The statement follows a documented incident in which Rochford’s Campaign Director was told to persuade his father, a veteran journalist and member of the campaign team, to stop sharing and speaking publicly about voter registration records obtained from an official government database.

“Candidates for Congress should welcome scrutiny, not try to silence it,” Rochford said. “When a journalist publishes public records from an official government database, and the response is a demand letter threatening litigation, that tells voters something important about how that candidate would handle the responsibilities of public office.”

On July 3, journalist and commentator Laura Loomer published an article reporting that New York City Board of Elections records show an FL-14 Republican primary candidate has maintained an active voter registration in Brooklyn since 2002 and that records indicate a vote was cast under that registration in the November 2025 NYC mayoral election.

Following the publication, Loomer received a demand letter threatening defamation litigation. Her attorney, R. Alex Andrade of Moore, Hill and Westmoreland, P.A., responded on July 9 with a six-page letter confirming that he independently verified the active voter registration using the NYC Board of Elections website. The attorney noted that he could not independently confirm the same candidate’s voter registration in Florida, as a search of the statewide database returned no record found.

Andrade’s response cited truth as an absolute defense to defamation, referenced the actual malice standard required for public figures, and warned that pursuing litigation would expose the claimant to financial liability under Florida’s anti-SLAPP statute, Section 768.295.

The litigation threats did not stop with Loomer. At a recent public event, an FL-14 candidate approached Rochford’s Campaign Director, Jaime Arellano Jr., and told him to instruct his father, Jaime Arellano Sr., to stop sharing and speaking publicly about Loomer’s reporting. Arellano Sr. had been discussing the voter registration findings both on social media and during public speaking engagements. The candidate stated that he was suing another Republican primary opponent and anyone else who continues to share the information. When Arellano responded that he does not control what his father says, the candidate told him, “As his son, maybe you need to tell him not to get sued.”

Rochford said his decision to speak publicly was driven by principle, not politics.

“I watched the weaponization of the American legal system used against President Trump for years. I will not stand by while the same tactics are used against the people I intend to represent in Congress. Jaime Arellano and his family are part of this campaign and part of this community. When a candidate for federal office uses the threat of litigation to silence private citizens for sharing public records, that is not a political dispute. That is an abuse of the legal system. And if I won’t stand up for the people on my own team, how can voters trust me to stand up for them?”

Rochford noted the significance of who was being targeted.

Jaime Arellano Sr. is a Nicaraguan journalist and recipient of the 2024 Eleanor Roosevelt Medal of Merit. For more than 30 years, he was one of Nicaragua’s most recognized political commentators, reaching over 1.2 million television viewers. His journalism made him a target of the Ortega regime. Between 2006 and 2018, there were four assassination attempts against him. He was arrested multiple times. In 2019, after the Trump administration pressured Nicaragua to grant amnesty to political opposition figures, he became the first to return from exile. One day later, he survived another assassination attempt.

In 2021, he was arrested again and suffered a heart attack during detention. In February 2023, the United States negotiated the release of 222 political prisoners, including Arellano. Upon his release, the Ortega regime stripped him of his Nicaraguan citizenship and confiscated his businesses, properties, and bank accounts. On July 20, the Ortega regime declared that Nicaragua will never hold elections again, effectively abolishing democracy in the country Arellano spent his life trying to protect. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the decision a confirmation of the regime’s true authoritarian nature.

“A man who survived four assassination attempts and political imprisonment for the crime of speaking the truth was indirectly threatened with an American lawsuit for sharing a public record and speaking about it publicly,” Rochford said. “A congressional candidate pressured a son to silence his own father. That is not how candidates for Congress should conduct themselves. Using the legal system to intimidate private citizens into silence is the tool of the regimes Jaime Arellano spent his life fighting against.”

Rochford said the broader issue is one of standards for candidates seeking to represent FL-14 in Washington.

“Members of Congress face scrutiny every day from journalists, constituents, oversight committees, and political opponents. Any candidate who cannot handle a journalist reporting public records without reaching for a lawsuit is not prepared for that responsibility.”

Rochford also noted that candidates running on election integrity platforms should hold themselves to the same standard they demand of voters.

“If you are going to champion the SAVE America Act and demand that every voter prove citizenship at the ballot box, your own voter registration practices need to be beyond reproach. That is not a partisan position. That is a baseline expectation for anyone seeking federal office.”

Rochford contrasted the approach with his own record of accountability during 33 years of military service.

“I have been questioned, investigated, and scrutinized at every level of command. That is what accountability looks like, and a man of integrity stands on it. I have never once threatened to sue someone for doing their job or exercising their constitutional rights. Leaders do not silence questions. Leaders answer them.”

Rochford also completed the Congressional Operations Seminar at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute and earned a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, where he was named an Arleigh Burke Fellow and a Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely scholar.

Kevin Steele’s story, as told in the television commercials now blanketing Tampa Bay, goes like this: a self-made conservative, forged in Tampa, stepping forward to serve. The commercials are expensive. They are polished. And they leave out nearly everything a Republican primary voter would actually want to know.

