Although Worrell failed to get the Florida Supreme Court to overturn her suspension, she won a second term in November. This unseated Andrew Bain, whom DeSantis had appointed to replace her. DeSantis had also suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren but he failed for re-election last year.
“You may not like Florida’s self-defense laws,” Uthmeier wrote Monday. “But those laws reflect the simple truth that a Floridian — a woman in this case — has the right to use deadly force to stop a man from brutalizing or killing her.”
Worrell’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday offered a sneak peek at two priorities for the 2026 legislative session — both of which revamp proposals he unsuccessfully pushed this year: eliminating vaccine mandates and allowing open-carry of firearms.
During a press conference in Plant City, DeSantis defended his administration’s proposal last week to eliminate from rule and statute all vaccine mandates. State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made the announcement, arguing mandates drip “with disdain and slavery.”
Ladapo acknowledged to CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” over the weekend that the state had conducted no studies before deciding to eliminate vaccine mandates.
DeSantis on Monday came out strong in defense of Ladapo.
“He never said he’d take away availability [of vaccines]. Obviously that’s not his position. But I think his position is if you provide information and persuasion, that’s better than coercion.”
DeSantis, who initially embraced the COVID-19 vaccine and deviated from the federal distribution plan to make sure they were given in Florida first to seniors, fell back on familiar rhetoric about the federal government’s handling of vaccine and mask mandates and government shutdowns, and instead touted Florida’s approach to the pandemic.
DeSantis alleged that people have grown skeptical of government direction following the pandemic.
“When they’re telling you, even if they’re right, I think some people are pushing back against it. It’s going to take time to rebuild trust there. And I think what the surgeon general’s position is, the way you build trust is to provide information and use persuasion rather than try to ostracize people from society if they make a different choice.”
The DeSantis administration last year proposed legislation (HB 1299) that would have required health care facilities and providers to treat patients regardless of whether they were vaccinated.
Although the House agreed to the language, passing HB 1299 by a near-unanimous vote, state Sen. Gayle Harrell, a Republican from Stuart whose late husband had been a physician, warned that the requirement would open doctors to increased liability. Jason Pizzo, a no-party affiliation senator from Hollywood, said requiring a physician to treat unvaccinated patients would run afoul of a 2023 law that allows physicians to withhold care based on conscience.
The provision was one of two related to vaccines included in the Department of Health (DOH) bill. The initial language would have indefinitely saved from repeal the statutory definition of “messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine” (mRNA) and along with it a ban on businesses, government entities, and educational institutions from discriminating against people who refuse mRNA vaccines.
The Legislature had agreed in 2021 to put the mRNA definition in statute along with the protections for people who wouldn’t take mRNA vaccines, essentially blocking any move in the state from requiring vaccine passports. But the 2021 law expired in four years, or June 2025. The DeSantis administration wanted to extend the mRNA definition and protections indefinitely.
But the Legislature refused to go along and agreed to keep the definition and subsequent ban in statutes only until June 2027.
DeSantis criticized the Legislature for not signing off on those provisions in HB 1299.
Regarding the mNRA definition, DeSantis said: “That’s got to be made permanent. I mean everyone is glad that we did that. Even the far left, I don’t hear them, at least publicly they won’t admit they’re for vaccine passports. It doesn’t make sense. So they need to do that.”
Regarding requiring physicians and facilities to treat unvaccinated patients the governor said:
“I get on some levels if someone comes for medical care and you’re just in private practice. I don’t know if you’re under any obligation to necessarily see everybody — I mean, you’d have to talk to doctors about that. I get there’s a business component to this.
“But to say that a mom can’t get her daughter in to see a pediatrician because, while they did MMR (measles mumps and rubella) and all the standard vaccines, they didn’t do maybe Hep B or COVID or some of those. To me, that’s discrimination. I mean, that is limiting people’s freedom to do what they think is right for their kids by having these restrictions.”
Former state senator-turned Lt. Gov. Jay Collins sponsored the companion to HB 1299 in the Senate, SB 1270.
