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

Mitch PerryNovember 16, 2017

A recent trip to Cuba by Tampa City Council Chair Yolie Capin and Councilman Harry Cohen was just the latest by members of the political establishment who have worked for nearly a decade to set up closer relations between the city and the Communist island. Former Councilwoman Mary Mulhern first visited Cuba as part of a […]

Mitch PerryNovember 16, 2017

EMILY’s List, the political action committee that supports pro-choice female Democrat candidates, is endorsing former judge Mary Barzee Flores for Congress in Florida’s 27th Congressional District. CD 27 is the Miami-Dade County seat which will open next year for the first time in three decades when Republican incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen steps down. “Mary Barzee Flores has built a […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

Pam Bondi has joined more than 40 state attorneys general Wednesday on a letter to congressional leaders urging them to repeal a 2016 law to restore the ability of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to hold drug manufacturers and distributors of opioids more accountable. “The opioid crisis is affecting families across our country and we need every […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

In a move critics called “chilling,” the Hillsborough County Commission voted 4-3 on Wednesday to seek financial reimbursement from four activists who filed a failed ethics complaint against Commissioners Ken Hagan and Sandy Murman. Hagan filed a petition for fees and costs for his attorney, Mark Levine, following the Florida Commission on Ethics’ announcement last month that it found no […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

Ken Hagan is offering no guarantees for a possible Tampa Bay Rays stadium move to Ybor City. For the first time since the Hillsborough County Commissioner divulged to the media last month that a site in Ybor City was identified where the Tampa Bay Rays could (maybe) relocate, Hagan addressed the issue with colleagues Wednesday. During […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

Carlos Curbelo has serious trouble in Florida’s 26th Congressional District, roughly a year out from the general election. A Public Policy Polling survey of registered voters taken last week shows the Republican incumbent with an approval rating of only 37 percent; 46 percent disapprove of the job he is doing. Three Democrats have filed to face […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

With the holiday season approaching, Gov. Rick Scott offered congressional leaders his federal wish list of projects that he says will help Florida cleanup after Hurricane Irma barreled through two months ago. In a letter penned to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Scott on Wednesday called on Congress to pass […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

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A likeness of educator and civil-rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune is one step closer to replacing a statue of a Confederate general as one of Florida’s two representatives in the U.S. Capitol. On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee cleared a bill (SB 472) to replace the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith with Bethune, who lived 1875-1955. Only Sen. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2017

Former Pinellas County Commissioner Neil Brickfield is endorsing St. Petersburg based attorney Jeremy Bailie in the House District 69 race next year. Bailie is one of three Republicans entering the contest to succeed Republican Kathleen Peters in the Pinellas County-based seat. Instead of re-election, Peters has opted to run for a seat on the Pinellas County Commission in […]

Mitch PerryNovember 14, 2017

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So how fast is the expansion of autonomous vehicle use in the U.S.? There are about 2,000 already out, said Reilly Brennan, the former executive director for Stanford’s automotive research program, and a founding partner at Trucks, a venture capital fund for entrepreneurs involved with changing the future of technology. Brennan said AV presence will dramatically increase […]

Mitch Perry
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. Image via Florida State Parks.

Old tensions about Cuba resurface at Tampa City Council meeting

EMILY’s List backs Mary Barzee Flores in CD 27 scrum

Pam Bondi, state attorneys general call for more legal accountability in opioid crisis

Hillsborough approves filing reimbursement for complaint against Ken Hagan

Stee-rike! ‘No guarantee’ of money for Rays stadium in Tampa

Carlos Curbelo in serious trouble, new CD 26 polling shows

Rick Scott makes big dollar request from Congress to recover from Irma

Mary McLeod Bethune statue may replace Confederate general in Capitol

Neil Brickfield backs Jeremy Bailie in HD 69 race

Transit expert predicts 180,000 autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads by 2019