RON DESANTIS

Seven Republican presidential hopefuls gathered at the Reagan Library in California for the second of the party’s primary debates, but the dominant front-runner — former President Donald Trump — skipped the event again.

Ronald Reagan gave many notable speeches as president and he was known for his turn of a phrase.

A growing sense of urgency looms over the Republican Party’s second presidential primary debate as seven candidates seek momentum on a stage that will not feature the race’s frontrunner.

Two weeks ago, Broward College President Gregory Haile tried handing in his notice, but the college’s board of trustees didn’t immediately accept it.

The second Republican presidential debate is drawing near with a smaller on-stage lineup than last month's event.

As the debate neared its end, moderator Dana Perino asked the candidates to write down which of their on-stage competitors should be voted off the 2024 GOP island.

The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET and will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. It is expected to last roughly two hours.

The field for the second Republican presidential debate will be smaller than the first.

A Weston private school, among four whose school choice scholarships were suspended by the Florida Department of Education over alleged “direct ties to the Chinese communist party,” is pushing back on claims of foreign influence.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking time out from debating fellow 2024 Republican presidential contenders to take on a Democrat, California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The exclusive online livestream for the second Republican presidential debate this week will take place on Rumble, an alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing far-right extremism, bigotry, election disinformation and conspiracy theories.

The Florida Department of Education suspended scholarships for four schools over alleged "direct ties to the Chinese communist party."

Soon after Felix Llerena arrived in Miami in 2017, the Cuban activist was drawn to then-President Donald Trump by the Republican's aggressive approach toward Cuba’s communist government.

The Nevada Republican Party has approved new rules for their presidential caucus that many suspect are meant to help former President Donald Trump.

The third Republican presidential debate will be held in Miami on Nov. 8, and candidates will be facing the most stringent requirements yet to take part.

Former President Donald Trump’s push to bend state Republican parties to his will — and gain an advantage in his effort to return to the White House — is coming to a head in Nevada.

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has taken a dig at former President Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has begun a fall press in Iowa where he hopes to lock in thousands of Republican caucusgoers in the early-voting state.

A bear in a tree at a Walt Disney World park has prompted the closure of several rides and attractions.

Donald Trump is facing political blowback from within his party for his comments about abortion.

Some of Donald Trump’s top Republican rivals addressed a large, influential gathering of Iowa evangelical Christians on Saturday night.

The Republican Party of Florida is removing a loyalty oath as a condition for getting on the presidential primary ballot.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla from office Friday evening following his arrest on a series of corruption charges Thursday.

The president of Broward College would like to resign from his position.

Miami will play host to the third Republican Party presidential primary debate, the party’s national committee confirmed to ABC News Thursday evening.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says Donald Trump is unlikely to be elected president again if convicted in any of the four criminal cases he faces.

A man arrested this week in Brevard County is accused of hanging swastikas and other antisemitic banners above Interstate 4 near Orlando, what the Florida Department of Law Enforcement described was in violation of a state law signed this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is celebrating is 45th birthday this Thursday.

Sen. Tim Scott wants the Republican National Committee to change specifications for this month's presidential debate, suggestions that could put the South Carolina Republican in a better onstage position.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s top health official are directly contradicting federal health recommendations, saying there’s not enough evidence a new COVID booster provides benefits that outweigh risks.

Republicans are responding to a late summer spike in COVID-19 by raising familiar fears that government-issued lockdowns and mask mandates are on the horizon.

A new Florida law restricting health care for transgender people can still be applied to adults while it is being challenged in court, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined New York politicians and mourners at a 9/11 memorial ceremony at ground zero Monday.

Donald Trump stopped at a fraternity house before heading to watch the Iowa-Iowa State football game.

There are new questions being raised about an independent candidate running in the special election to fill a southwestern Miami-Dade County-based seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

Some Republican donors aren't liking their current group of presidential candidates, so they are turning their attention to this man.

