North Palm Beach's Atwater takes over state Senate

By Dara Kam, Palm Beach Post

TALLAHASSEE — Jeff Atwater took up the gavel as Florida's 83rd Senate president today, prolonging Palm Beach County leadership of the legislature's upper chamber for at least two more years.

Atwater now commands a Senate in which fellow Republicans outnumber Democrats 26-14 but at a time in which the state is facing some of its bleakest financial conditions in recent history, an issue certain to dominate Atwater's tenure at least in the short-term.