The Children’s Movement of Florida gathered a full room of advocates and lawmakers to recognize three legislators who helped steer early learning priorities across the finish line during the 2025 Legislative Session.

At a ceremony at the Governors Club in Tallahassee, the organization presented its Early Childhood Champion Award to Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud, Democratic Rep. Robin Bartleman and Republican Rep. Chase Tramont. The Children’s Movement praised the lawmakers’ work expanding access to the state’s School Readiness program and strengthening support for children with special needs.

The group said the trio played central roles in improving tuition assistance and ensuring families aren’t shut out of early learning opportunities as incomes rise.

“Sen. Calatayud, Rep. Bartleman, and Rep. Tramont demonstrate the bipartisan consensus that investing in early learning is good for our state — benefiting not only children and families, but also the state’s workforce and economy,” said Madeleine K. Thakur, President and CEO of The Children’s Movement.

“Their commitment to increasing access for Florida families is an important contribution to our birth-20 education system, and enables true parent choice for the earliest years before kindergarten.”

Calatayud’s bill on the School Readiness program (SB 1102) contained changes designed to make it easier for providers to receive special needs differential funding. The new law also requires participating programs to complete 10 hours of inclusive-practices training before receiving the additional dollars, a move supporters say helps ensure children with special needs can be served effectively.

The House companion, sponsored by Bartleman and Rep. Dana Trabulsy (HB 877), cleared all committees before lawmakers opted to take up the Senate version.

Calatayud also joined Tramont in spearheading legislation tying income thresholds for the School Readiness program to a percentage of the state median income rather than the federal poverty level, among other changes. Advocates argued the shift was necessary as Florida’s minimum wage continues to climb, pushing some working families out of eligibility even as costs rise.

Their proposals were ultimately rolled into the House’s broader education package (HB 1255).

The Children’s Movement of Florida is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition formed in 2010 to make early childhood development a top state priority. The group describes itself as Florida’s “leading voice on early childhood,” working both at the grassroots level — with community engagement and volunteer initiatives — and at the state level, by shaping policy and mobilizing support for early-childhood investment statewide.

The organization said this year’s progress highlights how sustained attention from lawmakers can reshape outcomes for children during their most formative years. The organization pledged to continue working with legislators and state agencies heading into 2026 to protect and expand access to early learning support across Florida.

Miami’s mayoral race ended Tuesday night with a political shift that would have seemed unlikely just a year ago: The election of a Democrat, Eileen Higgins, to replace term-limited Republican Mayor Francis Suarez. In a city that voted for Donald Trump by less than a point in the 2024 presidential election, the result raises a fundamental question about how Miami’s electorate is evolving.

Many issues shaped this Fall’s campaign, including cost of living, corruption, and fatigue over the area’s political dynasties. But one factor over which the city has no direct control appears to have also played an important role: immigration. Specifically, the aggressive national immigration policies associated with the Trump and DeSantis administrations.

Few American cities are as deeply defined by immigration as Miami. More than 58% of Miami-Dade residents are foreign-born, According to an analysis by the Forum for Together, making the county one of the most immigrant-dense metropolitan areas in the United States. Roughly 72% of Miami’s foreign-born population comes from Latin America, and more than half of all households speak a language other than English at home. Immigrants also fuel Miami’s economy, making up nearly 66% of the labor force, including significant representation in health care, construction, hospitality, and professional services.

This demographic reality helps explain why immigration has long been more than a talking point in Miami — it is personal. And in recent years, the city has transformed into one of the most attractive destinations in the world to live and work. As outgoing Mayor Suarez likes to say, Miami has emerged as a bona fide capital of technology and finance, attracting entrepreneurs, venture capital, global corporations, and top talent drawn to its climate, culture, and international connectivity. With this growth has come a renewed understanding that Miami’s strength lies in its identity as a city built and sustained by people from other places, both inside and outside the United States.

Against this backdrop, the hardening of national immigration rhetoric appears to have pushed many Miami voters, including Republican-leaning Hispanics and No Party Affiliates, toward candidates seen as more protective of immigrants already living and working in the community.

National data underscores this trend. A November 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that majorities of Latinos disapprove of Trump and his policies on immigration and the economy. More strikingly, the survey showed that immigration — often assumed to motivate conservative voting — has in fact become a mobilizing issue for Latinos who oppose mass deportation and family separation. Latinos surveyed overwhelmingly rejected policies targeting long-standing undocumented residents, even when they supported stronger border controls.

A recent Kissimmee-based Kaplan Strategies poll highlighted how this dynamic is playing out locally: Miami voters overwhelmingly support border security, yet a majority also oppose blanket deportations of undocumented immigrants who have become rooted in the community. This dual view — security paired with compassion — reflects a nuanced position that does not align neatly with the national Republican message.

Over the last couple of months, an organization called Freedom and Opportunity Alliance launched a digital, television, and billboard campaign in the weeks leading up to Miami’s election. The group bills itself as supporting strong borders and the deportation of violent criminals, while also opposing the removal of long-established, law-abiding undocumented residents who contribute to local economies. The group’s ads, which ran across major platforms, sought to thread the needle between security and humanity, a balance consistent with voter sentiment.

When viewed together, the data tells a compelling story. Miami’s immigrant-rich population remains sensitive to rhetoric or policies that threaten broad deportation. While voters care deeply about safety and border enforcement, they are equally committed to protecting neighbors, coworkers, and families who form the city’s social and economic bedrock.

In this year’s mayoral race, that tension appears to have broken decisively toward the candidate who most aligned with Miami’s lived reality — not the national rhetoric.

House Democrats just added U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee’s seat to its list of “Districts in Play” in 2026.

That makes the Thonotosassa Republican one of four GOP incumbents in Florida being targeted by Democrats in the Midterms.

“Laurel Lee represents the worst of what voters hate about Congress — an out of touch politician who cares more about prioritizing the wealthy and well connected over helping Florida’s working families,” said U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

“As Republicans continue to push their failing agenda that leaves everyday Americans behind in favor of Laurel Lee’s wealthy donors, Democrats will fight to ensure that next November, Florida’s 15th Congressional District will elect a representative that cares about them and their issues.”

The addition of Florida’s 15th Congressional District to its target list comes as Democrats feel increasingly confident about the Midterms. Following off-year victories in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere, the DCCC added several seats to an existing list of 35 GOP-held seats. Democrats were already targeting U.S. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican, Cory Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, and María Elvira Salazar, a Coral Gables Republican.

For comparison, the DCCC in 2024 targeted only Luna and Salazar.

But Lee’s seat has earned national interest in the past. It was drawn following 2022 redistricting, and was widely considered Florida’s “new” district that year when the state picked up a House seat in the decennial reapportionment process.

At that point, the district was the most evenly divided congressional district in the state based on the 2020 Presidential Election. But Lee in 2022 won the seat after defeating Democrat Alan Cohn with 58.5% of the vote. In 2024, she won re-election over Democratic challenger Pat Kemp with 56.5% of the vote, while Republican Donald Trump won 54.7% of the vote in the district in the Presidential Election.

As of the closing of voter rolls before the 2024 election, more than 171,000 registered Republicans outnumbered 146,000 Democrats, with independents and members of other parties representing another nearly 138,000 voters there. Of course, Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Legislature also signaled plans to redraw districts ahead of the Midterms.

But DCCC officials said overperformance in several elections since 2024, including two congressional Special Elections in Florida in April, provide “further proof” that a path to victory in CD 15 exists.

Four Democrats have already filed to challenge Lee in 2026. Most notably, Darren McAuley through September raised almost $208,000 to run in CD 15. At that point, Lee had more than $1 million in cash on hand.