Gun pitch
DeSantis on Monday also made a pitch for open carry.
Florida is one of just a handful of states (and the only red state) that prohibits people from openly carrying firearms in public.
DeSantis said that, with Republicans in supermajority control of both chambers of the Florida Legislature, it shouldn’t be a problem getting the bill passed.
“It’s not something that’s controversial,” he said. “The sky hasn’t fallen in any of those [states which have legalized open carry].
Although the governor called out the House for failing to pass such legislation, in fact it’s been Senate leaders who in recent years have said that they don’t support open carry.
Senate President Ben Albritton said last year that he’s supported law enforcement his entire life, and stood with them in opposing open carry. He cited opposition from the Florida Sheriffs Association
However Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey told Luis Valdes, Florida state director of Gun Owners of America, in January that he believes the majority of Florida sheriffs now do support legalizing open carry in Florida.
Collins also made the case for open carry during Monday’s press conference.
“We should be an open-carry state,” he said. “I think that we’re on record many times saying that. Hopefully, this is the year. We will continue to fight for those freedoms and those rights, each and every day until we get them all back.”
Collins never introduced legislation supporting open carry during his three terms as a state senator representing Hillsborough County.
Second Amendment advocates have heard DeSantis make similar pleas for the Legislature on open carry in previous years to no success. One such group has called for a special legislative session to get lawmakers on the record about where they stand on this issue.
“Gun Owners of America is thankful for Gov. DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins supporting open carry,” Valdes said.
“But we feel that the rubber needs to meet the road, and that a special session needs to be called specifically for open carry and gun rights as a whole, so the Republican supermajority can lay bare where they truly stand on gun rights. If they vote down a special session, then gun owners going into 2026 know which lawmakers actually support and defend the Second Amendment.”
DeSantis again criticized a Florida law passed in 2018 that bans individuals under the age of 21 from purchasing a long gun. The Florida House has passed a measure repealing that law over the past three legislative sessions, but the Senate has never followed suit.
DeSantis and Collins spoke at a sporting goods store in Plant City, where they kicked off the press conference by announcing what they are calling a “ Second Amendment tax free holiday” that takes place until the end of the year.
That means that all purchases of firearms, ammunition, firearm accessories, crossbows, and accessories for bows and crossbows in Florida are tax free up until December 31. Camping and fishing supply purchases are also tax-free until the remainder of the year.
Fresh off a court victory ordering the “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention center to remain open, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that Baker County’s “Deportation Depot” is in operation.
“Deportation Depot,” a DeSantis-coined moniker, occupies the old Baker County Correctional Facility north of Gainesville. The center can hold up to 2,000 people and opened Tuesday, the governor’s office confirmed to The Florida Phoenix.
It’s “receiving” migrants as of Friday.
“We’re not only doing Alligator Alcatraz, we’ve now opened the Deportation Depot up in Northeast Florida, and we’re working on opening a Panhandle Pokey in northwest Florida,” DeSantis said Thursday night on FOX News.
The announcement came hours after a federal appeals court sided with DeSantis by pausing a lower judge’s order that would have dismantled the Everglades facility and blocked it from receiving more migrants by September’s end.
The 2-to-1 decision by the Atlanta-based court was a massive victory for DeSantis and top GOP leaders, who had touted the first-in-the-nation center as a powerful buttress in President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-undocumented immigration agenda.
DeSantis first announced plans for “Deportation Depot” in mid-August, a month and half after the Everglades facility hosted Trump and other top federal authorities for a grand opening event.
The new center’s opening comes weeks after The Associated Press first reported that Alligator Alcatraz, located firmly within the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve, was nearly empty. Molly Best, a spokesperson for the governor, said that added migrant facilities in different Florida regions facilitates quicker deportations.
The “Panhandle Pokey” is a third center planned by the state government in western Florida. DeSantis has yet to select a location or timeframe for it’s opening.
“You know, you’re in the Panhandle sending to Alligator Alcatraz, that’s a long way. Even sending to the Deportation Depot in North Florida, that could be three to five hours depending on where you are in the Panhandle,” DeSantis said at a press conference earlier this week.
