After reading a 2012 article from Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel about the most powerful pols in Central Florida, I thought it would be interesting to determine who, in fact, are the 25 most powerful politicians in Tampa Bay.
So I am asking several of the leading political consultants, activists, bloggers, operatives, and local lobbyists to provide a list of individuals they consider the 25 most powerful pols in the region. If you are interested in being a panelist, please email me at [email protected].
For the purposes of this experiment, the Tampa Bay region is defined as Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco, but can also include Hernando, Polk or Sarasota — if the politicians from those counties impact either Pinellas or Hillborough.
A politician is someone defined as being in office or running for office, so no Charlie Crist or Pam Iorio.
Being listed first on a panelist’s list earns the politican 25 points, being listed second earns them 24 points and so on to where being listed 25th earns a politician one point. The points will be added up and, voila, the list will be created.
So, please check back on SaintPetersBlog.com beginning March 2 as we countdown Tampa Bay’s most powerful politicians.