Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJanuary 26, 2016

We’ve heard a lot about illegal immigration on the campaign trail. Most of the GOP candidates decry it but say they embrace legal immigration. Like the H-1B visa. The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 25, 2016

Wading into the debate in Tallahassee, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is slamming state lawmakers advocating that the state allow nearly 1.5 million Floridians with concealed carry permits to openly carry their firearms, rather than having to keep them hidden. “This bill is totally unnecessary,” Buckhorn declared at a news conference held at Tampa Police headquarters, […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 25, 2016

San Mateo, California, is about halfway between San Francisco and Santa Clara, the site of Super Bowl 50 in 13 days. It’s also the hometown of Tom Brady, generally considered (after last year’s Super Bowl) The Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), when it comes to ranking NFL quarterbacks in history. He wasn’t Sunday, though, was […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 18, 2016

Happy MLK Jr. Day, everybody. We’re 30 years into this day being a national holiday, and yet not even 40 percent of American businesses give the day off to their employees. Last night (at the very inconvenient hour of 9 p.m.) the three Democratic contenders for president debated in Charleston, South Carolina, two weeks before the […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 12, 2016

OK, let’s not pretend that anyone out there is really all that interested, much less excited, that Barack Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address tonight. I would say that it’s an antiquated relic that the country has transcended, and in fact, last year’s SOTU was the least viewed since 2000. Having […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 11, 2016

Good morning, everyone. What a weekend it’s been. On Saturday, I saw “The Revenant,” the quasi-true story of Mountain Man Hugh Glass, who was part of an expedition attacked by Indians in 1823. He was nearly torn to pieces by a bear near present-day Lemmon, S.D., and left for dead by two companions. Then there […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 10, 2016

The deadline to sign up to to get on the Affordable Care Act in 2016 ends in three weeks, which is why Health & Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell was in Tampa on Sunday. Burrell addressed the congregation at New Mt. Zion Baptist Church in the V.M. Ybor neighborhood of Tampa, where she was joined […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 9, 2016

An interesting email exchange between Republican Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Democratic Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn in recent days concerned a subject salient to Curry: “how to be a Republican mayor.” Buckhorn emailed Curry Monday: “Sounds like you have a lot going on in Jax. Came across this and thought you would be interested. Not sure I subscribe to […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 8, 2016

The popular perception is that the Democratic Party as a whole stopped debating gun control after Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee and Bill Clinton‘s Arkansas in the 2000 election. Looking back on that perspective 16 years later, it’s evident that yes, they did stop debating the issue nationally, but that it doesn’t […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 6, 2016

Since we don’t know who the presidential nominees are yet, it’s insanely premature to speculate on who might be the vice-presidential candidates, right? Of course not. Actually, the reason I’m even thinking of this today is that my original story idea for this column is being banked for a future story. But I thought about […]

Tag: Bob Buckhorn

Mitch Perry Report for 1.26.16 — Not the Happiest Place on Earth?

Bob Buckhorn slams Legislature for pushing Open Carry legislation

Mitch Perry Report for 1.25.16 — Santa Clara will now be Peyton’s Place

Mitch Perry Report for 1.18.16 — Clinton and Sanders clash in Charleston

Mitch Perry Report for 1.12.16 — SOTU time, baby!

Mitch Perry Report for 1.11.16 – R.I.P. , David Bowie

HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell visits Tampa to tout ACA

In emails Bob Buckhorn, Lenny Curry discuss “how to be a Republican mayor”

Mitch Perry Report for 1.8.16 — No, Obama still isn’t going to take away the guns

Mitch Perry Report for 1.6.15 – Are Nikki Haley and Julian Castro top picks for VP?