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Wednesday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 8/29/2018

The 2018 Florida governor's race is set. Republican Ron DeSantis (left) will face Democrat Andrew Gillum. Results here.

Florida braces for a clash of ideologies as conservative DeSantis faces liberal Gillum

Florida voters on Tuesday propelled a Trump-endorsed congressman and the African-American mayor of Tallahassee on toward November’s general election in the race to replace Rick Scott as governor, setting up a clash of ideologies in the nation’s largest swing state. In the primary race for governor, Ron Desantis won with 56.7% of the Republican vote. On the Democratic side, Andrew Gillum won with 34.3% of the vote. See a breakdown of the governor race here. Also read more at the Miami Herald, NPR, the Tallahassee Democrat, FOX News, and the New York Times.

Double-digit cut proposed for Florida workers' comp rates

With the effects of two closely watched legal decisions still playing out, Florida businesses could see a double-digit reduction in workers’ compensation insurance rates in 2019. The National Council on Compensation Insurance made a filing Monday with Florida regulators that calls for a 13.4 percent rate decrease starting in January. More from WJXT and the Tampa Bay Times.

Request denied: Florida Supreme Court won’t hear challenge of six proposed amendments

Without comment, the Florida Supreme Court has rejected former chief justice Harry Lee Anstead's request for oral arguments to challenge six proposed constitutional amendments, including Amendment 8. Anstead and former Elections commissioner Robert Barnas have contended the six measures are unconstitutionally bundled. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Orlando Sentinel.

Report: Nearly 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico linked to Hurricane Maria

An estimated 2,975 people died in the six months after Hurricane Maria as a result of the storm, with the elderly and impoverished most affected, according to a long-awaited independent study ordered by the U.S. territory's government that was released Tuesday. [Source: AP]

Miami has created more than 4,000 tech jobs. But there’s a catch

A new study puts Miami’s efforts to shift its economy away from its traditional hospitality base towards higher-skilled services into perspective—but also shows that an old problem may be rearing its head. Miami finds itself in the “drain” column when it comes to brains—as opposed to gaining them. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

Florida Trend Regional Report
› Kid friendly: South Florida hospitals are bucking the national trend on pediatric centers [Florida Trend]
For years, pediatric units have been money losers for hospitals. The flow of patients slows in summers and is generally unpredictable, leaving beds empty but staff costs constant. But in Southeast Florida, a growing population and moves to make facilities more up-to-date and kid-friendly are pushing trends in the opposite direction.

› Gainesville Chamber names interim CEO [Gainesville Sun]
The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce has announced its pick for interim president and CEO. Eric Godet, who has served the Gainesville area business community for years, according to a chamber press release, will take over for former president and CEO Susan Davenport, who has accepted a job in Texas.

› With the Great Recession long gone, many South Florida homeowners still underwater on mortgages [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A decade after a collapse in the housing market triggered the 2008 Great Recession, South Florida still has many homeowners who owe far more money than their property is worth.

› Tallahassee economy showing new signs of life [WFSU]
Florida’s capital city is experiencing some positive economic growth. The June report for the Tallahassee Economic Index shows a slight turnaround in a year that has largely seen slow economic development.

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