Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed John Reed as an Okaloosa County judge. Reed replaces Judge Jack Schlechter, who was promoted to the 1st Judicial Circuit Court. Reed previously served as a general magistrate and a partner at a private law firm. He is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida Law School.

The governor's office said he would be joined by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army D. Lee Forsgren, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambert.

DeSantis also highlighted the state’s announcement earlier this month that 71% of all graded schools were rated ‘A’ or ‘B,’ up from 64% the previous year.

The Florida Teacher of the Year will be announced July 17, and Flagler County's Brandy Anderson is a finalist.

The case centered on Congressional District 5, which in the past stretched from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee, and elected Black Democrat Al Lawson. During the 2022 redistricting process, DeSantis argued that keeping such a district would be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and successfully pressured lawmakers to overhaul the district.

A majority opinion written by Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz accepted DeSantis’ past arguments that the Equal Protection Clause in the U.S. Constitution overrides a demand in Florida’s Fair Districts language that the power of minority voters cannot be diminished in the redistricting process.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending his administration’s approach to property insurance, urging people to be “very wary of politicians that prattle that all of a sudden they’re going to come

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was just getting back into President Donald Trump’s good graces. But a new pick for a key state job lit a fuse in MAGA World and threatens to unravel it all.