Drew Wilson, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Drew WilsonDecember 14, 2018

Last month, House Speaker Jose Oliva tapped Estero Republican Rep. Ray Rodrigues to chair the House Health & Human Services Committee. On Friday, the chairs of the health care subcommittees were revealed. Second term Rep. Mel Ponder will take over the Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee. Gayle Harrell, who recently ascended to the state Senate, led the committee during the […]

Drew WilsonDecember 13, 2018

Lobbyist, Florida State University alumnus and longtime Tallahassee resident Gus Corbella has applied to fill the City Commission seat vacated by Scott Maddox’ suspension from office. “The entirety of my career and civic life has been devoted to public service and advocacy,” Corbella said in a letter to the commission. “From my formal education at […]

Drew WilsonDecember 13, 2018

During a Thursday meeting, the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board voted to end the land acquisition option agreement between the state and U.S. Sugar. The agreement would have given the state the option to purchase 150,000 acres of land owned by the company for Everglades restoration. The land acquisition language was first agreed […]

Drew WilsonDecember 13, 2018

Five incumbent Republicans and one Democrat opened campaign accounts for their 2020 re-election campaigns this week. Tallahassee Rep. Ramon Alexander joined 21 of his Democratic colleagues in taking the first step toward re-election by filing his paperwork on Dec. 10. Alexander holds House District 8, which covers all of Gadsden County and part of Leon. […]

Drew WilsonDecember 11, 2018

Florida has billions of dollars of transportation infrastructure work that needs to be done, but it’s competing against other states for limited federal resources. Coalition for America’s Gateways & Trade Corridors director Elaine Nessle gave an overview of the funding battle at the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Growth & Infrastructure Summit. Nessle said tax […]

Drew WilsonDecember 10, 2018

The last few weeks of November saw Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum receive almost $1.25 million in contributions to his affiliated political committee, Forward Florida. According to a newly filed campaign finance report covering Nov. 2 through Nov. 30, the soft money account cashed nearly $1.5 million in checks, with the vast majority of those […]

Drew WilsonDecember 10, 2018

Three incumbent Republicans and one Democratic member of the Florida House opened campaign accounts for their 2020 re-election bids last week, making for 50 House incumbents who’ve taken the first step toward re-election. Tops on the list was Palm Coast Republican Rep. Paul Renner, who is set to take over as House Speaker after the […]

Drew WilsonDecember 8, 2018

State Rep. Randy Fine launched his 2020 re-election bid on Nov. 19, and thanks to his prodigious fundraising effort last cycle he was able to hit the ground running. A newly filed campaign finance report shows the Brevard County Republican already has $21,500 in the bank. The bulk of that money — $20,000 — marked […]

Drew WilsonDecember 7, 2018

The state’s tourism marketing arm, VISIT FLORIDA, said Friday that it’s teaming up with JetBlue on a campaign to lure more visitors to Florida. The “JetBlue Sunshine State of Mind Fare Sale” is part of a $9 million effort to help tourism bounce back in the wake of Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm that […]

Drew WilsonDecember 6, 2018

Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill filed a lawsuit against the Hillsborough County Civil Service Board alleging they broke the law by voting twice in an employee termination hearing. An employee at the county’s children’s services department who works with teenagers attended a birthday party for one of the teens he works with back in March. […]

Drew Wilson
Image via Palatka Main Street.

Florida House’s health care policy subcommittee chairs named

Gus Corbella applies to replace Scott Maddox on Tallahassee Commission

Land deal nixed between state, U.S. Sugar

Six more state Representatives launch re-election bids

Florida Chamber summit: Embracing tech key to solving transportation woes

Andrew Gillum’s committee still reeling in donations

Four more lawmakers open 2020 campaign accounts

Randy Fine starts off 2020 bid with a bang

VISIT FLORIDA, JetBlue team up to boost tourism

Hillsborough Civil Service Board sued over slap-dash sacking, reinstatement