Brendan Farrington

Brendan Farrington was an American journalist who spent more than a quarter of a century covering Florida politics, hurricanes and the state's peculiar corners for The Associated Press. Based in Tallahassee, he became one of the most recognisable voices in the Capitol press corps and a fixture of election nights, legislative sessions and storm coverage for a generation of Floridians.

Originally from Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Farrington began his career in 1988 as a general assignment reporter at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy. He joined the Associated Press in Miami in the late 1990s and transferred to the Tallahassee bureau in 2001, where he remained for the rest of his AP career. Over more than two decades in the capital he covered governors from Jeb Bush onward, tracked hurricane after hurricane bearing down on the state, and filed the offbeat annual "weird Florida" roundups that made him a favourite among readers and colleagues alike.

Colleagues and the politicians he covered on both sides of the aisle described him as well sourced, fair and generous with his time, a reporter trusted by everyone from senior officials to back-office staffers who quietly fed him tips. Terry Spencer, a former Florida news editor for the AP, recalled the range of people who confided in him. Gary Fineout, a former AP colleague later at Politico, remembered a gifted writer who was always ready to jump into hurricane coverage. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush wrote on X that Farrington was an old school journalist and a real pro.

In 2021 Farrington's reporting on a controversy involving Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and a major campaign donor who had invested in a company producing the COVID-19 treatment Regeneron drew fierce pushback from the governor's press office. The Associated Press defended him after he faced online abuse. He left the AP in January 2025 after accepting a voluntary buyout, having spent more than 25 years with the wire service.

Away from the Capitol he was known for striking up conversations with strangers, posting "selfies with a stranger," visiting every major league ballpark, and treating the people he covered, and the people he worked alongside, with warmth and humour. Many younger reporters called him a mentor.

Farrington died on Friday, 18 September 2026, at his home in Tallahassee following a brief illness. He was 60. His wife, Amy Farrington, said in a statement shared by family friend Steve Schale and colleague Gary Fineout that he was surrounded by family, including his son Cullen and brothers Bill and Tom, and that his last days were filled with laughter and stories. He is also survived by his mother, Ethel Farrington, three brothers and a sister.