The Florida Supreme Court must decide whether to overrule broad abortion rights protections provided for decades under the state constitution and instead uphold a law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans the procedure in most cases after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools will once again not be recognizing LGBTQ+ History Month after the school board voted against the measure this week for a second time.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday criticized recent efforts across the U.S. to tamp down a recent jump in COVID-19 cases through temporary restrictions or masking and his state surgeon general warned against getting the latest COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to be available this month.

Political ads using artificial intelligence on Google and YouTube must soon be accompanied by a prominent disclosure if imagery or sounds have been synthetically altered.

The Miami-Dade County School Board voted no overnight to recognizing the month of October as LGBTQ+ History Month.

A co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a “parental rights” group that has sought to take over school boards in multiple states, has been appointed to the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put “politics ahead of his job” by declining to meet with President Joe Biden during Biden's weekend visit to survey Hurricane Idalia’s damage in DeSantis’ state.

Several campaigns are placing a huge emphasis on South Carolina, where the Republican primary is traditionally the last chance for many White House hopefuls to break through before Super Tuesday.

Tim Scott is the only Black Republican presidential candidate who's campaigning aggressively these days in early-voting Iowa.

A judge says that a Florida redistricting plan pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis violates the state constitution.

Some central Florida lawmakers say they are considering “all legislative, legal and executive options available” to stop business owners in a small town from voluntarily displaying rainbow decals in their windows.

President Joe Biden saw from the sky Hurricane Idalia’s impact across a swath of Florida before setting out on a walking tour of the city of Live Oak, which is recovering from the storm.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office says he has no plans to meet with President Joe Biden when the Democrat flies to Florida this weekend to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, suggesting that doing so could hinder disaster response because of the logistics involved.

Hurricane Idalia's fast track over a sparsely populated region means Florida's insurance industry isn't expected to take nearly the hit it has with previous storms like last year's Ian.

First a shooting, then a storm.

Florida and Georgia residents living along Hurricane Idalia’s path of destruction are picking through piles of rubble where homes once stood, throwing tarps over roofs and gingerly navigating through mazes of streets left underwater or clogged with fallen trees.

The white supremacist shooter who killed three Black residents over the weekend at a dollar store in Jacksonville, Florida, stopped beforehand at the state’s first historically Black college.

President Joe Biden says Hurricane Idalia is “still very dangerous” even though it has weakened since coming ashore in Florida on Wednesday morning.

During last week's Republican presidential debate, Florida Gov_ Ron DeSantis dodged a question about a federal abortion ban by telling a story about a woman he knew who he claimed survived despite “multiple abortion attempts.”.

Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to hold a news conference about the impact of Hurricane Idalia in Florida at 3:45 p.m., on Wednesday.

Hurricane Idalia tore into Florida with 125 mph winds, splitting trees in half, ripping roofs off hotels and turning small cars into boats.

After being held in limbo – meandering for days in the northwestern Caribbean – Idalia, now a strengthening hurricane, is making a beeline for Florida’s Big Bend, with devastating impacts forecast as it comes ashore as a major hurricane tomorrow.

As Hurricane Idalia approached The Big Bend of Florida on Tuesday afternoon, authorities in Taylor County’s city of Perry ordered evacuations, closed shelters, and prepared school buses to help residents get to safety.

Florida’s Big Bend is one of the last truly natural places in the state.

A young, white gunman’s killing of three Black people over the weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, is again raising questions about so-called red flag laws.

With more than a year until the 2024 presidential election, a candidate has dropped out of the crowded Republican field.

Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified Monday and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges.

Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas have been ordered to pack up and leave as Hurricane Idalia gained steam in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to unleash life-threatening storm surges and rainfall.

With more than a year to go before the 2024 election, a constellation of conservative organizations is preparing for a possible second White House term for Donald Trump.

Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring warning Black people to use “extreme care” if traveling to Florida.

The president of the historically Black institution in Jacksonville, Florida, says a campus security officer tipped off by observant students likely stopped the killer who fatally shot three people at a nearby Dollar General Store from carrying out his racist attack at Edward Waters University.

Tropical Storm Idalia is set to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane and make landfall in Florida, so President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration and Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 46 counties.

