“It’s good to be in something from the ground floor,” Tony Soprano said. That goes for me, the inaugural editor of City & State Florida, and you, the reader. Today we are excited to announce the launch of our new website, www.cityandstatefl.com, your new daily destination for local politics across the Sunshine State. 

As our name suggests, we’re aiming to cover politics, policy and personalities not just of the state capital, but also of our major metropolitan areas. Our sibling outlet, the News Service of Florida, will continue to offer the latest breaking news about state government. We’ll be leaning back to look at the players and process behind the news, which will be free to readers on our website. 

First, a little about me: I’m native New Jerseyan who moved to Florida in the mid-’90s to work for the Fort Pierce Tribune. I soon jumped to the Tallahassee Democrat, where I covered courts for many years, including the 2000 presidential election litigation and recount. After taking a break to go to law school in Pennsylvania, I returned to journalism to help cover the annual Florida legislative session for the Associated Press. I was recruited to reopen the then-shuttered Tallahassee bureau for the Tampa Tribune, spent several years with the Florida Politics website, then rejoined the Democrat as its news director, coordinating Capitol coverage for the USA TODAY Network-Florida. I’ve been with City & State Florida since April. 

I’ve spent hours in the editorial kitchen, cooking up a batch of offerings that we’ll be rolling out in the Sunshine State, starting with our First Read Florida newsletter. Coming to your inboxes every weekday morning, we’ll condense the best of the state’s political and policy news in a few minutes of reading time. The idea is to give you the early and quick heads up on the stories driving the day. 

Soon, we’ll roll out the Florida Power 100 list, a look at the most influential people in Florida politics and government, but also in business, nonprofits and elsewhere. We’ll follow that with an event to officially debut the power list and celebrate those on it. More events are in the works from our publisher, Matthew Gull. Future lists planned include regional power players and those from around the state in law and health care, for example. 

We’re also going to launch the City & State Florida magazine, which will feature the lists as well as longer takes on issues facing the state and the people working on them. The magazine will be “digital first,” but expect to see print copies in select locations, including the state Capitol. 

As always, send me a tip, compliment, rant or suggest stories at jrosica@cityandstatefl.com. There’s plenty of competition these days in the political news niche, but we’re raring to go. Once you’re on the ground floor, there’s nowhere to go but up.

Jim Rosica 

Editor-in-Chief, City & State Florida