By Michael Moline | Editor in Chief
“He appealed to 18–30-year-old males because he spoke directly to their economic pains, such as being unable to own a home, find a job, and start a family. The other candidates in the race have been in politics long enough that they represented more of the same broken promises by Washington, D.C.” — Jake Hoffman, Tampa Bay Young Republicans
Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback greets a supporter after his concession speech at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore on Aug. 18, 2026. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
His outrageous tactics availed him 10% of the vote in Florida’s primary election, but we still might hear from the cadre of young men he attracted, Mitch Perry reports. “I think that he has been very successful in marketing to our generation with a lot of social media,” said David Ramirez, 18, from Plant City. “And our generation, I think we’ve seen what the establishment Republicans have done for us, which is not very much. And James is very against that, and he’s been very vocal about trying to help us when we grow up be able to afford anything.”
The autism training applies to instructional personnel and administrators and must include academic instruction, behavioral support, communication strategies, and inclusive practices for students with autism. It’s just one of the new state laws in place as students return to the classroom. The cursive writing law is intended to counteract some of the worst features of the digital age, according to its sponsor. “If our students can’t read cursive, they can’t read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, or even a grandparent’s handwritten letter,” co-sponsor Rep. Dana Trabulsy argued.
COMMENTARY
The Ocala National Forest the largest national forest east of the Mississippi and attracts more than half a million visitors each year. It’s home to threatened species including gopher tortoises, roseate spoonbills, and migratory swallowtail kites. It’s the site of a religious retreat. All of that is threatened by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s plan to expand a small, private airport into a pilot training facility that will requiring paving the strip, chopping down nearly 40 acres of trees within the federal preserve, and building a 10,000-square-foot aircraft hangar, columnist Craig Pittman writes. The neighbors, naturally, are alarmed. “There are better places to put an aviation training facility than the Ocala National Forest,” he writes. “A quick Google search turned up 11 other airports in Florida that are for sale right now. I bet none of them have the same limitations that Deep Woods Ranch does.”
MORE FROM THE PHOENIX
Thanks for reading Today on the Phoenix. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.