Start with the basics. Steele does not live in Florida’s 14th Congressional District. He lives in Dade City, in Pasco County — a fact noted by the Florida Phoenix the week he entered the race, and confirmed by his own Florida House biography. The district he wants to represent is one he has never called home.

That would be a footnote if it were an isolated fact. It is not. It is the pattern.

THE DEMOCRAT

Voter registration records show Kevin Steele spent more years registered as a Democrat than he has as a Republican. That is not an interpretation. It is a line item in a public file.

In 2016, while Donald Trump was remaking the Republican Party and millions of conservatives were fighting to put him in the White House, Steele was still registered with the other side. The party he now asks to nominate him for Congress is a party he joined after the hard work was done.

His commercials today are wrapped in the President’s image — the ads brand him “America first” and promise a congressman who will stand with Trump. What the commercials do not say, because they cannot, is that President Trump has not endorsed Kevin Steele. Supporting the President’s agenda and earning the President’s endorsement are two very different things, and voters deserve to know which one they’re being sold.

The Republican Party didn’t change. Donald Trump didn’t change. Kevin Steele did. The question is whether it was conviction — or convenience.

THE FORTUNE

Steele didn’t build hospitals. He didn’t treat patients. He didn’t spend decades at a bedside.

He founded DataLink, a healthcare technology company, whose core business is Medicare risk adjustment — the coding-and-payments corner of the healthcare system that has drawn years of scrutiny from federal watchdogs, policymakers, and physicians over the incentives it creates and the costs it imposes. While families fought insurance companies, while doctors fought prior authorizations, while seniors drowned in paperwork, Steele built a fortune inside that system. His financial disclosures, reported by Florida Politics, put his net worth above $152 million — the wealthiest member of the Florida House.

There is nothing wrong with success. There is something worth pausing over when a man who profited from the machinery of Medicare billing asks working families to believe he’s the one who will take on Washington.

THE SEAT SHOPPER

Here is Kevin Steele’s 2026, in order.

He filed to run for state Chief Financial Officer and put $5 million of his own money into the race — then dropped out in February. He jumped back into his re-election fight for House District 55 in Pasco County. Two months later, when a new congressional map turned Kathy Castor’s Tampa seat from safe blue to Trump +10, he abandoned that race too and filed for CD-14 — a move Florida Politics described as “whiplash” for the voters of his own district. Then he cut a $2.5 million check to buy his way into the primary.

Three campaigns in roughly six months. Not one of them finished except the one still running. District lines moved, opportunities shifted, and Kevin Steele shifted with them. That is not the record of a man devoted to serving a community. It is the record of a man searching for the next available seat.

And there is a bitter irony buried in his legislative record. In 2023, Steele filed House Bill 411, which loosened residency requirements for school board candidates — letting them qualify for office in districts where they didn’t yet live. Democrats warned at the time that it would open the door to political opportunists hunting for easy elections rather than candidates rooted in the communities they serve. Steele waved the concern off. Three years later, he is running for Congress in a district he doesn’t live in. The man told us exactly what he thought residency was worth. We should have listened.

Leaders don’t shop for districts. They earn the trust of one.

THE EMPTY PODIUM

When the Republican candidates for CD-14 gathered to face voters and answer questions side by side, Kevin Steele wasn’t there.

Debates are job interviews. A candidate asking hundreds of thousands of people for their trust can, at minimum, show up and take questions. Steele chose instead to let the commercials do the talking — because commercials don’t take follow-ups. Money can buy airtime. It can buy consultants, mail pieces, and a soft-focus biography. It cannot buy the willingness to stand at a podium and be asked why.

THE REAL KEVIN STEELE

Taken one at a time, each of these facts raises a fair question. Taken together, they describe a candidate very different from the one on television: a former Democrat who found his conservatism after 2016; a nine-figure fortune built inside one of the most criticized corners of the healthcare industry; a legislator who wrote the case against residency mattering and then lived it; a self-funder on his third race of the year; a frontrunner who won’t take questions.

Florida’s 14th District has waited twenty years for a real choice. It deserves a representative whose conviction predates his convenience — someone committed to one community, not auditioning for whichever seat the map coughs up next.

Kevin Steele has spent millions convincing Republican voters he is one of them. Before you cast a ballot on August 18, ask yourself one question: are you voting for the Kevin Steele in the commercials — or the Kevin Steele the commercials don’t want you to know about?

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The property, located at 1220 E. 142nd Ave. in Tampa’s University Area, is the second duplex acquired and rehabilitated under the Rehab to Restore Hope for Veterans program — a joint effort between the University Area Community Development Corporation and AdventHealth that pairs stable housing with wellness support for veterans exiting homelessness or housing instability.

Location is central to the program’s design. Rather than placing veterans wherever affordable units happen to exist, the initiative concentrates its housing stock near the Haley VA hospital and the surrounding network of medical care, transit and employment — resources that organizers say determine whether a housing placement holds.

