Columns by Mary Ellen Klas in Bloomberg Opinion and Exclusive stories in the Miami Herald

Forget Polls. Watch the Florida Special Election Results.

Florida holds two special congressional elections on Tuesday in districts where President Donald Trump won more than 60% of the votes. They’ll be closely watched to see if that margin — which months ago seemed effortless for Republicans to sustain in the president’s home state — has melted away. Fueled by a surge of support from grassroots Democratic donors and volunteers from across the country, Democrats Gay Valimont, a gun control activist, and Josh Weil, a teacher, are dramatically out-raisi...

Cutting the Department of Education Is Theater, Not a Plan

Late on Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to “begin eliminating” the US Department of Education. It was exactly as expected: a performative exercise that will achieve none of the president’s stated campaign promises, ​including shutting down the agency.That’s because the president doesn’t have the authority to eliminate the cabinet-level department without congressional approval, and lawmakers just voted to keep it alive for at least another year. Late on Thursday, Pres...

North Carolina’s Ongoing Election Dispute Is Dangerous

The 2024 election still isn’t over in North Carolina. On Friday, the state Court of Appeals will hear arguments in a dispute over a judicial election for the state Supreme Court.After two recounts, Jefferson Griffin, a Republican appellate court judge, still trails incumbent North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, by 734 votes out of the 5.5 million cast. Despite several unfavorable federal and state court rulings, Griffin won’t give up his fight. The 2024 election still...

Are GOP Leaders Afraid to Listen to Their Own Voters?

No politician will ever admit they have zero interest in hearing what their constituents have to say. But from Washington, DC to Wichita, Kansas elected officials are cancelling meetings with constituents and systematically undermining citizen-led ballot initiatives — the one tool the public has to make change when elected officials won’t listen.It is profoundly hypocritical — and dangerously shortsighted. In these bitterly polarized times, legislators should be finding ways to listen more to an...

Florida Deserves Better Candidates for Governor

For nearly half a century, Florida has been America’s ultimate political bellwether. Now, the race to replace Governor Ron DeSantis in 2026 is flashing a warning sign about the influential state’s shallow leadership pool.DeSantis can’t run again because of term limits, but he wants to run for president again so he’s looking for a way to stay relevant. He’s propping up his wife Casey and President Donald Trump endorsed Congressman Byron Donalds. Florida can do better, and it should.

The GOP Is Obsessed With DEI in Schools. What About the ABCs?

Linda McMahon’s nomination to head the Department of Education has always seemed incongruous. But after watching her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, I now see why President Donald Trump would appoint the co-founder and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. Like WWE itself, with its choreographed athletic feats and staged conflict, the president’s commitment to America’s school children is pure performance art.

Meet the Educator Who Thinks Fewer Women Should Go to College

Conservatives have made no secret of their desire to dismantle the current university system and replace it with their own, “anti-woke” version that would discourage the advancement of women and minorities. Scott Yenor, nominated to chair the board of trustees at the state-run University of West Florida, is one of the lightning rods in this crusade — and if he is confirmed to that post, he will make Florida his proving ground. State senators should vote to reject his nomination when they meet in...

Florida Orange Juice Could Be Tariffs’ Most Iconic Casualty

President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada is on hold for now but, if it resumes, it could deliver a fatal blow to one iconic American industry: Florida orange juice. If Trump resumes the reckless trade war with the US allies of Canada and Mexico, the impact of their retaliatory tariffs in Trump’s home state of Florida alone would not only raise the cost of importing Mexican juice to Florida bottlers, it could squeeze the Canadian market dry.

Trump’s First Week Will Hurt Kids for a Long Time

In President Trump’s inaugural address, he promised to change “an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves” and make America “the most respected nation on Earth.” But every child learns that you judge people by their deeds, not their words. As Trump’s first week in office draws to a close, it is worth asking what message his early actions are likely to teach America’s children about our country — and what impact this week’s orders is likely to have on them.

Why Is Ashley Moody Replacing Marco Rubio? Loyalty

On Thursday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody was named by Governor Ron DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio in the Senate after, as is widely expected, the Miami Republican is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state. Moody will be a dependable, go-along, get-along addition to the US Senate — a reliably pro-Trump vote. She will neither compete for the limelight nor command it when it shines upon her.

Trump Is Making America Florida

There is a reason that President-elect Donald Trump has tapped so many Floridians to fill his administration. Florida is the breeding ground for the kind of government Trump envisions for his second term: A souped-up executive branch that has contempt for institutions; a talent for exploiting the resentment of working-class voters; a desire to give favorable treatment to donors; and an urge to aggressively use state power to attack dissenters.

Is Democracy Dying? These States Will Tell Us

If you want to understand the health of American democracy, what happens in state legislatures matters just as much as what happens in Washington, DC, and Mar-a-Lago.In 2025, we can assess the health of democracy at the state level by watching four pressing issues: how states respond to federal spending cuts; how legislatures handle November’s ballot initiatives; whether local officials keep trying to subvert elections; and how far states get in eroding the wall between church and state. If you...

North Carolina Voters Wanted Bipartisanship. Republicans Refused.

In the November election, North Carolina Republicans lost their supermajority in the state legislature. They also lost sight of their role as public servants.Democrats picked up a single Republican seat and ended the Republican Party’s ability to override the governor’s veto. Because the incoming governor is a Democrat, state Republicans quickly went to work to limit his powers before they lose theirs. In the November election, North Carolina Republicans lost their supermajority in the state le...
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