Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryNovember 16, 2017

Dover House Republican Ross Spano is throwing his hat into the ring for Attorney General, making his House District 59 open next year. The eastern Hillsborough County seat is one in which Democrats hoping for a wave election in 2018 think they might be able to flip — with the right candidate, of course. Last […]

Peter SchorschOctober 25, 2016

With two weeks to go until Election Day, the Tampa Bay area’s Senate seats are pretty much decided. Welcome back Sens. Jack Latvala and Tom Lee and say hello to Darryl Rouson, who should cruise past John “Mr. Manners” Houman to win the SD 19 seat. Tampa Republican Rep. Dana Young still has a race […]

Mitch PerryOctober 7, 2016

Earlier this week, Dover Republican Ross Spano reached out to his Democratic challenger in the House District 59 race, Brandon Democrat Rena Frazier, requesting she sign a pledge he had drawn up calling for the two to promise to run a clean campaign in the last month of the election. Frazier didn’t respond, and in an email sent to FloridaPolitics, calls […]

Mitch PerryOctober 4, 2016

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House District 59 GOP incumbent Ross Spano is up with his first television ad of the 2016 election cycle. The ad features a local businessman, a veteran, and members of his family to tout the “Ross Spano that I know.” “I’m Ross Spano, and I will always fight for small businesses, veterans, and families,” he says before asking […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 26, 2016

With this being a presidential election year, when Democrats historically show up in greater numbers at the polls, the Florida Democratic Party is targeting several key legislative races in Hillsborough County which they hope to flip from red to blue. One of them is the House District 59 seat in Eastern Hillsborough County currently held by Dover Republican Ross […]

Mitch PerryMarch 8, 2016

HD 59 Democratic candidate Rene Frazier says she’s running to become a member of the Florida Legislature because she’s tired of Tallahassee failing to address important issues. At the top of her list is the refusal to expand Medicaid. “We’ve had 800,00 Floridians without health care – 40,000 of them who are vets,” she says. “Several sessions […]

Drew WilsonJanuary 20, 2016

Pro-choice Democratic organization Ruth’s List included seven 2016 Florida House and Senate candidates on its “Women 2 Watch” list last week, which puts them in line for financial and campaign support. The only Senate candidate on the list so far is Lauren Book. Since filing for the seat in September, the District 33 candidate has […]

Drew WilsonAugust 21, 2015

A second Democrat filed for the House District 59 seat on Thursday, setting up a primary battle to face Dover Republican Rep. Ross Spano in the general election next year. Rena Jade Upshaw-Frazier, a partner at Quarles and Brady law firm in Tampa and a Stetson School of Law graduate, will take on schoolteacher Golnaz […]

Mitch PerryJuly 21, 2015

Although east Hillsborough County has been the graveyard for Democrats in legislative races for awhile, the party came awfully close in 2012 to winning the House District 59 seat. That’s when Gail Gottlieb fell just short of beating Republican Ross Spano for the open seat, ultimately losing 51-49 percent. The district covers Brandon, Riverview and Valrico. […]

Tag: Gail Gottlieb
Image via AP.

Ross Spano announcement opens HD 59 seat in 2018

Here’s where sh*t stands in Tampa Bay’s legislative races

Rena Frazier not interested in Ross Spano’s pledge to run a clean campaign in their HD 59 race

HD 59 Republican Ross Spano goes up on air with first TV ad

Ross Spano feels confident about challenge to retain his HD 59 seat in Hillsborough County

HD 59 aspirant Rene Frazier says she can bring people together if elected to serve in Tallahassee

Ruth’s List picks 7 Florida candidates as “Women 2 Watch”

2nd Democrat files for Ross Spano’s House seat

Hillsborough Democrat Naze Sahebzamani to take on Ross Spano in HD 59 race