Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschJanuary 22, 2018

There’s one event for which this proud St. Petersburg native will always cross the bridge. It’s Robert and Nancy Watkins‘ party, held in conjunction with the Children’s Gasparilla Extravaganza, an alcohol-free event celebrating the pirates’ return to Tampa Bay. Gasparilla is an annual celebration that began in 1904. Held each year in late January or early February, […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 16, 2018

There’s more than a few key races heating up among Florida’s congressional seats, but for every true competitor in a 2018 battleground district there are a dozen head-scratchers who’ve mounted hopeless House campaigns. No, none of these candidates have sacrificed a goat as part of a pagan ritual, but it likely wouldn’t make their long-shot […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 8, 2018

Wengay Newton received a rebuke Monday when several high-profile St. Petersburg Democrats announced their support of Vito Sheeley, the political operative challenging the incumbent in the overwhelmingly Democratic House District 70 this year. In a joint statement, Pinellas County School Board Chair Rene Flowers, Pinellas County Commission Chair Ken Welch, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and City Council Chair Lisa Wheeler-Bowman said they […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 7, 2018

Tampa Bay is more than a body of water — so much more. To start, an admission: I really missed writing about Tampa Bay, particularly its politics. With all that is going on in the region surrounding my beloved St. Petersburg, it was tough to resist being drawn back into the fray. And in the […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 5, 2018

David Jolly says that if the physical boundaries in Florida’s 13th Congressional District in Pinellas County were the same as they were when he won the seat twice back in 2014, he’d already be running against Charlie Crist this November. The reality is that it’s the same Democratic-leaning seat that he ended up losing to […]

Mitch PerryNovember 30, 2017

With the way U.S. congressional districts are apportioned, any representative who wins their seat by less than five points is considered to be in a swing-seat district. That makes them potentially vulnerable in a re-election bid. Other (sometimes unforeseen) variables also determine the political landscape in an electoral cycle, such as a “wave” election that […]

Mitch PerryNovember 27, 2017

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Former Florida Congressmen David Jolly and Patrick Murphy resume their fall college speaking tour in St. Petersburg. The tour — called “Why Gridlock Rules Washington” — continues Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. on the 2nd floor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Student Center. It will be televised live in the Tampa Bay area and Orlando […]

Mitch PerryNovember 20, 2017

Like most House Democrats, St. Petersburg Congressman Charlie Crist voted against the GOP tax reform bill that passed last Thursday. The House’s tax overhaul reduces the number of individual tax brackets, cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and curbs other tax breaks and deductions. The plan, in total, would lower taxes […]

Mitch PerryNovember 7, 2017

Unlike the August 29 primary, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman went into the general election as the favorite against former Mayor Rick Baker. But margins were slim. Much to the consternation of Baker (and his supporters), early returns of the evening — which included early vote/vote-by-mail — gave Kriseman an advantage of two percentage points, a margin […]

Scott PowersOctober 17, 2017

Republican former U.S. Rep. David Jolly doubled down Tuesday evening on his expressed wish that Democrats win the 2018 mid-term elections as a check on President Donald Trump, saying he hoped that so that “we may be safer as a nation.” Jolly appeared Wednesday evening at the University of Central Florida in Orlando with Democratic […]

Tag: David Jolly
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 4/18/25-Candles and remembrances are left near the Unconquered statue a few hours after the Florida State University Gathering of Unity Vigil held Friday to honor victims of the recent mass shooting. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Pirates got me thinking: The Gasparilla parade and Florida politics

New crop of not-ready-for-primetimers launch congressional campaigns

High-profile St. Pete Democrats now backing Vito Sheeley in contentious HD 70 primary

Not Just A Body Of Water — 1.7.18

David Jolly, pondering political run, admits progressives’ energy is ‘massive’

Larry Sabato ‘Crystal Ball’ moves Charlie Crist seat to ‘likely Democratic’

David Jolly, Patrick Murphy to meet again at USF St. Pete

Nat’l Republicans take another whack at Charlie Crist over tax reform bill

Bedlam at Rick Kriseman election watch party; bitterness at Rick Baker’s

Though decrying gridlock, David Jolly would like to see Democrats stop Donald Trump