University Area CDC Chief Executive Officer Erica Moody told Bay News 9 that housing, transportation and employment function as a single interlocking problem for the veterans the program serves — difficulty in any one area cascades into the others — and that veterans have absorbed a disproportionate share of the strain in the broader affordable housing crisis.

The duplex restoration was financed with $225,000 from AdventHealth and an additional $100,000 from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Patch with a Purpose program, per Bay News 9.

The organization’s footprint in the neighborhood extends beyond the two duplexes. University Area CDC operates three apartment complexes in the University Area — Golden Glade, Golden Palm and Uptown Sky — and Moody indicated the group’s strategy runs on parallel tracks: constructing new units while acquiring and restoring existing housing stock as a means of preserving affordability and stabilizing the surrounding neighborhood.

Placement into the program runs through a formal referral pipeline rather than open application. Under a partnership among University Area CDC, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing program and the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA case managers assess veterans for eligibility, housing readiness and support needs, then refer qualified candidates directly into the application and placement process.

The Monday ribbon-cutting follows the program’s first duplex restoration, which placed a University Area veteran into housing in 2025.

Reporting attributed to Spectrum Bay News 9 (Angie Angers, Hillsborough County)

Reginald Seay, 39, was arrested Tuesday at his Clearwater home and charged with one count of harmful communication to a minor. Detectives said Seay admitted to the allegations during an interview at the sheriff’s office’s Largo headquarters before he was booked into jail.

Investigators said Seay was volunteering with the Tarpon Springs Jr. Spongers when he met the girl, who was 13 at the time. Over the course of more than three months, according to the sheriff’s office, he exchanged sexually explicit messages with her and exposed himself during a video call. Detectives said he also urged the teen to delete their conversations, warning her the messages could land him in jail.

The case surfaced after the sheriff’s office received information identifying Seay, deputies said.

The investigation remains open. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information to contact Cpl. K. McKee at (727) 582-5827.

Source: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office; Fox 13 News

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The waterfront ballpark at 230 First Street S. has become the region’s unofficial supporters’ section this tournament. More than 3,000 fans packed the stands on June 12 to watch the Americans open group play with a 4-1 rout of Paraguay, and organizers expect Wednesday’s crowd to be bigger. To keep up, they’ve added more screens — and larger ones — so there’s a clean view from every seat in the house.

Gates open at 6 p.m. ahead of an 8 p.m. kickoff. Tickets run $10 here and the event is open to all ages, and seating is general admission, first come, first served. Parking in the stadium lot is $10, cash only. Beers and seltzers are $5 all night — a rate the organizers, not unreasonably, are billing as one of the better deals in world football.

The watch party is a joint production of the Rowdies, Michelob Ultra and PMB Events, with Michelob Ultra handing out giveaways and swag and radio stations 102.5 The Bone and Magic 94.9 on site. The St. Petersburg chapter of the American Outlaws — the national team’s traveling supporters’ group — will run a pre-match pep rally and keep the chants going through the final whistle.

“The Rowdies are excited to welcome fans into Al Lang Stadium for what will be a can’t-miss event,” team president Ryan Helfrick said, adding that he expects the atmosphere to top the June opener.

A portion of every ticket benefits Ocean Aid 360, a marine habitat restoration group, and the Williams Park Partnership, which is working to revitalize St. Petersburg’s historic downtown park.

The stakes on the field are real. A win sends the U.S. to the Round of 16 — and would be the program’s first knockout-round victory since Landon Donovan’s goal downed Mexico in 2002.

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Kevin Steele, who Sunshine Newswire exposed does not live in the district, was not present at the debate. No explanation was offered at the event for his absence.

Former Naval Commodore Robert “Rocky” Rochford was in attendance as well as Bea Valenti and Mike Beltran. The forum generated attention not only for who was missing, but for several exchanges that drew visible reactions from the audience.

Beltran on Israel and Iran

When the discussion turned to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, Beltran was asked about the appropriate role of the United States.

His response, delivered to the room:

“we should stay out of it, if they want to go ahead and kill each other that’s fine, it’s fun.”

The comment prompted audible reactions from several people in attendance. Beltran did not walk it back or elaborate further on the point during that exchange.

The Israel-Iran conflict has been a recurring topic in Republican primary politics nationally, with candidates typically staking out positions on American support for Israel, the risk of regional escalation, and the posture of U.S. forces currently stationed in the Middle East.

Beltran on the Epstein Files

The forum also touched on the Epstein files — a topic that has surfaced repeatedly in conservative political circles since the Justice Department made a number of documents public earlier this year. Congressional oversight of executive branch document releases has been a stated priority for House Republicans in recent cycles. Beltran’s answer indicated he does not view the Epstein matter as a productive use of that oversight authority.

When asked whether he would engage with the files or push for further disclosure as a member of Congress, Beltran responded:

“I have no interest in reading or doing anything with the files — I think it’s nothing.”

The comment provoked a response from an incensed Commander Rochford who stood up and responded to Beltran’s dismissal of the child trafficker.

“I have an interest in them,” Rochford said, adding “it involved kids - children - and we need to get to the bottom of who’s on it.”

