Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJanuary 18, 2016

Last month I attended an Art Festival in the downtown area of Palm Harbor. This is a typical small town affair attracting no more than a couple of thousand people. The downtown street was closed to traffic so vendors could erect tents and displays for their wares. I volunteered to assist in the registration of […]

Scott PowersJanuary 18, 2016

It came at the very end and was only 28 words long, but Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley‘s shout-out in the Democratic Presidential Debate Sunday night caught the attention of Central Florida Puerto Ricans eager for political attention for the island. O’Malley’s comment came after debate moderator Lester Holt of NBC News asked him, essentially, “Anything […]

Associated PressJanuary 18, 2016

In their final debate before the Iowa caucuses, the gloves came off between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Shouting over each other at times, the two leading Democratic presidential candidates engaged in some of their toughest exchanges of the campaign on Sunday night, underscoring the narrowing race between them in the first-to-vote states of Iowa […]

Scott PowersJanuary 11, 2016

Democratic State Rep. Victor Torres filed Monday to run for the state Senate in the seat that would be vacated by state Sen. Darren Soto, and Torres’ daughter, Democrat Amy Mercado, filed to run to replace her father in the House of Representatives. Torres, completing his second term, was the first to file to run […]

Scott PowersJanuary 11, 2016

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders plans to include Florida A&M University on his campaign tour of historically black colleges and universities, which begins Thursday in South Carolina. Sanders, a U.S. Senator from Vermont, has not yet set a date for the FAMU stop. The university is among nine schools he plans to visit throughout the […]

Scott PowersJanuary 6, 2016

Former state representative and former Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart announced Wednesday she is running for the state Senate in Orlando-based District 13. Stewart’s entry into the race creates a matchup of former Democratic representatives who were swept from office in the Republican landslide of 2014, including Stewart and former state Rep. Mike Clelland, who […]

Scott PowersJanuary 6, 2016

The International Association of Firefighters has endorsed state Sen. Darren Soto in the Democratic nomination race for the Orlando-based Congressional District 9. Soto, whose legislative efforts included successfully pushing for passage of the “John Curry Firefighter Death Benefit Act,” announced Wednesday morning the endorsement from a union that represents over 300,000 firefighters and paramedics nationally. In a […]

Scott PowersJanuary 4, 2016

Former Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe is preparing to announce a run for Congress in District 10 based in west Orlando. Poe, 61, of Orlando, would say Monday only that he would be “talking about his decision in the next couple of days.” However, he confirmed that he has hired Orlando-based political consultant Josh […]

Peter SchorschDecember 25, 2015

Americans are becoming less and less concerned about the “War on Christmas,” a new survey from Public Policy Polling finds. In 2012, PPP found 47 percent of voters nationally believed that such a thing existed to only 40 percent who didn’t. Now just 37 percent of voters believe in the War on Christmas to 42 […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 23, 2015

Academe would be a dreary place without its occasional kooky professor, but James Tracy of Florida Atlantic University is simply too much. Hired to teach about conspiracy theories, he digressed into peddling his own, beginning with the claim that the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre three years ago was a hoax by the media and by the […]

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Image via X (Duke Energy).

Tim Bryce: Just listen to people and you can learn a lot

Martin O’Malley’s debate shout-out to Puerto Ricans catches Central Floridians’ attention

Dam debate takeaways: Passion versus practicality

Victor Torres files for state Senate; daughter Amy Mercado for his House seat

Bernie Sanders tour of historically black colleges to include FAMU

Linda Stewart to run for State Senate

Darren Soto’s congressional bid wins endorsement of firefighters union

Bob Poe ready to announce congressional run

Poll: Americans trust Donald Trump most to fight “War on Christmas”; GOP down on Festivus

Martin Dyckman: The kooky, the clueless, and the crooked