Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiMarch 22, 2015

What has seemed like an endless Jacksonville mayoral campaign has finally reached its final few days. Mayor Alvin Brown was joined Sunday afternoon by cultural commentator Michael Eric Dyson and U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown and James Clyburn at an outdoor rally near Gateway Mall on Jacksonville’s Northside. Brown said before the event that he expects to win outright on […]

James CallMarch 22, 2015

Florida Medical Cannabis Association lobbyist Louis Rotundo nailed it this past month when he said, “We’re about to smoke them out.” Rotundo commented after the Department of Health released a proposed Charlotte’s Web rule, a product of a negotiated rule-making session with stakeholders in a medicinal marijuana industry. “I think the Department did as good […]

James CallMarch 22, 2015

This week in Florida Politics we shall seek clarity. By week’s end we will know about the House and Senate’s competing budget proposals, how Sen. Rob Bradley intends to solve the Charlotte’s Web mystery, and whether service in the Confederate Army is Hall of Fame material. The highlight of a busy week comes Wednesday when both the Senate Appropriations and […]

Peter SchorschMarch 22, 2015

When writing about political gaffes, columnists invariably cite the Michael Kinsley quote that defined such foot-in-mouth moments as “when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.” By that standard, David Johnson, the interim executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, committed one helluva gaffe. Quoted by The […]

Associated PressMarch 22, 2015

After a two-year political and public relations battle, Florida’s craft beer fans may soon be able to leave their local brewery with the preferred half-gallon refillable jug of the microbrew they love and retire their “Free the growler” T-shirts. The Legislature appears poised to pass a bill that would legalize 64-ounce refillable beer jugs or […]

Frank TorresMarch 22, 2015

Gregory Fournier recently joined the team at Gravis Marketing as Director of Campaign Development. The Winter Park-based nonpartisan political market research company announced the addition of Fournier to its expanding group of political and marketing experts. It’s a move founding partner and Gravis Marketing CEO Doug Kaplan thinks will be of exceptional value to political campaign […]

James CallMarch 22, 2015

My publisher thinks Charlie Crist’s announcement that he will not be a candidate in 2016 signals the end of the Crist era. I hope he’s wrong. My boss is a political insider. I’m an unemployed steelworker who hangs around the Capitol like others do a tavern, pool hall or barbershop. My sense is that the Crist brand represents […]

Associated PressMarch 22, 2015

State legislators across the country are pushing to make it much harder to release police officer body camera videos, undermining their promise as a tool people can use to hold law enforcement accountable. Lawmakers in at least 15 states have introduced bills to exempt video recordings of police encounters with the public from state public […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 21, 2015

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Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown had an “open and frank conversation” that appeared to some observers to be more of a spirited dispute with Ben “Ben America” Weaver, a local Democratic activist, on Saturday afternoon at Hemming Park. The confrontation between Brown and Weaver, currently affiliated with the Northeast Florida LGBT Leadership PAC, had to do with […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 21, 2015

Those paying attention to the Jacksonville mayoral campaign know that former local Southern Christian Leadership Conference Chairman Juan Gray has been part of the narrative. As a high-profile Bill Bishop supporter, he has castigated Mayor Alvin Brown for his “political rope-a-dope“ strategy for months now. Yet a story the WJAX-TV news operation ran Friday did not mention his support […]

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Florida Politics' Drew Wilson a few pounds heavier and with a bit more hair next to Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell ... (guess who we're rooting for?).

Near campaign’s end, Alvin Brown, big-name guests make pitch at Northside rally

Charlotte’s Web glitch bill to fly Monday, bypass rules to get pot going

The week ahead in the Legislature

David Johnson’s spot-on gaffe

In Florida’s “beer war,” the growler appears to be winning

Gravis hires Gregory Fournier as new Director of Campaign Development

Charlie Crist, Allison Tant are workers’ only hope

State bills would limit access to police body camera videos

Alvin Brown argues with LGBT PAC members at outdoor event

Action News Jax buries context in its Juan Gray story