Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJanuary 11, 2017

Though education was rarely discussed by Donald Trump on the campaign trail, at the top of his list of priorities was to spend $20 million on school choice, which would come from “reprioritizing federal dollars.” In picking Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos to serve as his Education Secretary, he made it clear that intended to make school […]

Associated PressJanuary 3, 2017

Falling in line with tradition, Bill and Hillary Clinton plan to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration. It’s a decision that will put Hillary Clinton on the inaugural platform as her bitter rival from the 2016 campaign assumes the office she long sought. The Clintons announced their decision to attend the Jan. 20 inauguration shortly after former […]

Bob SparksDecember 20, 2016

Just like that, it was over. In Tallahassee and around the country, 538 electors cast their ballots to officially elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. Of course, they did. There was never going to be a different outcome. Never. Florida’s 29 electors gathered in the Senate Chamber to do what […]

Associated PressDecember 8, 2016

When President-elect Donald Trump tapped Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, Republican leaders cheered the prospect of a close ally having a top White House job. But as Priebus tries to wield his influence and bring more structure to the president-elect’s freewheeling political organization, he’s frustrating some longtime Trump allies who see him as […]

Peter SchorschNovember 28, 2016

The number of Americans who think the nation is divided has reached an all-time high according to a new Gallup poll. The poll found 77 percent of Americans see the country as divided, while 21 percent said the country was united. In 2012, the last time Gallup measured perceptions of unity, 69 percent of respondents […]

Phil AmmannNovember 28, 2016

Late on the afternoon of Oct. 8, 1966, the Florida State University football team was trailing its archrival, the University of Florida, 19 to 22. With 26 seconds remaining, FSU quarterback Gary Pajcic threw a 45-yard pass to the visitors’ end zone. Lane Fenner, a wide receiver fresh off the bench, had outraced two Florida […]

Darryl PaulsonNovember 22, 2016

Going into the 2016 presidential election, virtually all political pundits and pollsters projected an easy victory for Hillary Clinton. Several of the most respected pollsters gave Clinton an 85 percent chance of defeating Donald Trump. Highly respected presidential scholar Larry Sabato projected that Clinton would win 347 electoral votes to Trump’s 191. As we now […]

Associated PressNovember 19, 2016

Grassroots campaigns have sprung up around the country to try to persuade members of the Electoral College to do something that has never been done in American history — deny the presidency to the clear Election Day winner. Activists are circulating online petitions and using social media in hopes of influencing Republican electors to cast […]

Mitch PerryNovember 16, 2016

Now that the shock is starting to wear off over Donald Trump’s stunning upset in the presidential election a week ago, the biggest story in national politics is what he intends to do with his enormous power and who will help him do it. That means the selection of cabinet officers, with the most high-profile […]

Mitch PerryNovember 15, 2016

Count Dan Rather as among those political commentators who describe the rise of Donald Trump as being part of the “post-truth” political era. “What I mean by that is that heretofore it’s been taken as a given and was a fact that truth counted for something,” the iconic reporter/news anchor told a packed audience last Friday night at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront […]

Tag: George W. Bush
Crowds gather to see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Gabrielle Russon)

Randi Weingarten doesn’t share Jeb Bush embrace of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary

Bill and Hillary Clinton to attend Donald Trump inauguration

Electoral College vote a non-story unless Donald Trump is involved

Chief of staff Reince Priebus? Some Donald Trump loyalists still dubious

Americans thinking nation is divided hits all-time high, new polling shows

Martin Dyckman: Hillary Clinton, Democrats must now live with futile victory, anachronism

Darryl Paulson: Getting schooled on the Electoral College

Donald Trump opponents try to beat him at the Electoral College

Mitch Perry Report for 11.16.16 — Who will be our next Secretary of State?

In St. Petersburg, Dan Rather says it’s ‘gut-check time’ for the press in the Trump era