A Tropical Storm Watch was issued Monday morning for the Lower Florida Keys as state officials prepare for possible impacts of Tropical Storm Idalia, which is expected to become a hurricane by Monday night.

Florida officials are warning drivers of “potentially widespread fuel contamination” impacting gas stations across the state's west coast as residents brace for Tropical Storm Idalia’s expected landfall later this week.

Florida residents are evacuating from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as forecasters predict that Tropical Storm Idalia will hit the state as a major hurricane by Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Idalia intensified and was expected to be a major hurricane when it reaches Florida’s Gulf Coast later this week, the National Hurricane Center said Monday, as officials declared states of emergencies in dozens of counties and ordered some evacuations in preparation for potentially life-threatening storm surges.

A Tropical Storm Watch was issued Monday morning for the Lower Florida Keys as state officials prepare for possible impacts of Tropical Storm Idalia, which is expected to become a hurricane by Monday night.

Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to bring heavy rainfall and strong winds to parts of Florida later this week.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis canceled a day of presidential campaign appearances to deal with crises at home as his state mourns a racist fatal shooting in Jacksonville and prepares for a tropical storm.

The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Idalia is near the coast of Cuba on a potential track to come ashore as a hurricane in the southern U.S. At 4 a.m. CDT Monday, the storm was about 125 miles off the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph.

Tropical Depression 10 has strengthened along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and is now Tropical Storm Idalia.

Hundreds of people have gathered at prayer vigils and in church to mourn yet another racist attack in America.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Saturday declaring a state of emergency exists in 33 counties due to threats posed by Invest 93L.

Forecasters are warning of possible flash flooding and landslides across the eastern Yucatan peninsula and western Cuba, and Florida is bracing for a possible hurricane by midweek, as a weather system off the coast of Mexico is expected to become a tropical storm by Sunday.

Strong backing for Ukraine's effort to repel Russia's invasion has been the rare issue where President Joe Biden has mustered bipartisan support.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he got a $1 million cash bump after Wednesday night’s presidential debate.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will observe Monday's 60th anniversary of the March on Washington by meeting with organizers and relatives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The White House says all of King’s children have been invited.

While the world of politics was in an uproar over former President Donald Trump's mug shot, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his family went to play baseball in an Iowa cornfield.

The first Republican presidential debate provided an opportunity for candidates to make their cases directly to a national audience, and some of that attention is translating into boosts for their campaign coffers.

The Republican Party's presidential candidates are struggling to address growing concerns about climate change.

Fox News reached an estimated 12.8 million viewers on two television channels and its streaming network for the first GOP presidential primary debate of the 2024 season, even though former President Donald Trump skipped it.

Across the country, books and lessons that represent different families and identities are increasingly the target of conservative pushback — even when they're for the youngest of learners.

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have dominated the Republican presidential nomination fight for much of the year, but neither dominated the debate stage.

Like all debates, this one was unruly at times.

Employees of Walt Disney World’s governing district are criticizing new board members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis for a decision to eliminate free passes and discounts to the theme park resort for 400 of its district workers.

Going into the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, plenty of rank-and-file conservatives are happy Donald Trump won't be there.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' education policies have faced wide criticism from civil rights leaders and educators, among others, but they also have paid off politically.

Eight presidential candidates will meet on the debate stage for the first time in what may be the biggest moment in the GOP’s 2024 presidential primary so far.

The Republican presidential candidates vying to be the leading alternative to front-runner Donald Trump fought -- sometimes bitterly – over abortion rights, U.S. support for Ukraine and the future of the party during the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign.

It’s almost time for the first Republican presidential debate.

With Florida's questionable past with shill candidates, we wanted to speak to a southwest Miami-Dade man running in a special election as an independent.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees to a board that oversees Disney World’s governing district have launched a battle against the company on a new front — free passes and discounts for employees.

When Republican candidates for president gather for their first debate Wednesday in Milwaukee, the spotlight will not only be on them but also on Wisconsin’s role as one of a shrinking handful of genuine battleground states.

Former President Donald Trump has confirmed that he will be skipping Wednesday’s first Republican presidential primary debate — and likely others as well.