Headshot of Florida Phoenix senior reporter Christine Sexton.

Christine Sexton

[email protected]

Christine Sexton is a senior reporter at the Florida Phoenix. She has spent more than 30 years reporting on Florida health care, insurance policy, and state politics and has covered the state’s last six governors. Before joining the Phoenix, she helped launch the Politico Florida bureau and wrote the weekly health care newsletter, Diagnosis, for Florida Politics. She also worked for the News Service of Florida. Sexton has written articles that have appeared in The New York Times, Bloomberg News, and The Associated Press. She lives in Tallahassee.

David Jolly: First Lady Casey DeSantis, Hope Florida were ‘used’ in a ‘sinister plan’
Florida

David Jolly: First Lady Casey DeSantis, Hope Florida were ‘used’ in a ‘sinister plan’

Aug 28, 2026
Christine Sexton
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly ripped into Republicans again Friday over the grand jury report on Hope Florida. But the candidate looking to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis did agree with the sitting governor on one part of the fallout. He...
Democrats go on the offense, Republicans play defense after Hope Florida grand jury report leak
Florida

Democrats go on the offense, Republicans play defense after Hope Florida grand jury report leak

Aug 27, 2026
Christine Sexton
Florida Democrats went on the offensive Thursday against Republican leaders after the release of a blistering statewide grand jury report that found $10 million in Medicaid funds were “misappropriated” and wound up being used for “political activities.” That report —...
Pediatric group wins early legal battle against DeSantis administration and its Medicaid rates
Florida

Pediatric group wins early legal battle against DeSantis administration and its Medicaid rates

Aug 27, 2026
Christine Sexton
An administrative judge has refused to dismiss the state’s largest pediatric care provider’s allegations the DeSantis administration miscalculated Medicaid rates to cover the costs of applied behavioral analysis for children with autism. Division of Administrative Hearings Judge W. David Watkins...
DeSantis: Only police officers should issue tickets
Florida

DeSantis: Only police officers should issue tickets

Aug 26, 2026
Christine Sexton
Amid the growing public and political backlash against Flock cameras, add Gov. Ron DeSantis to the list of skeptics about their use. The governor said Wednesday that roadside cameras that use artificial intelligence to photograph and log vehicle data are...
Tough medicine: State worker health costs in the red again
Florida

Tough medicine: State worker health costs in the red again

Aug 25, 2026
Christine Sexton
Florida’s next governor will confront an ongoing financial crunch: The continued rising costs associated with health insurance for thousands of state workers. State economists this past month again projected that the trust fund used to cover the costs of health...
Did school vaccines just become a campaign issue?
Florida

Did school vaccines just become a campaign issue?

Aug 24, 2026
Christine Sexton
Mandated vaccines for school attendance—and a parent’s ability to reject those vaccines— may have been injected into the race for Florida governor. With five months left before he’s term limited out of office, the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday...
Florida employers could see a 7.4% average reduction in workers’ comp costs
Florida

Florida employers could see a 7.4% average reduction in workers’ comp costs

Aug 21, 2026
Christine Sexton
Florida employers could see another round of decreases in the costs of their workers’ compensation insurance. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is recommending that workers’ compensation rates be reduced by an average 7.4% beginning Jan 1, 2027. NCCI...
DeSantis announces cancer grants applications are open, touts increased research dollars
Florida

DeSantis announces cancer grants applications are open, touts increased research dollars

Aug 20, 2026
Christine Sexton
Florida is accepting applications for $70 million in cancer “innovation” funds. During a press conference in Orlando Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the availability of cancer innovation grant funds for next year and the latest list of researchers chosen to...
Donalds, Jolly emerge from primaries
Florida

Donalds, Jolly emerge from primaries

Aug 18, 2026
Christine Sexton
Florida voters will pick either U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds or former Rep. David Jolly as the state’s next governor after both men won their primaries Tuesday. Donalds took 48% of the vote in a crowded primary that included nine other...
Court clerk, former lawmaker, charged with five felonies stemming from child sex abuse
Florida

Court clerk, former lawmaker, charged with five felonies stemming from alleged child sex abuse

Aug 18, 2026
Christine Sexton
Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Michael Caruso was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with five felony counts of child molestation and immediately suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis. According to a redacted affidavit released by the governor’s office...
Ban on law firms using celebrity’s images, voices in Florida advertising challenged in federal court
Florida

Ban on law firms using celebrities’ images, voices in FL ads challenged in federal court

Aug 17, 2026
Christine Sexton
Law firms cannot use a celebrity’s voice or image in their Florida advertising campaigns. Morgan & Morgan, the personal injury law firm with 140 locations across the nation, wants to change that. The Orlando-based firm filed a complaint in the...
Why does Florida spend so much money on treatment for children with autism and special needs?
Florida

Why does Florida spend so much money on treatment for children with autism and special needs?

Aug 17, 2026
Christine Sexton
Florida in the past two years has spent more money than any other state in the nation providing a therapy called applied behavior analysis (ABA) to children with special needs including autism — $6.57 billion between 2023 and 2025. That’s...