@PatriciaMazzei and @MarcACaputo

The Miami Dolphins’ short-lived campaign for a subsidized Sun Life Stadium renovation appeared doomed from the start. 

A sizeable majority of Miami-Dade voters who cast ballots in the special stadium election before it was called off opposed the $350 million makeover, according to a count the elections department released late Tuesday. 

Little more than a week after the end of the legislative session, Republicans in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties headed to the polls Tuesday to choose a nominee to replace the late Rep. Clay Ford who died in March.

With the votes counted, that nominee is Mike Hill, founder of the Northwest Florida Tea Party.

Orange County Commissioner Fred Brummer said Tuesday that he would not run again for the state Legislature next year.

The Apopka accountant faces county term limits next fall. But after that, Brummer had said he was pondering a return to Tallahassee, where he served from 1998 to 2006 until term limits forced him out.

District 68 of the Florida House of Representatives is the ultimate battleground seat in legislative politics. It has been held by six different individuals over the past sixteen years — a turnover rate unequaled by the 119 other districts which comprise the House. At least four million dollars has been spent over the last two decades by candidates, parties and outside groups to win control of this seat — it’s that important of a seat.

Fighting fraud that costs the state millions of dollars and impacts poor residents who rely on public assistance payments,The Department of Children & Families on Tuesday announced a new system to crack down on cheaters.

JUPITER — Gov. Rick Scott has offered few clues about who he’ll name as his lieutenant governor or how soon he’ll fill the post, which has been vacant since Jennifer Carroll resigned in March.

The reappointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate, which is not always a given. During the past two session, Senators have failed to act on several of Scott's appointees.

Those appointed can serve before the Senate's official green-light, but will be removed from their post for at least one year if not confirmed in consecutive years.

Here's more on Tuesday's reappointments:

Former Senate Finance subcommittee staff director Ryan McCormick has joined the Real Estate Roundtable as vice president and counsel. McCormick most recently served as senior tax and economic policy counsel for Sen. Bill Nelson. In the 112th Congress, he served as staff director of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth.

Via POLITICO Playbook.

From The News Service of Florida:

Republicans got another indication of the depth of their problems with Hispanic voters this week when Pablo Pantoja of Orlando, formerly Florida Hispanic outreach director for the national Republican Party, announced he’s switching parties and becoming a Democrat.

Pantoja announced the switch on The Florida Nation, a Democratic-leaning news web…

Emailers from across the state are urging Gov. Scott to veto $1 million in funding for a “prevention” program at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that is intended to avert future tragedies like the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Opponents view the program as potentially infringing on individual liberties and simply becoming a program for neighbors to spy on neighbors.

Looking at Governor Rick Scott’s upcoming schedule — he leaves for a four-day trade mission to Chile on May 20 — it would appear, to mix metaphors with the headline, several trains are headed for the same destination at about the same time.

While not exactly rivaling Times Square on New Year’s Eve, anticipation is mounting across Florida over Gov. Rick Scott’s pending action on the state’s $74.5 billion budget.

Scott is heading to Chile next week for a trade mission. While Scott has until May 24 to issue vetoes and sign the spending plan into law, speculation is centered on Scott likely acting this week.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced Tuesday the launch of the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund which is set to distribute $356 million to Florida, collected through penalties from criminal cases against BP and Transocean from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.