Politics

Ruth’s List Florida endorses Christina Romelus for Palm Beach County School Board

Published

3 weeks ago

November 12, 2025

A Sunshine State organization focused on electing Democratic women who support abortion rights is getting behind former Boynton Beach Commissioner Christina Romelus’ campaign for the Palm Beach County School Board.

Ruth’s List Florida has officially endorsed Romelus — a former educator and nurse, and a mother of two — for the School Board’s District 4 seat.

The group’s CEO, Christina Diamond, said Romelus “leads with empathy, courage, and an unwavering commitment to the people she serves.”

“Christina Romelus embodies the very spirit of public service,” Diamond said in a statement. “As a mom, educator, and former City Commissioner, she brings a vital perspective to the School Board. Ruth’s List is proud to stand with Christina as she continues her work to ensure every child in Palm Beach County has access to safe, high-quality education.”

The Ruth’s List endorsement, announced Wednesday, adds to others from 10 current and former Palm Beach County leaders.

Romelus said she’s “proud and deeply honored” to have the backing of “an organization that has been lifting up women across our state and giving them the tools, confidence and community to lead.”

“When I was first elected to office at 27, just two weeks before giving birth to my second son, I didn’t see many women in leadership roles. Organizations like Ruth’s List have changed that. They remind us that women can lead at home, work, schools, and everywhere else, and most importantly, our voices matter in each room,” she said in a statement.

“Every little girl should be able to look around and see themselves represented in every echelon of leadership. I’m grateful to have them by my side as we fight for safer schools, stronger classrooms, and brighter futures for every child in Palm Beach County.”

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Palm Beach County, Romelus made history in 2016 as the youngest person elected to the Boynton Beach City Commission. She later served as Vice Mayor. Her work history includes time as a nurse and professor, including a six-year stint teaching anatomy and physiology at Palm Beach State College.

She holds a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Barry University and a bachelor’s from the University of Miami. Today, she works as the founding CEO of PolitiCALM, a government affairs and leadership training firm, while raising her two sons with her husband, Darren.

Romelus launched her campaign in July to replace District 4 School Board member Erica Whitfield, who is running for the County Commission.

Her campaign is focused on three key areas: ensuring all students have access to “high-quality resources and curriculum,” promoting school safety, and “fostering stronger partnerships between schools and parents to create more transparent, inclusive, and responsive educational environments.”

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, she remains the only person running in District 4, according to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website.

The Primary is Aug. 18, 2026, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3, 2026.

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Politics

Paul Renner doubles down on Cory Mills critique, urges more Republicans to join him

Published

53 minutes ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Mills was a day-one Byron Donalds backer in the gubernatorial race.

A former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor is leading the charge for Republicans as scandal swirls around a Congressman.

Saying the “evidence is mounting” against Rep. Cory Mills, Paul Renner says other candidates for Governor should “stand up and be counted” and join him in the call for Mills to leave Congress.

Renner made the call earlier this week.

But on Friday, the Palm Coast Republican doubled down.

He spotlighted fresh reporting from Roger Sollenberger alleging that Mills’ company “appears to have illegally exported weapons while he serves in Congress, including to Ukraine,” that Mills failed to disclose conflicts of interest, “tried to fistfight other Republican members of Congress, and lied about his party stature to bully other GOP candidates out of primaries that an alleged romantic interest was running in,” and lied about his conversion to Islam.

The House Ethics Committee is already probing Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, over allegations of profiting from federal defense contracts while in Congress. More recently, the Committee expanded its work to review allegations that he assaulted one ex-girlfriend and threatened to share intimate photos of another.

Other candidates have been more reticent in addressing the issue, including Rep. Byron Donalds.

“When any other members have been involved and stuff like this, my advice is the same,” said Donalds, a Naples Republican. “They need to actually spend a lot more time in the district and take stock of what’s going on at home, and make that decision with their voters.”

The response came less than a year after Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, spoke at the launch of Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign.

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Staff writer Jacob Ogles contributed reporting.

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Politics

Eileen Higgins brings out starpower as special election campaign nears close

Published

1 hour ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Prominent Democrats will be on hand at a number of stops.

Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins is enlisting more big names as support at early vote stops ahead of Tuesday’s special election for Mayor, including a Senate candidate, a former Senate candidate, and a current candidate for Governor.

During her canvass kickoff at 10 a.m at Elizabeth Virrick Park, Higgins will appear with U.S. Senate Candidate Hector Mujica.

Early vote stops follow, with Higgins solo at the 11 a.m. show-up at Miami City Hall and the 11:30 at the Shenandoah Library.

From there, big names from Orlando will be with the candidate.

Orange County Mayor and candidate for Florida Governor Jerry Demings and former Congresswoman Val Demings will appear with Higgins at the Liberty Square Family & Friends Picnic (2 p.m.), Charles Hadley Park (3 p.m.), and the Carrie P. Meek Senior and Cultural Center (3:30 p.m.)

Higgins, who served on the County Commission from 2018 to 2025, is competing in a runoff for the city’s mayoralty against former City Manager Emilio González. The pair topped 11 other candidates in Miami’s Nov. 4 General Election, with Higgins, a Democrat, taking 36% of the vote and González, a Republican, capturing 19.5%.

To win outright, a candidate had to receive more than half the vote. Miami’s elections are technically nonpartisan, though party politics frequently still play into races.

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Politics

Hope Florida fallout drives another Rick Scott rebuke of Ron DeSantis

Published

2 hours ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

The cold war between Florida’s Governor and his predecessor is nearly seven years old and tensions show no signs of thawing.

On Friday, Sen. Rick Scott weighed in on Florida Politics’ reporting on the Agency for Health Care Administration’s apparent repayment of $10 million of Medicaid money from a settlement last year, which allegedly had been diverted to the Hope Florida Foundation, summarily filtered through non-profits through political committees, and spent on political purposes.

“I appreciate the efforts by the Florida legislature to hold Hope Florida accountable. Millions in tax dollars for poor kids have no business funding political ads. If any money was misspent, then it should be paid back by the entities responsible, not the taxpayers,” Scott posted to X.

While AHCA Deputy Chief of Staff Mallory McManus says that is an “incorrect” interpretation, she did not respond to a follow-up question asking for further detail this week.

The $10 million under scrutiny was part of a $67 million settlement from state Medicaid contractor Centene, which DeSantis said was “a cherry on top” in the settlement, arguing it wasn’t truly from Medicaid money.

But in terms of the Scott-DeSantis contretemps, it’s the latest example of tensions that seemed to start even before DeSantis was sworn in when Scott left the inauguration of his successor, and which continue in the race to succeed DeSantis, with Scott enthusiastic about current front runner Byron Donalds.

Earlier this year, Scott criticized DeSantis’ call to repeal so-called vaccine mandates for school kids, saying parents could already opt out according to state law.

While running for re-election to the Senate in 2024, Scott critiqued the Heartbeat Protection Act, a law signed by DeSantis that banned abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy with some exceptions, saying the 15 week ban was “where the state’s at.”

In 2023 after Scott endorsed Donald Trump for President while DeSantis was still a candidate, DeSantis said it was an attempt to “short circuit” the voters.

That same year amid DeSantis’ conflict over parental rights legislation with The Walt Disney Co., Scott said it was important for Governors to “work with” major companies in their states.

The critiques went both ways.

When running for office, DeSantis distanced himself from Scott amid controversy about the Senator’s blind trust for his assets as Governor.

“I basically made decisions to serve in uniform, as a prosecutor, and in Congress to my financial detriment,” DeSantis said in October 2018. “I’m not entering (office) with a big trust fund or anything like that, so I’m not going to be entering office with those issues.”

In 2020, when the state’s creaky unemployment website couldn’t handle the surge of applicants for reemployment assistance as the pandemic shut down businesses, DeSantis likened it to a “jalopy in the Daytona 500” and Scott urged him to “quit blaming others” for the website his administration inherited.

The chill between the former and current Governors didn’t abate in time for 2022’s hurricane season, when Scott said DeSantis didn’t talk to him after the fearsome Hurricane Ian ravaged the state.

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