Beltran’s Broader Posture on Congressional Action

Beyond those specific exchanges, attendees noted a recurring theme in Beltran’s answers across multiple policy areas: a skepticism of federal intervention that, at several points, left voters questioning what, specifically, he intended to do if elected.

On affordability, housing, and veterans services, Beltran’s answers generally pointed away from federal solutions. Some in the room found that posture principled. Others left with questions about what his legislative priorities would look like in practice.

Late in the evening, while closing a response in a debate for a United States congressional seat, Beltran referenced returning to Tallahassee — the Florida state capital. He did not correct himself.

Valenti’s Performance

Bea Valenti was present throughout and engaged on each topic raised. Several attendees noted the contrast in demeanor between the two candidates — particularly during exchanges where Valenti directed her questions at Beltran directly. His responses in those moments struck some in the audience as impatient.

Valenti’s specific policy positions drew less public discussion after the event than Beltran’s comments, though she is expected to be an active presence as the primary continues.

What Comes Next

The primary for Florida’s 14th Congressional District remains ongoing. Tuesday’s forum was one of the first opportunities for Republican voters to see the candidates side by side, and it drew an engaged audience.

The absence of a full field — and the moments that did occur — are likely to be a point of discussion as the race moves forward.

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The advisory runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The NWS issues a heat advisory in Florida when heat index values — the combination of air temperature and humidity — are expected to reach 108 degrees or higher.

Actual air temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid-90s Thursday afternoon. Lower rain chances and strong high pressure building over the region are limiting the typical afternoon storm activity that would otherwise provide some cooling relief and cloud cover.

The advisory follows an extended stretch of elevated heat across the region. Tampa set an all-time record high of 100 degrees on Sunday — the hottest temperature ever recorded by the National Weather Service at Tampa International Airport. Heat advisories have been in effect for multiple consecutive days since.

Who Is Most at Risk

Heat-related illness can affect anyone, though health officials note that certain groups face greater risk: the elderly, young children, outdoor workers, and people without access to air conditioning.

St. Pete Fire Rescue Lt. Garth Swingle said the department typically sees an uptick in heat-related emergency calls during advisory periods.

“People that are coming out for just a couple minutes — we see it there.”

— Lt. Garth Swingle, St. Pete Fire Rescue

Swingle added that no one should assume a brief period outdoors is without risk during extreme heat conditions.

Recommended Precautions

Officials are advising residents to limit time outdoors during peak afternoon hours, stay hydrated with water rather than sugary or alcoholic beverages, and wear lightweight, loose-fitting, light-colored clothing if going outside.

Residents without air conditioning at home are encouraged to seek out cooling locations, including public libraries, shopping malls, and museums. Area cooling centers may also be available through local government programs.

Officials are also urging residents to check on elderly neighbors, relatives, and pets who may be more vulnerable to heat illness.

Recognizing Heat-Related Illness

Heat exhaustion symptoms include heavy sweating, weakness, cold or pale skin, a fast and weak pulse, nausea, and possible fainting. Those experiencing heat exhaustion should move to a cool place and drink water.

Heat stroke is a medical emergency. Symptoms include a high body temperature, hot and red skin, a rapid and strong pulse, and possible loss of consciousness. Anyone suspected of suffering heat stroke should receive a 911 call immediately. Do not give the person anything to drink.

Hot and humid conditions are expected to persist beyond Thursday. Heat index values are forecast to remain in the 105 to 110 degree range through the weekend and into next week, with rain chances remaining below normal.

Updated forecasts are available through the National Weather Service Tampa Bay office.

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Love, 58, was booked into the Orient Road Jail in Tampa on June 16 and subsequently transferred to the Hillsborough County Jail, where he is being held on no bond. TMZ reported that Love missed a child support hearing, which appears to have triggered the contempt action.

Court records obtained by multiple outlets show that a woman named Tiffany Lee moved to reopen a declaration-of-paternity case involving Love on June 11 — five days before his arrest. While officials have not formally confirmed the connection between the two matters, reports from Entertainment Weekly and People indicate Love allegedly failed to pay $250,000 in child support owed to Lee. Love is expected to appear before a Hillsborough County judge on Friday.

His legal representative had not issued a public statement as of publication.

A Pattern of Legal Trouble

The Florida arrest is the latest chapter in a growing series of legal entanglements for the comedian and character actor, whose real name is Langston Faizon Santisima.

Most significantly, Love is awaiting trial in San Diego on a felony assault charge stemming from a August 2024 incident at a Mission Valley Sheraton hotel. Prosecutors allege he ripped a credit card reader off a front desk counter and hurled it at a clerk who told him the hotel had no room for him despite a third-party booking. A San Diego judge found sufficient evidence to send the case to trial; Love faces felony assault with a deadly weapon plus a great-bodily-injury enhancement — a combination carrying up to seven years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

In a prior interview with VladTV, Love said he did not realize the charge had been elevated from a misdemeanor to a felony until he was already in court and noted he had been undergoing psychiatric treatment in advance of the proceedings.

