Mitch Perry, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryDecember 9, 2016

Happy Friday, y’all. Hey, can we talk baseball this December morning? Okay, how ’bout hypocrisy? Bud Selig, the commissioner who presided over the game’s golden age of steroid use, was named to the sacred Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week by what is called the “veterans committee.” That’s not to be confused with the Baseball Writers Association of […]

Mitch PerryDecember 8, 2016

There are just days left before Congress concludes its lame duck session and heads home for the holidays, but that isn’t stopping a coalition of progressive organizations in Florida from urging Senator Marco Rubio to act when it comes to the logjam of judicial nominees. The Florida Why Courts Matter coalition on Thursday delivered a letter to the Miami Republican, calling […]

Mitch PerryDecember 8, 2016

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On Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel traveled to Trump Tower to hand deliver a letter signed by 17 big-city Democratic mayors urging President-elect Donald Trump to reconsider his vow to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the provision that protects young, so-called Dreamers who came to the country before the age of 16 from deportation and allows them to study […]

Mitch PerryDecember 8, 2016

For the #NeverTrumper Republicans out there, this Trump presidency might work out pretty well, after all. Jeb Bush was seen doing cartwheels after Trump selected Betty DeVos to become his Secretary of Education. “I’m so excited,” Bush said last week at the National Summit on Education Reform, sponsored by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which Bush founded and chairs and […]

Mitch PerryDecember 7, 2016

Hillsborough County Commissioners approved a motion on Wednesday directing their attorney to research and provide draft language on a proposal that would ban them from receiving text messages from a lobbyist during a board meeting. However, the proposal’s ultimate passage is unclear, based on comments from some members. “In the event that we did receive a text […]

Mitch PerryDecember 7, 2016

“Image is everything” that great philosopher, Andre Agassi, once said in a series of television ads for Canon in the early 1990’s. Though a bit of an exaggeration, there’s no question that the image of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee has taken a significant body blow following its reorganization meeting on Monday night. To recap: Party Chair Ione Townsend concluded that the party’s by-laws […]

Mitch PerryDecember 6, 2016

By just 65 votes, Luis Viera defeated Jim Davison in the Tampa City Council District 7 special run-off election, taking 50.64 percent to Davison’s 49.36 percent, a difference of only a single percentage point. Viera received 2,588 votes to Davison’s 2,523, just 65 votes out of 5,120 cast. The special election was held to succeed Lisa Montelione, who […]

Mitch PerryDecember 6, 2016

It was almost exactly a year ago when the Miami Beach City Commission passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Philip Levine and City Manager Jimmy Morales to begin discussions with officials in Miami, Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Transportation on a project that would link Miami Beach to Miami via a wireless streetcar in what […]

Mitch PerryDecember 6, 2016

Sarasota Congressman Vern Buchanan is urging President Obama in his last weeks in office not to pardon Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl, saying the search for Bergdahl may have led to the deaths of several American soldiers. White House and Justice Department officials say Bergdahl has submitted the clemency request. If granted, it would allow him to avert a court-martial trial […]

Mitch PerryDecember 6, 2016

After a rough start, Hillsborough County Democrats re-elected Ione Townsend as party chair Monday night. A raucous first 50 minutes of the group’s reorganization meeting culminated in five Tampa City Council members and two Hillsborough County school board members leaving the hall in disgust when they were not allowed to participate in the Democratic Executive […]

Mitch Perry

Mitch Perry Report for 12.9.16 – Will Bud Selig’s entry into the HOF ease the way steroid users?

In waning days of 114th Congress, progressive coalition presses Marco Rubio to push for voting on judicial nominees

Bob Buckhorn says, if asked, he would have signed immigration letter to Donald Trump

Mitch Perry Report for 12.8.16 – Al Gore gets punk’d

Hillsborough Commission to copy Richard Corcoran’s proposal to ban texting by lobbyists?

Mitch Perry Report for 12.7.16 – The Hillsborough County DEC melts down

By only 65 votes, Luis Viera defeats Jim Davison in Tampa District 7 run-off

Phil Levine tells his constituents that gridlock “is not an option”

Vern Buchanan doesn’t want Obama to pardon Bowe Berghdahl

Uproar at Hillsborough DEC meeting; City Council, School Board members leave in disgust