Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Joe HendersonAugust 17, 2016

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Brian Willis has the editorial endorsement of the Tampa Bay Times in his bid to win the Democratic primary Aug. 30 for Hillsborough’s District 6 county commission seat. He has been, in the words of one veteran local observer of the political scene, “very impressive” on the campaign stump. He seems to have momentum. In […]

Mitch PerryAugust 3, 2016

Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman said Wednesday she doesn’t want the Public Transportation Commission to raise the penalties on ridesharing drivers from $700 to $900. “I think their fines are high enough,” she told her colleagues on the county commission at the end of their regular meeting. “If the fines are being raised to control a certain […]

Tom JacksonAugust 3, 2016

They’d reached closing statements at a recent forum for Hillsborough County Commission District 6 Democratic hopefuls in Bealsville, near Plant City, and Pat Kemp, the Tampa lawyer and serial candidate, was feeling magnanimous. The town center was a thing of beauty, she said, praising the town hall, expanded library, a roundabout with a flag at […]

Mitch PerryAugust 2, 2016

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Since they began operating in Florida in 2014, ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft have successfully negotiated to work legally in many of the state’s biggest areas, including Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. It’s been a different story in Hillsborough County, however, as the two companies have been at odds with the Public Transportation Commission, which for […]

Phil AmmannJuly 19, 2016

Hillsborough County commissioners are poised this week to consider $25,000 in incentives for a local film company to shoot a film in the Tampa Bay area. Noah Pransky of WTSP reports the subsidies will be the latest attempt by lawmakers to support the county’s struggling film industry. But in contrast to “The Infiltrator,” a big-name […]

Mitch PerryJune 17, 2016

Here’s something you don’t hear very often — if you intend to attend tonight’s Tampa Bay Rays versus San Francisco Giants game at Tropicana Field, you better already have a ticket. The team announced earlier this week they would make all open seats for the game available for their annual Pride Night for just $5, with […]

Mitch PerryJune 16, 2016

In the race to succeed Dana Young in the Hillsborough County’s House District 60 race, two local Republicans are battling it out for the November general election: Rebecca Smith and Jackie Toledo. It appears much, if not most of the Republican establishment, however, is firmly behind Smith to win the Aug. 30 primary and face […]

Mitch PerryJune 15, 2016

Eleven years to the day after the Hillsborough County Commission stunningly voted to ban all “gay pride” events, that same government body on Wednesday approved hanging the rainbow gay pride flag from the top of County Center for the rest of the month, in a tribute to those who were massacred at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday […]

Joe HendersonJune 10, 2016

So, the Hillsborough County Commission decided, again, to take an important decision out of the hands of those most affected. The public is once again denied the chance to decide if wants to tax itself to pay for things like roads, buses and other transportation necessities. Undeterred by traffic jams and studies showing a quarter-million […]

Mitch PerryMay 12, 2016

So, Go Hillsborough is somehow still alive? Though they haven’t set a date yet, apparently there will be another public hearing on putting a sales tax referendum on the ballot this November. On Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Commission voted to support a half-cent sales tax for 15 years, and not the 30-year plan shot down […]

Tag: Al Higginbotham

Joe Henderson: Endorsement, momentum may not be enough in Hillsborough District 6 race

Sandy Murman doesn’t want Hillsborough PTC to raise penalties on ridesharing drivers

Tom Jackson: Old-school Democrat hopes Hillsborough can make a deal

Public meeting on proposed new ride-sharing rules in Hillsborough County goes nowhere

Hillsborough film company looking for tax incentives on new production

Mitch Perry Report for 6.17.16 – ‘Weiner’ comes to Tampa

Al Higginbotham endorses Rebecca Smith in HD 60 race

Hillsborough County Commissioners approve placing rainbow flag above County Center for the rest of June

Joe Henderson: Why not give voters say on Hillsborough County transportation tax?

Mitch Perry Report for 5.12.16 — The proposed tax that will not go away