Love also faced a civil judgment in 2022 after a former personal assistant, Hevekiah Walker, sued him and his company for alleged sexual harassment. When Love failed to respond to the complaint, a judge entered a default judgment against him for roughly $543,000 including interest and costs. Walker subsequently pursued NBCUniversal to garnish residuals owed to Love, and a court issued a matching default judgment against the network — which NBCUniversal has since moved to appeal.

A 2017 arrest in Columbus, Ohio — captured on video — showed Love grabbing a valet by the neck and throwing him to the ground at John Glenn Columbus International Airport.

About Faizon Love

In addition to Elf, Love has appeared in Friday (1995), The Replacements (2000), Couples Retreat (2009), Just My Luck (2006), and the 2022 film Santa Games. He played Al Baker in 30 episodes of the Starz series Step Up: High Water. The Florida contempt case is ongoing.

Sources: TMZ, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, WFLA, Entertainment Weekly, People, Baller Alert. This story will be updated as court proceedings develop.

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Kevin Steele wants to represent Florida’s 14th Congressional District. There’s just one problem: he doesn’t live there. He lives in Dade City, Pasco County — outside the district’s boundaries. And that’s just the beginning of questions the Republican primary candidate has yet to answer.

In the span of seven months, Steele announced runs for four separate offices: Florida CFO, Florida House District 55 re-election, Congressional District 11, and now CD-14. He pledged deep commitment to each, then moved on to the next the moment a better political opportunity appeared.

“Four offices. Seven months. Zero commitment.” That’s not a campaign attack line. That’s a timeline.

THE PROMISES HE MADE — AND BROKE

On November 18, 2025, Steele announced his run for Florida CFO with fanfare and a $5 million personal investment, declaring he would “fight waste, protect taxpayers, lower costs, and run government like a winning business.” The Ingoglia campaign responded the same day, with political director John Wallace calling it flatly: “someone who thinks they can buy a seat on Florida’s Cabinet.”

Ninety-three days later — on February 19, 2026 — Steele posted again. Same Facebook page, very different message. He was dropping out of the CFO race, endorsing the man who had just accused him of seat-buying, and pledging to seek re-election to House District 55 instead. His exact words:

“Being present for them and staying close to home matters most, and I will continue serving the community I am proud to represent with the same dedication and conservative leadership they expect and deserve.”

Three months after that post, Steele had abandoned HD-55 and filed for Congress in a district he doesn’t live in. Staying close to home stopped mattering the moment Governor DeSantis signed a new congressional map that made CD-14 the safest Republican seat on the board.

The voters of District 55 were promised a representative. They got a placeholder.

THE MEDICARE MILLIONS

Before Steele was a district-shopper, he was a healthcare data entrepreneur — and that background deserves scrutiny.

Steele’s company, DataLink Software, built tools that helped Medicare Advantage insurers document patient diagnoses that drive higher reimbursements from taxpayers. The industry term is risk adjustment. The documented problem in that industry is upcoding — inflating or over-documenting diagnoses to collect larger payments from the federal government. The HHS Office of Inspector General has repeatedly flagged unsupported diagnoses across Medicare Advantage plans. CMS has estimated that improper risk-adjusted payments cost taxpayers billions annually.

DataLink’s business sat at the center of that system, aggregating clinical data to — in the company’s own words — ensure “risk adjustment accuracy” for insurers. Steele then sold a significant ownership stake in that company, one that handles millions of Americans’ protected health records, to private equity investors including an asset management arm of Germany’s Deutsche Bank.

He didn’t fight the broken system. He billed it. Then he sold it.

HE WROTE THE LOOPHOLE THAT HE’S NOW LIVING IN

In 2023, Steele co-authored HB 411, legislation that weakened Florida’s residency requirements for candidates — crafted after a political ally was caught living outside the district he was running in. Steele’s defense then was that voters are the backstop: an outside candidate simply won’t earn their votes.

Today, Kevin Steele lives in Dade City, Pasco County. He is asking the voters of FL-14 to ignore the very standard he legislated into existence. That is the definition of hypocrisy.

THE LOYALTY QUESTION

Steele calls himself a Trump conservative. The record is more complicated. When nearly 100 Florida legislators endorsed Ron DeSantis for President, Steele was among them. He only flipped to Trump in November 2023 — after Trump was dominating every poll and the endorsement carried zero political risk. He was one of five Florida legislators who switched at the Florida Freedom Summit that day. The Daily Wire confirmed it.

Loyalty that arrives after the polling does isn’t loyalty. It’s positioning.

Asked on camera whether he was once a registered Democrat, Steele answered: “On record, yes.” His explanation — that it was a strategic 2008 move inspired by Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” — doesn’t survive contact with the calendar. Limbaugh’s operation urged Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton to prolong the Democratic primary. It launched weeks after Florida’s 2008 primary had already been held.

THE CHECKBOOK CANDIDATE

Every race Kevin Steele has ever entered, he has entered with his checkbook. In 2022, he outspent HD-55 primary opponents roughly 10-to-1 — winning 59% in a race neither challenger could fundraise competitively in. For CFO, he dropped $5 million before exiting. For CD-14, he wrote himself a $2.5 million check on day one and launched television ads before most district voters had heard his name.

