Ron DeSantis

With one week until Election Day, Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly are campaigning across Florida to close out the governor's race. Donalds, touring by bus, cast Jolly as inconsistent and pledged cost-cutting measures and government transparency. Jolly, framing his campaign around change, argued a Democratic win would defy Florida's deep-red lean. A new University of North Florida poll shows a tightening race, with Donalds and Jolly close and a small share of voters undecided. Transgender athletes in women's sports has also emerged as a flashpoint, with Donalds' campaign highlighting past remarks by Jolly on the issue and attacking his position, while Jolly has called for leaving related decisions to courts and sports leagues.

A ConsumerAffairs analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data ranks the Jacksonville metro area No. 2 among the 100 largest U.S. metros for property taxes rising faster than home values from 2022 to 2024. The typical homeowner's tax bill rose 21.7% while median home values increased 8.1%, a gap second only to Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida. Nationally, home values rose faster than taxes over the same period, though a five-year view shows Jacksonville home values up 63.1% since 2019, outpacing a 44.9% rise in taxes.

Florida's Amendment 3, needing 60% approval, would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 while cutting the non-homestead assessment-growth cap from 10% to 5%. Backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it has split Republicans and drawn opposition from police, firefighter, and county groups warning of billions in lost local revenue; proponents argue local governments can absorb cuts after years of rapid tax collection growth.

Orange County, Florida voters on Nov. 3 will pick a new mayor from Democrat Tiffany Moore Russell and Republican Chris Messina, while also voting on Amendment 3, a statewide measure to phase out property taxes on primary homes. Moore Russell opposes the amendment and says she'd cut vacant positions, review contracts and freeze hiring to offset losses; Messina supports it and favors zero-based budgeting and selling unused county assets. Analysts estimate the county could lose hundreds of millions in general fund and public safety tax revenue if the measure passes. Moore Russell led the August primary, and the race has become the costliest in county history.

Alex Alvarado, a GOP operative implicated in Florida's 2020 "ghost candidate" scheme, is now sending text messages suggesting Democratic attorney general candidate Jose Javier Rodríguez won't "defend reproductive freedom." The texts, funded through a newly registered committee called Lower Our Costs Now, cite a 2015 abortion bill vote Rodríguez missed on the floor but later recorded a "no" vote on afterward. Rodríguez's campaign calls the ads misleading and notes his Planned Parenthood endorsement. Alvarado, an early donor to incumbent Attorney General James Uthmeier, was previously tied to 2020 efforts—some resulting in convictions—to siphon votes from Democrats using decoy independent candidates, including a scheme that helped defeat Rodríguez's state Senate bid.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Thomas Mitchell Overton, now 70, scheduling his execution for Nov. 18 at Florida State Prison in Starke. Overton was convicted in 1999 for the August 1992 murders of Michael MacIvor and his pregnant wife, Missy, in Tavernier, after breaking into their home. DNA evidence tied him to the crime scene. If carried out, this would be Florida's 20th execution this year, the highest annual total since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The warrant comes a day after Florida executed William Reaves for killing a sheriff's deputy, and precedes Jesse Guardado's scheduled Nov. 5 execution.