‘There’s a demand to have way more than just Alligator Alcatraz,’ he said
Judge Williams ordered that no more immigrant detainees be sent to the facility and gave both the state and federal government 60 days to move out existing detainees
The state’s attorneys argued that the National Environmental Policy Act does not apply to the facility
A federal appeals court on Thursday halted a lower court judge’s order to end operations indefinitely at the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center built in the Florida Everglades.
The panel voted 2-1 to stay the judge’s order pending the outcome of an appeal, allowing the facility to continue holding migrant detainees – for now.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction blocking Florida from further expanding the detention center and ordering operations to dwindle by the end of October. The judge also ordered the state to transfer detainees to other facilities and to remove equipment and fencing.
The rulings came after a lawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe accused the state and federal officials of not following federal law requiring an environmental review for the detention center, which the groups argue threatens sensitive wetlands that have protected plants and animals.
A federal appeals court halted a lower court judge’s order to end operations indefinitely at the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center.(Alon Skuy/Getty Images)
“This is a heartbreaking blow to America’s Everglades and every living creature there, but the case isn’t even close to over,” Elise Bennett, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration moved quickly to build the facility at a single-runway training airport in the middle of the Everglades to support President Donald Trump’s efforts to detain and deport migrants. DeSantis has said the facility’s location was intended to deter escape plans.
Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be used as a model for future facilities across the country to support his mass deportation plan.
Reacting to Thursday’s ruling, DeSantis said that claims that the facility would soon shutter were false.
“We said we would fight that. We said the mission would continue. So Alligator Alcatraz is in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business,” he said on social media.
President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be used as a model for future facilities across the country to support his mass deportation plan.(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Department of Homeland Security described the ruling as “a win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense.”
“This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility,” DHS said in a statement. “It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop.”
Florida officials said in court papers this week that it would resume accepting detainees at the facility if the request for a stay was granted.
Though plaintiffs say the case is far from over, claiming that the facility will eventually be shut down.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit against “Alligator Alcatraz” say the case is far from over, claiming that the facility will eventually be shut down.(Getty Images)
“In the meantime, if the DeSantis and Trump administrations choose to ramp operations back up at the detention center, they will just be throwing good money after bad because this ill-considered facility — which is causing harm to the Everglades — will ultimately be shut down,” Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement.
The plaintiffs have argued that because Florida financed the project itself and the federal government hasn’t directly contributed, “Alligator Alcatraz” falls outside federal environmental review requirements, even though it houses federal detainees.
In Thursday’s ruling, the appeals court largely accepted those claims.
Photo via Paul Renner/Facebook Credit: Photo via Paul Renner/Facebook
Ron DeSantis does not want former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner to succeed him as governor, he told a packed crowd Wednesday.
“I’m not supporting Paul Renner,” DeSantis said during a Valrico press conference, hours after the Palm Coast Republican filed for the 2026 governor’s race. Renner will face the only other high-profile Republican in the race, Donald Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.
“I think it was an ill-advised decision to enter the race,” DeSantis added.
His blunt take on the 48-year-old’s candidacy stood in contrast to Renner’s campaign launch earlier Wednesday, when the former House Speaker lauded himself as a top GOP figure who played a key role in advancing DeSantis’s agenda.
“As a legislator and Speaker of the House, I stood with Ron DeSantis to brand our state the Free State of Florida. I’m running for Governor so that when the DeSantis era comes to an end, we can defend our victories and solve the challenges that remain,” Renner said in a press release.
DeSantis doesn’t think so.
Less than a year before the gubernatorial primary, Renner is the second high-profile Republican DeSantis has publicly dismissed in the governor’s race. When Trump endorsed Donalds in February for Florida’s top job, DeSantis accused the three-term member of Congress of missing out on Florida’s “wins” during his tenure in Washington.
Still, Renner remains confident that he can “earn the support” of DeSantis as his campaign continues.
“The governor and I had a fantastic partnership making us the Free State of Florida, and I’m confident I’ll earn his support along the way,” he said in a statement to the Florida Phoenix.