Ingoglia’s own team accused him of trying to buy a Cabinet seat. Steele quit, endorsed that man, and three months later cut a $2.5 million check for a Congressional seat instead.

The question for District 14 voters: do you want a representative who earned your trust, or one who purchased your attention?

THE BOTTOM LINE

Ask the voters of House District 55 how Kevin Steele’s commitment worked out. In February, he told them they were his priority. In May, he was filing in a different district entirely.

Four offices. Seven months. One consistent pattern: Kevin Steele moves on the moment something better appears on the map.

The voters of FL-14 would do well to decide if they want to be next.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in partnership with the America250 initiative, delivered 40,000 pounds of food to Feeding Tampa Bay on Thursday — one stop in a coast-to-coast campaign aiming to send 250 truckloads of food to communities across all 50 states.

Forty thousand pounds. That’s not a donation — that’s a statement.

“We decided to send 250 truckloads out to all 50 states to commemorate the America 250 celebration,” said Casey Hess, president of the Tampa Florida Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “All year, we’re sending out truckloads of food to different cities across America.”

The shipment included pantry staples — macaroni, beans, corn, dry milk and other household essentials — that Feeding Tampa Bay will sort and distribute across its full service area, stretching from Citrus County through Hillsborough, Pasco, and beyond.

Why Tampa, and why now? Organizers say the timing is intentional — building community momentum ahead of the nation’s semiquincentennial in 2026 while making a practical dent in local hunger numbers. The donation is expected to translate into hundreds of thousands of meals for families in need.

Hess framed the effort in straightforward terms: “We get the opportunity to serve our neighbors and love one another. No matter our religious, political backgrounds, we’re all in this country together, and we need to serve our neighbors.”

Residents looking to get involved can find volunteer opportunities at JustServe.org as the campaign continues rolling through the calendar year.

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The program, housed at the Brooksville-Tampa regional airport, will train aircraft mechanics side by side with the college’s aviation students.

Where the Money Goes

The $3 million will fund the renovation and build-out of classrooms and labs at the airport site, purchase the tools and instructional technology needed for hands-on training, and relocate the school’s original pilot program to the regional airport campus, according to FOX 13.

School officials said the investment expands the college’s capacity to meet regional workforce demand and positions graduates for high-skill, high-demand aviation careers.

Translation? Hernando County kids will be able to walk out of a state college and into an aircraft hangar — no four-year degree, no six-figure student loan balance required.

A Bet DeSantis Made in 2019

The governor used the Brooksville stop to look back at the Job Growth Grant Fund he touted at the start of his first term, which was built to expand high school career programs, apprenticeships, and manufacturing partnerships across the state.

Since then, the fund has bankrolled a wide expansion of workforce training — everything from commercial truck driving credentials to aerospace programs, the governor said. Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas put the fund’s cumulative awards at $12 billion, per FOX 13.

DeSantis framed the grant as part of a broader push to give students options beyond the traditional college track, saying it “doesn’t have to be four-year brick and ivy universities” — apprenticeships, high school certifications, and the state college system all count.

He also made the blunt economic case for the trades: whatever the future holds, air conditioners will keep breaking, and somebody has to fix them.

Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner — a PHSC alum — told the crowd the growth fund and programs like it have spent years leveling the playing field for students who don’t take the university route.

Sourcing: FOX 13 Tampa Bay coverage of the June 10, 2026 press conference in Brooksville.

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That lobbyist is Mike Beltran — a Harvard-trained attorney, a former Republican member of the Florida House, and, as of last month, a candidate for Congress.

Here’s how the pieces fit together.

The robber.

Back in 2010, Turkish national Yener Vahit Belli earned the nickname “Hoodie Bandit” from Tampa Bay reporters and police. He wore hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses while he held up numerous convenience stores and gas stations around Hillsborough County, waving a TEC-9 and ordering clerks and customers to the floor. He got away with cash, cigarettes, and lottery tickets.

Police arrested him in October 2010 after spotting him on surveillance footage. In 2013 he pleaded guilty in federal court and was sentenced to 32 years. An alleged getaway driver got 10 years.

The reason the sentence ran so long: at the time, federal law stacked harsh, mandatory penalties on top of each other for using a gun during a robbery. Those rules have since been softened — and that’s the opening Belli’s team is now trying to use.

The lobbyist.

Your typical lobbyist is essentially someone paid to argue a client’s case to people in government. Usually you hear about them pushing bills or chasing contracts. This is something newer: lobbyists hired to win presidential pardons.

Federal records show Belli’s family signed a contract with Beltran on Nov. 24, 2025. Beltran’s law firm is listed as the official registrant, Belli as the client, and the job as — in plain terms — lobbying for a pardon. The filing reports he was paid $15,000 in the final months of 2025.

Beltran has since written to the Trump Justice Department arguing that Belli’s sentence is based on an old, now-rejected reading of the law and is far longer than Congress would consider fair today. He sent the pardon office a six-page letter with more than 80 pages of attachments asking that the sentence be cut to time already served.

