The FMNN Weekly: Endorsements, candidate Spotlights and your county voter guide

Our first weekly digest: every story we published this week, in one place. Information current as of Oct. 11, 2026.

TAMPA BAY — Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting starts Oct. 19 in most Tampa Bay counties, and the deadline to request a mail ballot is 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Here is what we reported this week.

Our endorsements

We made our first endorsements: Angie Nixon for U.S. Senate, Mark Davis for Congress in District 16 and Dr. Linsey Grove for St. Pete City Council District 6. This is opinion, kept separate from our news reporting. Read why we chose them.

Disclosure: FMNN's founder, Joseph J. Jackson, is friends with Mark Davis, and Davis's campaign has paid Eat This Dessert First, a bakery Jackson owns, to cater events. FMNN sells merchandise referencing Donald Trump. Our reporting follows the record regardless.

Meet the candidates

Our Spotlight profiles are straight news: who each candidate is, where they stand and who's paying for their campaign.

• U.S. Senate: Angie Nixon, the Jacksonville state representative who beat Alex Vindman in the Democratic primary, faces Sen. Ashley Moody.

• Congress, District 16: Sydney Gruters (R), Kelly Kirschner (D) and Mark Davis (no party) are running for Vern Buchanan's open seat.

• St. Pete City Council, District 6: Dr. Linsey Grove and Trevor Mallory meet in a citywide runoff for the downtown seat.

Your county voter guide

Start with our Tampa Bay Voter Guide, then find your county: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota and Citrus. Your county Supervisor of Elections is the official source.

Florida Accountability

Florida homeowners pay the highest average homeowners premium in the nation, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. We traced the four laws passed since 2019 to fix the market, who voted for them, and what the state and critics say happened next. Read the story.

The history behind the headlines:

• How Florida's property insurance crisis began: from Hurricane Andrew to the 2022 reforms

• Preservation 2000 to Amendment 1: the fight over Florida's land conservation money

• Why Florida has no personal income tax, and what pays the bills instead

• From 'River of Grass' to CERP: how Everglades restoration took shape

• Lake Okeechobee's long shadow: the 1928 hurricane, the dike and the algae emergencies

Elections, explained

• Fair Districts, explained: how Florida's anti-gerrymandering rules fared in court

• Amendment 4, explained: how Florida restored felon voting rights, then added fees

• Florida 2000, explained: 537 votes, butterfly ballots and the reforms that followed

• Why 57% isn't enough: the history of Florida's 60% rule for amendments

• Early voting in Florida, explained: required days, optional days and hours

Statehouse

• How a bill becomes law in Florida, from filing to the governor's desk

• Florida's line-item veto: how the governor cuts the budget, and why overrides are rare

• Florida's Constitution Revision Commission meets every 20 years. Here's what it does

• How Tallahassee became Florida's capital, and how the Old Capitol was saved

• Florida's Sunshine Law: a history of open records and open meetings

ICE Watch

• What are 287(g) agreements, and why does every Florida county have one?

• Know your rights: what legal groups advise during an immigration encounter

• From Mariel to 'Wet Foot, Dry Foot': how Cuban migration shaped South Florida

Power and tech

• What is Palantir? The CIA-backed data firm behind ICE's case systems

• Florida's Digital Bill of Rights: who it covers and what it lets you do

• Florida's social media law for minors: what HB 3 requires and where the fight stands

• License plate readers in Florida: what they collect and how long police keep it

Know your records

• How to make a public records request in Florida, step by step

• Follow the money: how to search Florida campaign finance records

• Why 'Florida Man' headlines exist, and what they say about public records

About us

Florida Man News Network is becoming a newsroom: what we cover and how we work. Read our Standards & Ethics and how we're funded.

Coming up

• Oct. 15: Third-quarter campaign finance reports are due to the Federal Election Commission. We'll update candidate fundraising numbers.

• Oct. 19: Early voting begins in most Tampa Bay counties.

• Oct. 22: Last day to request a mail ballot, 5 p.m.

How we reported this: This digest was drafted with AI assistance from our own published stories, each linked above, and checked by an editor. The FMNN Weekly publishes every Sunday. See an error? Contact us and we'll correct it. Have a tip? Send it here.