Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJune 30, 2016

Battling in an extremely competitive election this fall against Lisa Montelione, House District 63 Republican Rep. Shawn Harrison has procured another Democrat to back his re-election campaign. It’s former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. “I’ve had the honor to serve our city and region for four terms as mayor, over several decades. During that time, I’ve had the privilege to work with […]

Joe HendersonJune 21, 2016

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You can never take a moment off in politics, so when Lisa Montelione saw an opportunity Tuesday morning, she got busy. A frisky black bear had climbed up a tree about two blocks from her home in north Tampa. While authorities worked to safely remove the animal, Montelione was thinking ahead. “I told them they […]

Mitch PerryJune 20, 2016

The U.S. Senate voted on four different gun-control proposals last night — two offered by Republicans, two by Democrats. They all failed. First up was California Democrat Dianne Feinstein‘s bit, which would give the Department of Justice the power to stop anyone on the terror watch list from buying a gun. That garnered just 47 votes. Then […]

Mitch PerryJune 20, 2016

Frank Reddick has served with fellow Democrat Lisa Montelione on the Tampa City Council for the past five years, so you might expect him to back her in her race to win the State House District 63 race this fall. You might expect that, but you’d be wrong. On Monday, Reddick came out and endorsed Republican Shawn Harrison, who […]

Mitch PerryJune 14, 2016

The dominant word at a vigil held in Ybor City on Monday night to honor the victims of the shooting massacre in Orlando was “love.” A crowd of at least 2,000 people gathered for two hours in a parking lot on the north side of 7th Avenue between 14th and 15th streets to hear locally elected […]

Mitch PerryApril 14, 2016

Why do Hillsborough County State Attorney employees even need “key cards”? That’s the question I have after reading the Anna Phillips/Windy March penned story in the Times this morning (and Elaine Silvestrini’s in the Trib). Their story revolves around an allegation made about Mark Ober’s work ethic by his Democratic party challenger, Andrew Warren. Records unearthed by his campaign […]

Mitch PerryApril 12, 2016

Bob Buckhorn proclaimed the theme of his annual State of the City Address as “We Built This,” a tribute to Tampa’s illustrious history – though it also echoed the theme employed one night by the Republican National Committee for the 2012 RNC in Tampa (also, it was quite similar to the Jefferson Starship’s “We Built This City”). As […]

Mitch PerryApril 5, 2016

CNN’s Manu Raju posted a piece on the cable news network’s website Tuesday regarding the question I doubt you woke up to: What’s next for Marco Rubio? According to Raju, “In private conversations with supporters and donors over the last several weeks, the 44-year-old Rubio repeatedly gets this advice: Run again, potentially in 2020, according to several […]

Mitch PerryMarch 17, 2016

The Tampa City Council on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution calling on elected officials in Congress to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the controversial free trade agreement between the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim nations. It’s intended to reduce trade barriers between the 12 countries by lowering tariffs on goods, coordinating regulations and much more. The proposal […]

Mitch PerryNovember 20, 2015

The Tampa City Council rejected a proposal from Mayor Bob Buckhorn‘s administration that would have made a serious dent in alleviating the city’s epic problems with stormwater runoff yesterday. The plan wasn’t cheap — $251 million, and it certainly left open a lot of questions about how fair it was for everyone to pay the […]

Tag: Frank Reddick

Dick Greco is backing Shawn Harrison in the HD 63 race

Joe Henderson: When political opportunity knocks, Lisa Montelione gets busy

Mitch Perry Report for 6.21.16 — After gun control proposals go down, Bill Nelson says ‘The NRA wins again’

Democrat Frank Reddick endorses Republican Shawn Harrison in HD 63 race

Thousands crowd into Ybor City to remember the Orlando victims

Mitch Perry Report for 4.14.16 – So who wants to go to Cleveland this summer?

Bob Buckhorn celebrates Tampa’s renaissance in a fiery State of the City Address

Mitch Perry Report for 4.5.16 – Rubio in 2020?

Tampa City Council passes resolution opposing Trans Pacific Partnership

Mitch Perry Report for 11.20.15 – Buckhorn stormwater tax plan gets killed. Now what?