Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorDecember 15, 2014

Gwen Graham took a victory lap in the Panhandle this past week; meeting with business leaders in four of the biggest counties of the 2nd Congressional District. Graham is a rare Florida Democrat; she won an election. While party leaders stage their familiar post-midterm drama, politicians, consultants and donors expressing bewilderment about the shellacking the […]

Peter SchorschDecember 15, 2014

Gwen Graham took a victory lap in the Panhandle this past week; meeting with business leaders in four of the biggest counties of the 2nd Congressional District. Graham is a rare Florida Democrat, she won an election. While party leaders stage their familiar post-midterm drama, politicians, consultants, and donors expressing bewilderment about the shellacking the […]

Adam WeinsteinDecember 8, 2014

With the loss of Sen. Mary Landrieu in Louisiana’s run-off election last weekend, Southern Democrats have just about gone extinct. For the first time since Reconstruction, no state in the Deep South has a Democrat in the Senate or the governor’s office. As a Southern liberal, I say: Good. America will be better off without […]

Mitch PerryDecember 2, 2014

A task force assembled by Florida Democratic Party chair Allison Tant in the wake of the midterm election debacle for Democrats had their first meeting on Tuesday, and the thoughts of the two co-chairs were illuminating. “We know we have to take a critical look at ourselves internally at ourselves,” acknowledged former Orlando Police Chief […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 17, 2014

Nearly 70 years ago, when the Florida Democratic Party was a monopoly, the political scientist V. O. Key Jr., saw a problem that haunts it to the present day. In Florida, he wrote, it was “every man for himself.” Individual candidates built their own organizations, which dissolved when they left office or gave up running. […]

Diane RobertsNovember 9, 2014

Florida can congratulate itself on yet another dubious distinction: political parties, corporate patrons, gazillionaires, dark money groups, and the candidates themselves spent $345 million on the 2014 elections — the most expensive in the nation. With that kind of money, India could send four missions to Mars and have enough left over to throw a […]

Guest AuthorNovember 9, 2014

Gwen Graham’s victory should give Florida Democrats something to think about. The rookie politician knew she could not overcome Congressman Steve Southerland’s appeal in nine counties he carried by more than 60 percent in the previous election. She campaigned in them anyway. Southerland, R-Panama City, won election in the Tea Party wave in 2010 and […]

Guest AuthorNovember 9, 2014

I live in Tallahassee — a sea of blue surrounded by red. Gwen Graham beat Republican Steve Southerland to become the first woman elected to the Second Congressional District seat. On a bleak night for Democrats nationwide, Graham’s less-than-3,000-vote margin of victory felt like a landslide. She can thank the voters of Leon County, where […]

Adam WeinsteinNovember 6, 2014

In 1994, at the height of the nationwide electoral wave against Bill Clinton — a force so great and enduring it would be remembered as “the Republican revolution” — there was one bright spot for Democrats: They held on to the Florida Governor’s Mansion. Lawton Chiles, a self-described cracker and populist, fought off a challenge […]

Bob SparksOctober 6, 2014

Few races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives fall into the competitive category, but Florida has one of the top 10 most watched campaigns in the country. Democrat Gwen Graham’s challenge to Republican Rep. Steve Southerland for the Congressional District 2 seat is a political scientist’s dream. The numbers for District 2 paint […]

Tag: Gwen Graham

James Call: Gwen Graham gives Florida Democrats a blueprint for recovery

Did Gwen Graham blaze the Democrats a path out of the wilderness?

Adam Weinstein: Goodbye, Southern Democrats, and good riddance

Florida Democrats begin the long, hard road back to respectability

Martin Dyckman: Fla. Democrats need to find a message with a broad appeal

Diane Roberts: The only mandate from this election is to protect the environment

James Call: Graham was smart to campaign where she knew she wouldn’t win

Andrew Skerritt: Gwen Graham victory in North Florida is reason for hope

Adam Weinstein: The three big reasons Florida Democrats still can’t elect a governor

Bob Sparks: Gwen Graham must overcome Steve Southerland and Barack Obama