AL LAWSON

Amid Republican gains in the U.S. House races in Florida, Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost has become the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in Congress.

A state appeals court has reinstated a new congressional map drawn by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ staff that could diminish Florida’s Black representation in Washington, a week after a lower court judge said the map was unconstitutional.

A judge’s ruling that a new congressional map drawn by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ staff is unconstitutional has been appealed by the state.

Voting rights groups have sued Florida over a congressional map drawn by Gov. Ron DeSantis and passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Just seven Republicans, along with most Democrats, used remote voting in the House when voting-from-somewhere-else was first allowed two years ago as the pandemic erupted.

The Florida Legislature’s leaders have sent a memo to lawmakers ahead of a special session next week saying legislative staff will not draw new congressional maps.

The House Redistricting Committee voted 15-9 to advance to the full House a pair of revised congressional maps that Democrats and other critics said fall short of requirements under a 2010 “Fair Districts” constitutional amendment.

The Florida Supreme Court is telling Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis it will not answer his question on whether a Black congressman’s district is unconstitutional.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has submitted a proposal to reshape the state’s congressional map and carve up districts held by Black Democrats, as the Republican takes the unusual step of inserting himself into the redistricting process.

An army of firefighters is working in hot, dry and windy weather to contain blazes chewing through wilderness and burning homes across drought-stricken Western states.

— District 3: Republican Kat Cammack has won Florida’s U.S. House seat held by her former boss, retiring Florida Republican Rep. Ted Yoho. He defeated Democrat Donna Deegan, a former television news anchor who has worked to raise money for breast cancer research and to help patients. — District 15: Republican Scott Franklin has won Florida Rep. Ross Spano’s seat in the U.S. House. Deutch was first elected in 2010 and represents a firmly Democratic district that includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties. A supermajority of Florida voters approved the amendment to the Florida Constitution that will raise Florida’s minimum wage from the current $8.56 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026.

Lawmakers are pressing the central bank to deliver more aid to struggling small and mid-sized businesses. And now many lawmakers are asking the Fed to expand its lending to small and medium-sized businesses, by allowing companies to offer assets such as commercial properties as collateral. The decision is on the doorstep of Fed Chairman Jay Powell and Steven Mnuchin, the Trump administrations treasury secretary. Its risky because it can be hard for the Fed to accurately appraise assets right now, he told The Associated Press. If it makes riskier loans, the Fed may be seen as propping up teetering zombie businesses that could default on payments.