DeSantis has yet to formally announce who he does support as a successor. For months, he juxtaposed Donalds and First Lady Casey DeSantis, touting her as a Rush Limbaugh-approved gubernatorial candidate while hinting that she might run. But those rumors faded to a faint whisper after Hope Florida, a charity championed by the First Lady, was barraged with scandalous financial allegations.
Recent reports suggest that Jay Collins, a former state senator elevated by DeSantis as lieutenant governor, will be DeSantis’ pick as his successor.
Renner’s gubernatorial hopes are not new to DeSantis.
In July, as the Jacksonville attorney was touting his pro-DeSantis record on social media, Renner told the governor he wanted to succeed him. The private conversation came after a brutally long legislative session marked by rare infighting between the governor and top GOP lawmakers, when Renner publicly sided with DeSantis on a controversial insurance revamp bill.
Citing distaste for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, the former House Speaker also led the charge to block Santa Ono, a former University of Michigan president, from becoming president of the University of Florida.
A month-and-a-half later, Renner’s plan came to fruition. And evidenced by Wednesday’s pithy public questioning of Renner’s decision making, DeSantis isn’t pleased.
Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican, launched a Sunshine State gubernatorial bid on Wednesday, jumping into the race after President Donald Trump backed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for the job earlier this year.
“As a legislator and Speaker of the House, I stood with Ron DeSantis to brand our state the Free State of Florida,” Renner said in social media posts. “I’m running for Governor so that when the DeSantis era comes to an end, we can defend our victories and solve the challenges that remain.”
Current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is serving his second-consecutive term and is consequently not permitted to be elected again in 2026, said that he is not backing Renner, noting, “I think it was an ill-advised decision to enter the race.”
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner speaks during a press conference in Miami, on May 9, 2023(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Florida’s state constitution stipulates, “No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.”
Renner added in his posts, “As a military veteran of two wars, a state prosecutor, and Speaker of the House, I’ve fought the tough battles, and I will never back down from the fight for our conservative values. As a father, I am committed to securing Florida’s safety and prosperity for the next generation.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., arrives to a House Republican Conference meeting with President Donald Trump on the budget reconciliation bill in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, May 20, 2025(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Donalds announced a gubernatorial bid earlier this year after Trump strongly backed him for the role, urging him to run.
“Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!” Trump declared in a Truth Social post.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., shakes hands with former U.S. President Donald Trump during the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors national summit at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown on June 30, 2023 in Philadelphia(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Governor Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo have announced that Florida will work to phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the state.
DeSantis also announced on Wednesday the creation of a state-level “Make America Healthy Again” commission modeled after similar initiatives pushed at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Ladapo likened vaccine mandates to “slavery”
On the vaccines, Ladapo cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as an “immoral” intrusion on people’s rights bordering on “slavery,” and hampers parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children.
“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” said Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment, at a news conference in Valrico, Florida, in the Tampa area. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”
The state Health Department, Ladapo said, can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, but others would require action by the Florida Legislature. He did not specify any particular vaccines but repeated several times the effort would end “all of them. Every last one of them.”
Ladapo said his department will lawmakers to make it happen.
“I love our lawmakers. They’re going to have to make decisions, people are going to have to make a decision,” he said. “People are going to have to choose a side. And I am telling you right now that the moral side is so simple.”
Florida would be the first state to eliminate so many vaccine mandates, Ladapo added.
Florida has required vaccines for kids attending school for decades
In Florida, vaccine mandates for child day care facilities and public schools include shots for measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, Diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), polio and other diseases, according to the state Health Department’s website.
Under DeSantis, Florida resisted imposing COVID vaccines on schoolchildren, requiring “passports” for places that draw crowds, school closures and mandates that workers get the shots to keep their jobs.
“I don’t think there’s another state that’s done as much as Florida. We want to stay ahead of the curve,” the governor said.
The state “MAHA” commission would look into such things as allowing informed consent in medical matters, promoting safe and nutritious food, boosting parental rights regarding medical decisions about their children, and eliminating “medical orthodoxy that is not supported by the data,” DeSantis said. The commission will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.
