Melissa Ross, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Melissa RossJune 25, 2016

One thing about Duval County — it sometimes defies easy stereotyping. That’s certainly true when you consider the fact that the Northeast Florida Regional Director for the Donald Trump for President campaign is Derek Boyd Hankerson. Hankerson, who is of Gullah Geechee heritage, is an African-American documentary filmmaker, author and historian in addition to his political […]

Melissa RossJune 23, 2016

Jacksonville attorney Paula Bartlett readily admits she’s a political outsider. But the Democratic candidate seeking to oust Duval Clerk of Courts Ronnie Fussell is starting to generate some grassroots support, mainly in the form of small donors, in her campaign to reopen the Duval County Courthouse wedding chapel. Fussell (and a few other Florida clerks) […]

Melissa RossJune 22, 2016

On the heels of a damning new report, 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney candidate Wes White is calling for a Department of Justice investigation into incumbent State Attorney Angela Corey and her office for what he calls a “systematic and systemic violation of the law.” White’s move comes as Folio Weekly reports Corey apparently kept it […]

Melissa RossJune 21, 2016

A new documentary film airing nationwide on dozens of PBS stations this week shows Florida’s gay community was targeted long before the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. The sordid tale of Florida’s infamous McCarthyesque witch hunt of suspected gay and lesbian students and professors at state universities is told in the new Emmy award-winning […]

Melissa RossJune 20, 2016

In a large, urban school district like Duval County — where fully half the kids in the public schools are on free or reduced lunch — poverty is real, and widespread. The achievement gap remains stubborn and formidable. And one of the many obstacles kids in poor districts have to learning is the infamous “digital […]

Melissa RossJune 17, 2016

Expressions of sympathy and support from Jacksonville’s political leadership in the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting massacre are falling flat with North Florida’s LGBT community. “It was a bias-motivated attack against a gay bar to kill LGBT people,” said Jacksonville attorney and activist Jimmy Midyette. “When leaders neuter expressions of sympathy of that fact […]

Melissa RossJune 15, 2016

The mass shooting in Orlando isn’t changing Tommy Hazouri‘s timetable for reintroducing an updated human rights ordinance in Jacksonville. “It’s been our plan all along to do it after the mayor’s sales tax referendum,” Hazouri told WJCT. That said, the former mayor and at-large city councilman says the shootings of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub […]

Melissa RossJune 14, 2016

Sign-waving protest rallies are planned tonight at several downtown Jacksonville locations as hearings continue into the lawsuit over the city’s August 30th closed primary. Both State Attorney Angela Corey and Public Defender Matt Shirk will face only GOP voters on that date due to the presence on the ballot of controversial write-in candidates. More than […]

Melissa RossJune 13, 2016

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Jacksonville City Councilman Tommy Hazouri says the deadly mass shooting over the weekend in Orlando at the LGBT-friendly Pulse nightclub has only renewed his resolve to get a comprehensive human rights ordinance passed in the 904. Hazouri withdrew the measure earlier this year when it became apparent it did not have a majority of council […]

Melissa RossJune 13, 2016

Next month, supporters of the Second Amendment will gather in Jacksonville for the Southeast Shooting and Outdoor Convention. Spokesman Jon McGowan says despite the controversy in the wake of the deadly mass shooting in Orlando, weapons manufacturers that produce the AR-15 will be on hand. “AR-15 manufacturers Remington, Bushmaster, DPMS, Adcor Defense, Nemo Arms and […]

Melissa Ross

Meet the African-American filmmaker and historian who is Donald Trump’s NE Florida field operative

Paula Bartlett on uphill battle against Ronnie Fussell: ‘the entire community should be outraged’

Wes White calls for DOJ investigation of Angela Corey

‘The Committee’ airs nationwide this week, documents anti-gay discrimination at Florida universities

Duval County Public Schools selling laptops for $50 to narrow ‘digital divide’

City of Jax ‘Dear Orlando’ postcard campaign criticized as tone-deaf

Tommy Hazouri on Lenny Curry: ‘I’m sure the mayor has his regrets’

Protests planned in downtown Jacksonville over closed primary election

Tommy Hazouri trying again with the HRO this fall to protect LGBT residents, ‘send a message’

Shooting and Outdoor Convention moving ahead in Jacksonville