Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiMay 26, 2015

“You think you know a lot of people until you run countywide.” These words, from Anna Brosche, who last week unseated Group 1 At Large Councilwoman Kimberly Daniels in one of the more interesting contests on the ballot, demonstrate the crux of the problem Brosche faced. How to introduce one’s self to voters, and how to make the […]

Mitch PerryMay 26, 2015

It looks like MaryEllen Elia is going to land on her feet after all. The recently ousted Hillsborough County School superintendent is about to be named New York’s next education commissioner, according to the Buffalo News. The website reports that the State Board of Regents in New York are preparing to appoint Elia, who hails from nearby Lewiston, […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 26, 2015

Al Ferraro is a quiet, unassuming man with a lot to celebrate. For one, he has a 25-year wedding anniversary on Tuesday. For another, he’s the new Jacksonville District 2 city councilman. Ferraro has a cruise booked with his wife, Amy, but it’s going to have to wait until he figures out what council will […]

Mitch PerryMay 26, 2015

Good morning to the unofficial beginning of summer, which actually began in the Tampa Bay area several weeks ago, if you gauge it by the regularity of temperatures in the 90s. Between now and our next federal holiday weekend, the U.S. Supreme Court is going to come down with several major decisions. None will have […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 26, 2015

We’ve devoted quite a few posts to how Lenny Curry won the Jacksonville mayor’s race. In the Alvin Brown side of the race, however, there is no shortage of candidates who are taking fire as people find ways to lay blame for that loss. We’ve covered some of the less-than-politic statements made by Florida Democratic […]

Martin DyckmanMay 25, 2015

The obituaries for Helen Gordon Davis correctly recounted what one called her “trailblazing” career in the Florida Legislature, where in 1974 she became one of very few women – the first from Hillsborough County – in what a colleague famously called “the land of the Bubbas.” She weathered the sexism and condescension and compiled a […]

Jac VerSteegMay 25, 2015

The Obama administration needs to learn to take advice from Keanu Reeves. In the movie “Speed,” Reeves’s character Jack Travern and Harry Temple, played by Jeff Daniels, are SWAT team members discussing a hypothetical hostage situation. Says Temple: “All right, pop quiz. Airport. Gunman with one hostage. He’s using her for cover. He’s almost to […]

Bruce RitchieMay 25, 2015

DEP Secretary Jon Steverson says he has never fired anyone for enforcing the law. Yet his fingerprints – or at least tacit backing – are all over the ouster of top staff at the St. Johns River Water Management District. The resignations of Executive Director Hans Tanzler and four top staff members at the district, […]

Martin DyckmanMay 25, 2015

The obituaries for Helen Gordon Davis correctly recounted what one called her “trailblazing” career in the Florida Legislature, where in 1974 she became one of very few women – the first from Hillsborough County – in what a colleague famously called “the land of the Bubbas.” She weathered the sexism and condescension and compiled a […]

Guest AuthorMay 25, 2015

On June 24 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will vote on a proposal to open a trophy hunt on Florida’s unique subspecies of black bears. They were removed from the list of threatened species just three years ago. The trouble is, the commission does not have enough information to make this decision and […]

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Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Debie Wasserman Schultz. Image via AP.

Anna Brosche tells how she unseated Kim Daniels

MaryEllen Elia about to become New York state’s new education chancellor

Al Ferraro talks about ground game in his District 2 win

Mitch Perry Report for 5.26.15 — That other health care decision affecting Floridians

Some 2011 Alvin Brown ops saw 2015 loss coming

Martin Dyckman: Helen Gordon Davis, an early victim of racial gerrymandering in Florida

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Sometimes in politics, you have to shoot the hostage

Bruce Ritchie: Perhaps DEP’s Steverson will tell the Cabinet what is going on in Palatka

Martin Dyckman: Helen Gordon Davis an early victim of racial gerrymandering in Florida

Kate MacFall and Jennifer Place: Proposed Florida bear hunt not scientific or humane