Ryan Ray, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2015

If you believe the most recent rumblings, Marco Rubio has decided to take his chances and make a run for the White House, damn the torpedoes — and Jeb Bush. Though early polls have Bush and Scott Walker way out in front of him, recent history shows that an exciting, up-and-coming U.S. Senator with a […]

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2015

The polygamy of 2012’s Republican presidential primary — where big-money donors hedged their bets as almost every candidate in the field took their turn as the frontrunner — will not be brooked by Jeb Bush in 2016. In fact, according to Michael Barbaro and Maggie Haberman in The New York Times, Jeb’s pitch to donors includes a […]

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2015

Amid the spectacle of 2016 GOP presidential candidates Twitter trolling and stumbling over one another to out-firebrand the field, Florida’s Jeb Bush is attempting to stand out among the crowd by playing the part of the adult in the room. What’s more, according to Joe Klein in Time — it’s working: In a week during which Rudolph Giuliani went crusader-ballistic […]

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2015

Amid the spectacle of 2016 GOP presidential candidates Twitter trolling and stumbling over one another to out-firebrand the field, Florida’s Jeb Bush is attempting to stand out among the crowd by playing the part of the adult in the room. What’s more, according to Joe Klein in Time — it’s working: In a week during which Rudolph Giuliani went crusader-ballistic […]

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2015

Editor’s Note: As the 2015 Legislative Session approaches, FloridaPolitics.com is reporting on several “legislative food fights” likely to break out during the annual lawmaking period. These food fights don’t always make the front page of the Tampa Bay Times, but they are the kind of industry vs. industry or intra-industry turfbattles that drive Tallahassee — and expand the economics […]

Ryan RayFebruary 25, 2015

The Florida House’s Rules, Calendar & Ethics Committee is set to consider a proposed committee bill Monday that would move both of the state’s partisan presidential primaries back to the third Tuesday in March, to March 15. The later primary elections — which will coincide with the mythical ides of March when no less a leader […]

Ryan RayFebruary 25, 2015

Tallahassee-based education think tank Foundation for Excellence in Education will release a report on the state of school report cards across the nation. Under the monniker ExcelinEd, the report will detail current failings in the realm of school-wide report cards, which the group says parents find cumbersome and inaccessible for most parents seeking to evaluate the inner workings […]

Ryan RayFebruary 25, 2015

Republican Rep. Manny Diaz of Hialeah Gardens has filed a bill that would prevent entities who receive funding from Florida’s government from suing the state using those taxpayer dollars. The Hialeah Gardens Republican says that he is not seeking to limit access to the courts for these organizations, but rather simply seeking a commonsense accountability measure. “It […]

Ryan RayFebruary 25, 2015

A Florida League of Women Voters announcement Wednesday finds the group linked with strange bedfellows such as University of Florida’s W. Kent Fuchs and, stranger still, John Thrasher of Florida State University in an effort to prevent overturning a state law that outlaws firearms on college campuses. In light of Monday’s shooting at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach — […]

Ryan RayFebruary 25, 2015

A Florida League of Women Voters announcement Wednesday finds the group linked with strange bedfellows such as University of Florida’s W. Kent Fuchs and, stranger still, John Thrasher of Florida State University in an effort to prevent overturning a state law that outlaws firearms on college campuses. In light of Monday’s shooting at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach — […]

Ryan Ray

Known unknowns: Marco Rubio's unanswerable dilemma

Jeb Bush takes no prisoners — or wafflers

Catcher in the Right: Jeb Bush's grown-up campaign

Catcher in the Right: Jeb Bush’s grown-up campaign

Optometrists, contact lens retailers fight battle along blurred lines

House will look Monday at moving back presidential primary date [updated]

Foundation for Excellence in Education to grade school report cards

Manny Diaz files bill to rein in state-funded litigation

League of Women Voters joins Florida’s university presidents to oppose guns on campus

League of Women Voters joins Florida's university presidents to oppose guns on campus