“We’re getting government out of the way, getting government out of your lives,” Collins said.
The commission’s work will help inform a large “medical freedom package” to be introduced in the Legislature next session, which would address the vaccine mandates required by state law and make permanent the recent state COVID decisions relaxing restrictions, DeSantis said.
“There will be a broad package,” the governor said.
Come to think of it, it’s already started and Florida’s gubernatorial race is no exception.
Current Gov. Ron DeSantis will not be able to run again in 2026 due to term limits and more than 20 candidates have filed with the Florida Division of Elections to replace him in the governor’s mansion in the November 2026 election.
Others have announced they intend to run but haven’t yet filed the required paperwork.
Here’s a breakdown of who’s running for Florida governor.
Countdown to Florida general election 2026
Why can’t Ron DeSantis run for governor in 2026?
DeSantis was first elected in 2018 and began his term in office on Jan. 8, 2019. He was re-elected by a landslide in 2022.
Florida limits governors to two consecutive, four-year terms.
DeSantis will be ineligible to run again in the next Florida gubernatorial election in 2026 due to term limits. Florida governors cannot be elected to three consecutive terms.
DeSantis will leave office in January 2027 but could run for governor again in the future.
27 candidates have filed to run for Florida governor in 2026
As of Sept. 3, 27 candidates have filed to run for Florida’s governor in 2026, according to the Florida Department of Elections. The most recent candidate, Renner, filed Wednesday morning. By party, the candidates are:
The aftershock of U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ is sending waves through the environmental and political realms as the future of Alligator Alcatraz, at this point, is unsure.
But less than a day after the ruling halting operations, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will not be deterred.
“We had a judge try to upset the apple cart with respect to our deportation and detainee center in south Florida at Alligator Alcatraz,” Desantis said at a news conference in Panama City on Aug. 22. “This is not something that was not expected. This was a judge that was not going to give us a fair shake.”
Williams put in place a temporary injunction that says DeSantis and President Donald Trump should pack up all the trucks, bunks, tarps, fences and people and vacate the property.
DeSantis response was no surprise to the opposition.
“This is a win for the environment,” said Betty Osecola, an influential member of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. “And though the preliminary injunction was issued, we still need to take a stand to continue this fight because we know very well the state and the federal government are going to continue in their efforts in appealing this decision.”
The Miccosukee reservation is just a few miles from the Alligator Alcatraz site, which was formly a flight training center operated by Miami-Dade County.
To make matters more complicated, the facility is actually in Collier County, where commissioners have vowed to stay out of this divisive matter.
Stars can be seen over the Everglades on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Photographed from Burns Lake Campground looking east towards Alligator Alcatraz and the east coast of Florida. The Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area is considered a dark skies designated location. Some are concerned about the construction of Alligator Alcatraz, saying that it is causing light pollution.
Alligator Alcatraz is a controversial immigration detention center at the enterface of the Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.
Construction started in June, after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the detention center on social media.
The center wasn’t the idea of a planning staff, a review committee or even the Department of Homeland Security.
And Alligator Alcatraz didn’t go through the typical review process as DeSantis declared a state of emergency to avoid staff review and public comment periods.
“You have people that are in the country that have already been ordered to be removed by the system,” DeSantis said. “And the previous administration didn’t want to do anything.”
Earlier Aug. 22, Alex Lanfranconi, the governor’s communications director, released a statement: “The deportations will continue until morale improves.”
The ruling stems from a June 27 lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, and joined by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. The defendants in the case include the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and Miami-Dade County.
“So, let’s celebrate this win today, but let’s stay determined for that fight for the long haul,” Osceola said.
DeSantis remained committed to the plan.
“We’re in the position of leading the state efforts to help the Trump administration remove these illegal aliens not just from Florida but from our country,” he said.
The other Alligator Alcatraz lawsuit
In another case focusing on plaintiffs legal and civil rights, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz ruled Aug. 18 the matter should move to a different court while also declaring part of the lawsuit moot.
