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

Mitch PerryAugust 15, 2016

Time for sport, as they say on the BBC. Well, so much for those stories about how those dire predictions about how the Rio Olympics have been proven wrong: Yesterday in Rio, U.S. gold medalist Ryan Lochte said robbers posing as police pointed a gun at his head and took his money, while three other U.S. swimmers with […]

Mitch PerryAugust 14, 2016

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For what will probably be the only time before the Aug. 30 primary election, Debbie Wasserman Schultz debated her opponent in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, Tim Canova. The setting was an hourlong debate broadcast live on “Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede” on CBS4 Miami at 8 a.m. Sunday. Canova, an international law professor at Nova Southeastern University, has been calling on the six-term incumbent […]

Mitch PerryAugust 12, 2016

“All rise!” Those were the first words Alan Grayson uttered in jest while entering a conference room at the Seminole Heights Library in Tampa on Thursday night. The Orlando area U.S. representative and U.S. Senate candidate then gave a sarcastic shoutout to the “trackers” who follow his every move in public, before setting in for the next […]

Mitch PerryAugust 12, 2016

If Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam has a central governing philosophy, it might be the importance of having a long-term memory about the Sunshine State. “Having a longer memory I think helps us maintain the types of protections for our citizens that they expect and that they deserve,” he said while speaking at an hour long town-hall meeting at […]

Mitch PerryAugust 12, 2016

Advocates for both medical marijuana and the outright legalization of the herb were dealt a blow yesterday when the Drug Enforcement Administration rejected a bid to reconsider how it treats marijuana under federal drug control laws. Along with much more serious drugs such as heroin and acid, pot is considered a Schedule I drug under the […]

Mitch PerryAugust 11, 2016

(UPDATED 6:51 p.m.) It’s official — Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova will debate for a full hour this Sunday morning on “Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede” from 8 to 9 a.m. on CBS4 Miami. It will also be streamed live on CBSMiami.com and facebook.com/CBSMiami. “After four months of dodging debates and running scared, Wasserman Schultz has finally […]

Mitch PerryAugust 11, 2016

With health officials reporting there are now more than 400 travel-related cases of the Zika virus in Florida and 22 locally transmitted cases, Pinellas County Republican Rep. David Jolly has become the latest Florida lawmaker calling on Congress to return to Washington to pass a bill to fund the growing health crisis. “With Congress not scheduled to […]

Mitch PerryAugust 11, 2016

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz is up with the first television campaign ad of her primary campaign against challenger Tim Canova. “People who don’t even live in Florida, including Republicans, are spending outrageous amounts of money on personal attacks directed at me. And the attacks are just garbage,” she says to the camera in the 30-second ad. Though […]

Mitch PerryAugust 11, 2016

Brent King and Jan Schneider, the two Democrats running this month in Florida’s 16th Congressional District primary, are disputing the notion they have no chance to defeat GOP incumbent Vern Buchanan in November. The two Democrats were interviewed live in a debate on Wednesday night on WWSB-TV, the ABC affiliate in Sarasota. “Vern Buchanan is defeatable,” Schneider told anchor Alan Cohn. Schneider, […]

Mitch PerryAugust 11, 2016

Before we dig into the new poll on the Florida Senate race, can I reference the lead story in this morning’s Tampa Bay Times? Two men get into a road-rage argument on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Plant City. One guy pulls out a gun and shoots the other dead. He then “cooperates” with the Hillsborough […]

Mitch Perry
Image via AP.

Mitch Perry Report for 8.15.16 —Team USA Basketball team continues to barely get by in XXXI Olympiad

Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova clash over Iranian nuclear deal in first debate

In Tampa, Alan Grayson says a Senate victory for him is the chance “to take our govt. back”

Adam Putnam espouses the importance of water to Florida while speaking at ‘Cafe Con Tampa’

Mitch Perry Report for 8.12.16 — DEA just says no to loosening pot restrictions

It’s official: Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova to debate for 60 minutes on Sunday

David Jolly latest Florida lawmaker to call for Congress to return to D.C. to find Zika funding

Debbie Wasserman Schultz says attacks against her are ‘garbage’ in first TV ad of primary campaign

CD 16 Democrats Brent King and Jan Schneider insist they have a chance against Vern Buchanan this fall

Mitch Perry Report for 8.11.16 — Marco Rubio isn’t dominating Patrick Murphy or Alan Grayson in latest Q Senate poll