Free Republic

On Saturday, Winsome Earle-Sears, a Black Republican woman, took the oath of office to become Virginia’s 42nd lieutenant governor. She is Virginia’s first female lieutenant governor and the first immigrant to win statewide office in Virginia. But being Black and Republican is what’s gotten a lot of attention — even though that’s not as unusual as many believe. Sears is actually Virginia’s third Black lieutenant governor, and she succeeds another Black lieutenant governor. Boyd Rutherford and Mark Robinson are also Black Republican lieutenant governors, serving in Maryland and North Carolina, respectively. And Black Republican women — Jenean Hampton, Jennette Bradley...

A Sanford judge today ruled that Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi does not have to answer defense attorneys' questions under oath in a mammoth Internet casino gambling case pending in Seminole County. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. made that ruling this morning.The case involves more than 50 defendants, accused of violating the state's gambling, racketeering and money laundering laws by operating Internet cafes that prosecutors say served as storefront gambling parlors. Each had ties to the non-profit Allied Veterans of the World, a group that provided charity to military veterans but, according to authorities, donated just two percent of its...

TALLAHASSEE -- Lieutenant Gov. Jennifer Carroll has turned in her resignation to Gov. Rick Scott. The governor's office confirmed Carroll submitted her resignation Tuesday. Scott will hold a presser on the resignation this afternoon. Carroll was the first female elected as lieutenant governor in Florida and the first African-American elected statewide.

A Latina aide to the lieutenant governor of Florida has been caught up in a sex scandal involving her boss. A former employee of Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll claims the Sunshine State’s second in command had a tryst with top aide Beatriz Ramos, and even caught them in a “compromising position” inside Carroll’s office. The lieutenant governor denies the allegations, which were included in a court filing made late last week by the attorney representing former top aide Carletha Cole. Cole was arrested last October on charges that she gave an illegally taped conversation with another Carroll aide to...

A task force headed by Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, established to review among other things Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law, includes 17 members. The task force hopes to conclude its work by next year’s legislative session.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 11:49 p.m. LAKELAND | Jennifer Carroll has the distinction of being the first black female Republican elected to the state legislature. She made history again Wednesday when she became the state's first black lieutenant governor. Florida's new governor, Rick Scott, called Carroll, 51, a "history-maker and a barrier-breaker" when he announced her as his running mate in September. And while Adrienne Frazier, a teacher at Southwest Middle School in Lakeland, is a Democrat, she agrees that Carroll is an inspiration. "As a black woman, it makes me confident to see someone who is...

<p>Black Democratic leaders from Broward said Republican governor candidate Rick Scott made a smart move by picking a black candidate, state Rep. Jennifer Carroll of Jacksonville, as his running mate.</p> <p>“I don’ t think the Democratic Party can afford to sleep on Jennifer Carroll. They do so at their own peril. She is extremely articulate. She is a seasoned legislator. And she is knowledgeable about the issues,” Thurston said. “Her conservative credentials align with the black church in a lot of regards.”</p>

NEWS ANALYSIS Democrats divided, Republicans united The contest to replace Gov. Jeb Bush features a Republican who wants to preserve his legacy and a Democrat who wants to tear it down. Charlie Crist coasted to victory. Jim Davis stumbled into it. Crist, the Republican, and Davis, the Democrat, will meet each other in the Nov. 7 general election, but they begin the race to be Florida's next governor in vastly different shape. Davis, a congressman who blasts the way business is done in Florida's capital, arrives at the general-election race battered and broke, still shaken by the pounding he took...

ATLANTA (AP) -- Herman Cain is a well-to-do black businessman with a strong belief that the Democratic Party that blacks embraced during the civil rights struggle has swung too far to the left. That is why he is running for the U.S. Senate this year as a Republican. More black Republicans are running for office in Georgia this year than ever before, and black candidates in other Southern states are also finding that declaring for the GOP is more accepted than it was just a few years ago. It is a small shift that Republican activists say could pay big...

I didn't know that they changed my Congressional District from 7 to 3 a few months ago. I went in to vote this moring with the intentions of voting for John Mica, but he was not on my ballot, because I am no longer in his district. I along with many other Central Floridians are now in Congressional District 3, I voted for Jennifer Carroll Jennifer Carroll is trying to become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. In a rematch of 2000, she is trying to unseat Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., who also is black, in a strong...