At the heart of the case was whether the government had violated detainees’ rights to due process and legal counsel. Civil rights attorneys had said the remote Everglades facility made it nearly impossible for immigrants to speak confidentially with lawyers or even find out which immigration court can hear their cases.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys filed suit in the Southern District of Florida, which includes Miami-Dade County, though state and federal officials argued that it should have been filed in the Middle District of Florida, which includes Collier County.
In his 47-page order, Ruiz agreed, transferring the case to the middle district. He also dismissed the immigration-court allegations in the lawsuit, saying they were moot after a federal decision that judges at Krome North Processing Service Center would handle the detainees’ cases.
The case now heads to “a sister court in the Middle District of Florida to reach the merits of plaintiffs’ remaining claims under the First Amendment,” Ruiz wrote.
DeSantis said the most recent ruling won’t affect operations.
“This is not going to deter us. “We’re going to continue the deportations and this mission,” he said.
Breaking News and Visuals Editor Stacey Henson contributed to this report.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday blocking Florida from further expanding the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ injunction formalized the temporary halt she had ordered two weeks ago.
Witnesses continued to testify over multiple days in a hearing to determine whether construction of the facility should stop until the case is decided.
Advocates have argued that the expansion of the facility violated environmental laws.
In an aerial view from a helicopter, the migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” is seen located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on July 4, 2025 in Ochopee, Florida.(Alon Skuy/Getty Images)
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe said that further construction and operations at the facility should be stopped until state and federal officials complied with environmental laws. Their lawsuit argued that the detention center threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that have protected plants and animals and that it would reverse billions of dollars in environmental restoration.
Attorneys for the state and federal governments claimed that the construction and operation of the facility was under the state of Florida despite its use for holding federal detainees, meaning the federal environmental law would not apply.
The judge found that the detention center was at least a joint partnership between the state and federal government.
Williams said she expected the number of detainees in the facility to dip within 60 days through transfers to other facilities, and that fencing, lighting and generators should be removed. She said the state and federal defendants cannot bring anyone other than current detainees at the facility onto the property.
The order does not halt modifications or repairs to existing facilities, which the judge said are “solely for the purpose of increasing safety or mitigating environmental or other risks at the site.”
An aerial view of a migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” is seen located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida on July 7, 2025. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
The preliminary injunction includes “those who are in active concert or participation with” the state of Florida or federal defendants or their officers, agents or employees, she wrote.
State officials failed to sufficiently explain why the facility needed to be in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
“What is apparent, however, is that in their haste to construct the detention camp, the State did not consider alternative locations,” Williams said.
“Just this week, a judge in the same district as Judge Williams refused to hear a case because the Southern District of Florida was the improper venue for suits about Alligator Alcatraz,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for the Florida attorney general’s office, said in a statement to Fox News. “Once again, she oversteps her authority, and we will appeal this unlawful decision.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the “fix was in” and “we knew this judge was not giving us a fair shake.”
“We totally expected an adverse ruling,” he told Fox News. “And we also knew we were going to immediately appeal and get that decision stayed. So we will ultimately be successful in this. It’s not going to stop our resolve. We’re going to continue to do what we need to do to help the Trump administration remove illegal aliens from our country. You know, that’s the mandate that they have. So we anticipated this, but I don’t think it’s going to be insurmountable in the end.”
US President Donald Trump tours a migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida on July 1, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be used as a model for future facilities across the country to support his efforts to detain and deport migrants.
The detention center was quickly built about two months ago at a single-runway training airport in the middle of the Everglades. It now holds nearly 500 detainees but was designed to eventually hold up to 3,000 in temporary tents.
The facility’s large white tents feature rows of bunkbeds surrounded by chain-link cages. Detainees complained of worms in the food, toilets not flushing, floors flooded with fecal waste and insects everywhere. The air conditioners also sometimes abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat.
Detainees also reportedly go days without showers or receiving their prescription medicine, and they are only permitted to speak to lawyers and loved ones by phone.
Fox News’ Danamarie McNicholl-Carter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