“This is a case about proportion and sentencing,” Beltran told the news outlet NOTUS, which first reported the arrangement. He says his client has turned his life around — earned an MBA behind bars, lined up a job and a place to live, and is ready to stay out of trouble.

Belli, in his own petition, says he’s not the troubled 26-year-old he was when he committed the crimes. “I know I can never undo what I did,” he wrote.

Belli isn’t alone. Since Trump returned to office, he’s granted pardons or clemency to more than 1,800 people — far more than in his entire first term. That flood has created a small industry of lobbyists charging big fees to get inmates’ names in front of the White House.

The administration waves it off. A White House official told NOTUS that the president decides pardons himself and that anyone paying a lobbyist for one is wasting their money. Watchdogs see it differently, warning that money and connections are starting to matter as much as the facts of a case. Defenders point out that hiring an advocate is perfectly legal, and that Trump has backed criminal-justice reform before.

The twist.

Here’s the part worth watching. Beltran left the Florida House in 2024, saying at the time it was for family and professional reasons. Then in May 2026 — after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new map that turned a Democratic-leaning Tampa-area seat into a strong Republican one — Beltran seized the opportunity and jumped into the congressional race for it.

So the same attorney lobbying Trump’s administration for a convicted robber’s freedom is also asking voters to send him to Washington as a Trump ally.

His opponents have started asking the obvious questions: Why leave Tallahassee and then run for Congress? What changed? Was the friendlier new map the reason? The public timeline is clear — he stepped down, the map changed, he got in the race. What it all means is for voters to decide.

Bottom line.

The facts on paper aren’t in dispute. A man is serving 32 years for armed robbery. His family paid Beltran $15,000 to lobby for a pardon. Beltran has formally made the ask. And Beltran is running for Congress while he does it.

Whether Trump grants the pardon is anyone’s guess — the White House says it doesn’t discuss requests that may or may not exist.

Reporting drawn from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Tampa Bay Times, federal lobbying and clemency filings as reported by NOTUS, Florida Phoenix, and Ballotpedia. Current as of June 2026
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The exchange unfolded at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre after the band played “Soul Singing,” when its crow mascot — an intentionally subversive image of the bird dressed as Uncle Sam — appeared on the venue’s screens. Part of the crowd took it as a cue and broke into chants of “U-S-A.” Robinson responded with a dismissive “Thanks for the geography lesson,” then, as the chanting continued, told the audience he didn’t see what they had to be proud of at the moment.

The remarks drew a mix of boos and cheers. According to JamBase’s account of the on-stage sequence, Robinson went on to tell the crowd that some of them had real faith, then directed a profanity-laced line at the hecklers — saying that some of them were not afraid and were not ignorant — before the band moved into its 1991 hit “She Talks to Angels.” A video from TMZ shows some concertgoers getting up and walking out during the back-and-forth.

The reaction stood in contrast to other stops on the tour. At a Fort Lauderdale show, the same material reportedly drew a warmer response. Representatives for the Black Crowes did not immediately respond to requests for comment from multiple outlets.
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The spending plan (HB 5001E) covers the fiscal year beginning July 1 and comes in below the current year’s budget — marking the second year in a row the state has pulled back. The figure landed below what the Senate had sought but above the House’s regular-session position, reflecting a tense negotiation between the chambers’ leaders. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, had pushed to cut the more than $115 billion current budget, while Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, favored keeping funding roughly level.

The final votes were lopsided even if the path was not: the Senate approved the plan unanimously and the House passed it 99-6. Perez said Floridians expect their government to spend responsibly and focus on the issues that matter most to families.

The budget keeps about $14 billion in reserves — roughly $8.6 billion in unallocated general revenue and $5.7 billion in the Budget Stabilization Fund. It also includes pay raises debated for more than a year: a 4% bump for state law enforcement officers, firefighters and park rangers, plus an increase for corrections officers, whose hourly pay could rise from $22 to $24.

Education spending was a sticking point. The Senate had tried during the regular session to overhaul the state’s school-voucher program after an audit flagged problems accounting for millions of dollars, but the House declined to go along. In the end, both chambers agreed to maintain $4.5 billion for homeschool and private-school scholarships.

The budget now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who warned this week that he is likely to trim the plan further. His largest single cut came in 2022, when he vetoed more than $3 billion from the Legislature’s budget.
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The forecast. Researchers at Colorado State University are calling for a “somewhat below-normal” season of roughly 13 named storms and six hurricanes. NOAA is similarly projecting a below-normal year, with 8 to 14 named storms, three to six hurricanes and one to three major hurricanes. For comparison, a typical season produces about 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Why quieter. The main driver is a developing El Niño, which is expected to strengthen through the summer and fall. El Niño tends to boost wind shear across the Atlantic — high-altitude winds that can tear apart storms before they organize. The counterweight is that parts of the Atlantic and Gulf remain warmer than normal, which favors development; forecasters simply expect the El Niño effect to win out. CSU pegs the chance of a hurricane making landfall along the Gulf Coast, from the Florida Panhandle to Brownsville, at about 20% — below the long-term average of 27%.

