Longtime AP Florida politics reporter Brendan Farrington dies at 60

Brendan Farrington, a veteran news reporter who covered Florida politics, hurricanes and quirkiness for The Associated Press for more than 25 years, has died. He was 60.

Farrington died Friday at his home in Tallahassee following a brief illness, said Steve Schale, a close friend of the family.

Based in the state capital, he was regarded as well-sourced, fair and kind, with a good sense of humor. He also was a big sports fan who boasted of having visited every major league ballpark.

Many reporters called him a mentor and friend. They said he was trusted by politicians on both side of the aisle.

“I was amazed by the many calls he would get from everyone from big-name politicians and their aides to back-office workers telling him what was going on behind the scenes,” said Terry Spencer, former Florida news editor for the AP.

Among the politicians paying tribute to Farrington was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“Brendan was an old school journalist,” Bush posted on X. “He was a real pro.”

From Massachusetts beginnings, he became a Florida fixture

Originally from Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Farrington began his career as a general assignment reporter at The Patriot Ledger, the daily newspaper in Quincy, in 1988. He joined the AP in Miami in the late 1990s and transferred to Tallahassee in 2001.

Spencer said one of his favorite memories of Farrington was when he assigned him on election night 2014 to be with Charlie Crist, who was running for governor against Rick Scott in a tight race. Crist decided to concede, connecting with Scott over Farrington’s phone.

Gary Fineout, a reporter at Politico who formerly worked for the AP in Tallahassee with Farrington, said he was a beautiful writer who could handle a multitude of subjects. “He was always very willing to go out and to cover hurricanes, be prepared for natural disasters,” Fineout said. “He would always jump into that coverage as soon as it was needed.”

Schale said Farrington would try to frame what was happening through the lives of the people impacted by a hurricane or other event.

“Brendan was a great journalist and even better colleague and mentor to AP journalists in Florida and beyond, and we could always count on him to jump into a big story,” said AP Global Sports Editor Josh Hoffner, the organization’s former director of U.S. news. “I’ll always remember and appreciate the role he played as a watchdog and champion of government transparency, press access and accountability journalism.”

Farrington also enjoyed collecting stories that he would turn into an annual “weird Florida” roundup in years past.

“Some stories were gruesome, but bizarre. Like the man who injured his finger during a fight then cut it off, cooked it with scrambled eggs and ate it,” his story from 1999 read. “Apparently he didn’t consider other options, like the Orlando-area man who lost a chunk of a finger while slicing a frozen pig then underwent leech treatment to save the digit.”

In 2021, the press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was suspended from what was then called Twitter after excoriating Farrington for journalism that pointed out that one of DeSantis’ multimillion-dollar donors invested in a company that was making the COVID-19 treatment drug Regeneron.

In one tweet, she wrote that if Farrington didn’t change the story, she would “put you on blast.” She also retweeted a message that said “Light. Them. Up.” in reference to the AP, whose president had interceded. Farrington said he received lots of abuse online after the press secretary’s comments, tweeting to his followers: “For your sake, I hope government doesn’t threaten your safety. I’ll be fine, I hope. Freedom. Just please don’t kill me.”

He was a creator of good stories and ‘selfies with a stranger’

Farrington left the AP in January 2025 after he was one of a group of employees who accepted voluntary buyouts.

Spencer said one of Farrington’s favorite stories, from 2011, was about the then-new president of the Florida Senate who had written a book on politics for Brevard Community College, where he had taught. Mike Haridopolos received $152,000 in taxpayer money for the effort in lieu of teaching — but the single available copy of the 175-page, double-spaced manuscript called “Florida Legislative History and Processes” could only be read at the school.

College administrators swore that that would change, but they also acknowledged the arrangement negotiated by the college president with Haridopolos at the time was unusual and expensive. The president defended it. Haridopolos, a Republican who was later elected to the U.S. House in 2024 representing Florida’s 8th Congressional District, did not respond to requests for comment at the time.

Farrington enjoyed talking to people and posted “selfies with a stranger” with people he had just met at a bar, restaurant or on the street, Spencer said.

“Brendan loved everyone he met, and made friends everywhere he went,” his wife, Amy Farrington, said in a statement. “He believed in the decency that lives inside every one of us.”

Marta Lavandier, an AP photographer based in Miami, first knew Farrington when the two worked at the Patriot-Ledger together. He attended her wedding. When she got to Miami, she would photograph the start or end of the legislative session in Tallahassee.

“He was always a lot of fun, almost like the center of attention,” she said. “He was always happy, had a good, great wit to him, a good friend, a mentor to many.”

In addition to his wife, Farrington is survived by a son, Cullen Farrington; his mother, Ethel Farrington; three brothers and a sister.