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Emily L. Mahoney - Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau reporter
Emily L. Mahoney

Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau reporter

I cover Florida’s capital and the politics surrounding it, which means there’s never a slow day. From the Legislative session to state elections, life is fast-paced in the nation’s largest swing state – and I prefer it that way. I hail from Arizona, a state that raised me to love tacos al pastor and the sound of hiking boots hitting the dirt. Now, I’m based in Tallahassee, where the Tampa Bay Times shares a bureau with the Miami Herald, and I’m proud to work for two of the state’s strongest newspapers. When it comes to policy, I focus on education and criminal justice – two areas where government unequivocally shapes peoples’ lives. Want to discuss a story idea? Drop me a line.

  1. Gradebook podcast: They’re back. Florida lawmakers start talking education priorities
    Sep. 19• Gradebook
    The Florida House Education Committee focuses on early education in its first meeting of the 2020 session.
    School security and early learning get top billing in the first committee meetings of the looming 2020 session.
  2. Florida Corrections secretary seeks help from lawmakers to curb prison violence
    Sep. 18• The Buzz
    Mark. S, Inch, Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, at the State Capitol, May, 1, 2019.
    Mark Inch said the root of the problem lies with low salaries and long shifts for prison guards.
  3. Chris Sprowls: 3 speech highlights from the next Florida House speaker
    Sep. 17• The Buzz
    State Rep. Chris Sprowls, 35, addresses the Florida House of Representatives, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, in Tallahassee, Fla., after the Republican was elected to lead the 120-member chamber. (AP Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan)
    The Pinellas Republican did not shy away from the wedge issues of the day, wading into 2020 presidential politics, abortion and climate change.
  4. Chris Sprowls is about to become one of Florida’s most powerful politicians. Who is he?
    Sep. 17• The Buzz
    Rep. Chris Sprowls, R- Palm Harbor. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]
    At 2 p.m. today, the Republicans of the Florida House are scheduled to elect the Palm Harbor state representative to serve as speaker for the 2021 - 2022 term.
  5. Florida lawmakers approved arming teachers. So who tracks them?
    Sep. 16• Gradebook
    Students and community activists marched in Tampa last year after the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The attack killed 17 people and gave rise to Florida’s school guardian law, which this year was changed to allow classroom teachers to be armed. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure into law. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
    "This is the dumb, backwards stuff that we do here,” one Florida lawmaker said.
  6. All the best moments from the third Democratic debate in one place
    Sep. 12• The Buzz
    From left, Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro are introduced Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, before a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC at Texas Southern University in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
    It’s the the third time the Democratic presidential candidates met to debate, and the first time that all three front runners, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, shared the same stage.
  7. Gov. Ron DeSantis wants tougher fines for sewage spills. Is it because of St. Petersburg?
    Sep. 12• The Buzz
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, right.
    The governor says corporate and municipal polluters should pay more for their environmental crimes.
  8. Five people injured in stabbings in Tallahassee
    Sep. 11• Crime
    A cop car and police tape help form a perimeter outside of a mass stabbing at Dyke Industries in Tallahassee on Wednesday morning.
    A suspect is in custody, according to police.
  9. Parkland dad Andrew Pollack publishes book with new details about shooter’s red flags before massacre
    Sep. 10• The Buzz
    Andrew Pollack, the father of Meadow Pollack listens during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission in 2018. [AP Photo | Brynn Anderson]
    The book includes teachers’ notes and even a letter from Nikolas Cruz’s therapist and school psychiatrist that warn of his propensity toward violence. Cruz has confessed to the Parkland shooting,...
  10. Florida launches school security database with student discipline, health, social media info
    Aug. 2• Gradebook
    Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Madisyn Menthaca, 15, places roses on the memorials on a hillside with her mother, Kelly Savino, where 17 students and teachers were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the second-deadliest shooting at a U.S. public school. Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post
    The Department of Education said it won’t be used to “label students as potential threats."