Why it still matters. The 2025 season is the cautionary tale: it generated 13 named storms, five hurricanes and four major hurricanes — three of them reaching Category 5 — yet the U.S. avoided a direct landfall. A slow season can still produce a single devastating storm, which is why officials say preparation shouldn’t wait.

How to get ready:

• Build a kit now. Assemble at least a three-day supply of food and water per person, plus medications and supplies, before any storm is on the map.

• Fortify the home. Keep drains and gutters clear, consider check valves in your plumbing to prevent backups, and look into hurricane shutters if you don’t have them.

• Pack a go-bag for the car. If you may need to evacuate, keep important documents and essentials staged separately so leaving is fast.

• Heed evacuation orders. If your zone is told to leave, leave — and note that you often don’t have to drive far to reach safety.

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The tower, at 2309 N. Rome Ave., is the first phase of the broader Rome Yards redevelopment, which is converting an 18-acre former municipal maintenance yard between Rome Avenue and the Hillsborough River into a mixed-income neighborhood. This phase will deliver 234 apartments — 60 one-bedroom, 152 two-bedroom and 22 three-bedroom units — with the large majority set aside for affordable and workforce housing.

“As Tampa continues to grow, we are focused on creating neighborhoods where residents of all income levels can thrive,” Mayor Jane Castor said, describing the project as inclusive development that expands housing options while reconnecting the historic waterfront community to the rest of the city.

Beyond apartments, the phase includes five live/work units aimed at small-business owners and a 3,800-square-foot workforce training center offering job-readiness help and résumé assistance. The center will be run by the West Tampa Community Development Corporation in partnership with the developer.

When the full master plan is built out, Rome Yards is slated to hold roughly 954 residential units along with townhomes, retail and commercial space, and new public amenities — part of the city’s wider push to add affordable housing in a corridor where rising values have squeezed many longtime, working-class residents.
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Deputies say the man was last seen around 9:05 a.m. Saturday in the 5400 block of State Road 54. Preliminary information indicates he walked into a business and demanded money from the register, then left the scene before law enforcement arrived. No one was injured, and investigators believe the episode was isolated.

The sheriff’s office has not said which business was involved. It described the suspect as a Black man, roughly 6 feet 2 inches tall and about 130 pounds, last seen in a black hoodie and black pants and heading away from the area on foot.

Anyone with information about the case or the man’s identity is asked to contact the sheriff’s tip line at 1-800-706-2488 or submit a tip online.

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Elsa R. Flores has stepped down as division chief and associate center director of basic science, according to an email sent to senior Moffitt staff. The note characterized the move as a personal decision and said she will stay on as a senior member of the Department of Molecular Oncology, where she will concentrate on running her own lab.

Until the change, Flores had sat near the top of Moffitt’s research hierarchy. Her institutional profile describes her as overseeing five academic departments in the Division of Basic Science and lists a long run of honors, including an NCI Outstanding Investigator award and an endowed chair. She is internationally known for her work on the p53 family of tumor-suppressor genes.

The resignation followed a retrospective review by her previous employer, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where Flores spent years as a professor before moving to Tampa. That review examined a number of papers she worked on while in Houston — papers that critics had already been picking apart in online forums, arguing that some of the images used to support the findings appeared to have been altered.

Those concerns have left a visible trail in the scientific literature. In 2024, Nature attached an editorial expression of concern to a influential 2002 paper Flores co-authored on how p63 and p73 contribute to programmed cell death, warning readers that questions had been raised about the integrity of some of the data. Separately, PLOS Genetics retracted a 2009 study on DNA-repair genes after editors found problems across multiple figure panels; the retraction notice indicates Flores did not agree with the decision. A 2019 paper in PLOS ONE drew its own expression of concern over reused western-blot images.

Moffitt declined to address specific questions about Flores, the Times reported, but said in a statement that the center holds its research to the highest integrity standards and relies on established oversight and compliance systems.

The case was reported by Christopher O’Donnell, an investigative reporter at the Tampa Bay Times.
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Investigators said a 21-year-old Tampa man was driving a Chevrolet Silverado the wrong direction on the northbound lanes near Busch Boulevard around 9:15 p.m. when he struck a Toyota Corolla almost head-on. The Corolla’s driver, a 24-year-old Tampa man, was killed at the scene.

The impact flipped the Silverado several times before it caught fire, according to troopers. The Corolla also rolled and was pushed into a third vehicle, a Toyota Camry driven by a 26-year-old Wesley Chapel man. That car then hit a fourth vehicle, a second Toyota Camry driven by a 38-year-old Tampa man.

The FHP said the drivers of the third and fourth vehicles were not hurt. The wrong-way driver, whose name has not been released, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

Troopers said the Silverado driver had been involved in two separate hit-and-run crashes shortly before the I-275 wreck — one on Fowler Avenue and another just south of it. Authorities have not detailed those incidents or said whether anyone was injured in them.

Criminal charges against the driver are pending, the FHP said.

Reporting based on the Florida Highway Patrol via WFLA.

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