Longtime political reporter Brendan Farrington dies at 60

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

Reporters called him a mentor and friend, adding that 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 Mr. Farrington was former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

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

Originally from Wilbraham, Mr. Farrington began his career as a general assignment reporter at The Patriot Ledger 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 Mr. 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, but his cellphone battery had died, according to Kevin Cate, a filmmaker who back then was a consultant for Crist.

“Brendan being Brendan offered his phone,” wrote Cate in a Facebook post. “Of course he had Rick Scott’s cell. Of course Rick Scott would answer. This was Brendan Farrington.”

Gary Fineout, a reporter at Politico who formerly worked for the AP in Tallahassee with Mr. 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 Mr. Farrington would try to frame what was happening through the lives of the people affected 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 US news. “I’ll always remember and appreciate the role he played as a watchdog and champion of government transparency, press access, and accountability journalism.”

Mr. 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 Governor Ron DeSantis was suspended from what was then called Twitter after excoriating Mr. 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 Mr. 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. Mr. 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.”

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

Spencer said one of Mr. 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 US House in 2024 representing Florida’s Eighth Congressional District, did not respond to requests for comment at the time.

Mr. 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. And he ran a faux campaign for his dog Roxy for US Senate. “Walks, Naps & Treats 4 U” was her slogan.

“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 Mr. Farrington when the two worked at the Patriot-Ledger together.

“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.”

He was also known for his compassion.

“If you walked around town with Brendan, it was common for him to greet the homeless by name,” Schale, a political consultant, told the Tallahassee Democrat. “And I know of one particular night he chose to spend a night out on the street because he felt that’s where he needed to be to help. That’s just who he was.”

In addition to his wife, Mr. Farrington leaves a son, Cullen; his mother, Ethel; three brothers, Bill, Tom, and John, and a sister, Maire.

After leaving the AP, Mr. Farrington wrote freelance articles for the Tallahassee Democrat.

“I began my career covering community news in Massachusetts, and by the time I retired, I wanted to return to those roots, even just to write an occasional story,” he wrote in a first-person story in October. “I, like many, was weary of the divisiveness and ugliness of politics. And then there were the mass shootings, executions and deadly tornados and hurricanes I covered when I wasn’t at the Capitol listening to lawmakers argue.”

Among his new assignments? The Dog-O-Ween at Tallahassee’s Tom Brown Park. The event honored canines in costumes.

Mr. Farrington called it “a dream assignment.”

His story began: “There was a boxer who wasn’t a Boxer, a Pugsley who wasn’t a pug, and a vampire who doesn’t bite, because a good dog would never do that. No she wouldn’t.”