A bill that could change how elections are run in Florida advances in Tallahassee and lawmakers consider a requirement to teach the history of communism in schools.
A potential change to Florida elections
A proposed committee bill in the State House could re-institute runoff elections.
This would force candidates to run in what’s called a double primary system.
Under that format, the first and second place candidates in the first primary would be placed on the ballot in the second primary election.
Lawmakers consider mandatory communism education in schools
State lawmakers are considering legislation that would require K-12 schools to teach what they consider the history of communism.
The lessons would have to be both age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
The courses include:
- The history of communism in the United States
- Atrocities committed in foreign countries, the philosophy and lineages of communistic thoughts
- What supporters view as the increasing threat of communism in the U.S
- The events that led up to communist revolutions
Each school would have to provide evidence these classes are being taught and the material would be recommended for a state “Communism Education Task Force”
The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Tampa State Sen. Jay Collins, and he spoke about it today in a committee meeting.
“Thirty to 38% of our youth feel that communism or socialism could be better than what we have," Collins said. "But stop and think about that. That’s pretty frightening ... If we fail in this generation to teach our children about the horrors of socialism, communism, or anything else that strives to strip freedom and liberty from our persons and our people, we’re failing."
Today, the Appropriations Committee on Education advanced the Senate bill unanimously.
Haley announced she's staying in the race against Trump
Four days before she faces former President Donald Trump in a primary in her home state — a race that, per polling, she is expected to lose — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley insisted she’s not on the verge of dropping out of the race.
“I'm not going anywhere,” the former United Nations ambassador said during a speech Tuesday in Greenville, S.C.. “I'm campaigning every day until the last person votes.”
Haley clarified her intentions during what her campaign called a “state of the race” speech. The scheduled address stirred some speculation that she might announce her exit from the race days ahead of the primary in the Palmetto State.
“Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I'm dropping out of the race,” the former South Carolina governor said. “Well, I'm not. Far from it.”
The rest of the speech largely included familiar talking points from Haley’s campaign events. She reiterated she’s running for president to address issues such as education, cost of living, crime and U.S.-Mexico border security.
She attacked President Joe Biden on those issues as well as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Haley also criticized Trump for insulting military veterans, spending $50 million in campaign contributions on his legal fees, threatening donors who support Haley’s campaign and saying he would encourage Russia to attack NATO countries that did not meet their financial obligations to the alliance.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, Trump is leading Haley in South Carolina, 63.6%-33.2%.
Trump soundly defeated Haley in Iowa and New Hampshire. They competed in separate contests in Nevada — Trump won the caucuses while voters in the state's primary picked "none of these candidates" over Haley.