Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryFebruary 26, 2015

St. Petersburg GOP state Sen. Jeff Brandes has filed legislation that would allow share-riding companies Uber and Lyft to operate legally in Florida, and would also change the current composition of the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission — an agency that Brandes tried to kill in proposed legislation a year ago. The Brandes bill on the […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 26, 2015

As anyone paying attention to the rhetoric of some of the leading GOP presidential candidates this year, the term “income inequality” is no longer strictly the province of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. “The opportunity gap is the defining issue of our time,” Jeb Bush said in his first major speech of the year in Detroit […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

CPAC, the annual winter confab held, begins Thursday in Washington, and American Bridge 21st Century is psyched. The liberal super PAC conducts opposition research to help out Democratic candidates and their organizations (we saw one of their cameramen in Sarasota to film the Rand Paul speech earlier this month). With some very slick editing, they’ve […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

Tuesday night’s Tampa Bay Young Republicans City Council forum was the last official scheduled campaign forum of the 2015 campaign season, and while District 1 candidate Susan Long said she couldn’t recall a comment she made at an earlier debate because “there’s been so many of them,” the fact is that this was a relatively light […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

Tuesday night’s Tampa Bay Young Republicans City Council forum was the last official scheduled campaign forum of the 2015 campaign season, and while District 1 candidate Susan Long said she couldn’t recall a comment she made at an earlier debate because “there’s been so many of them,” the fact is that this was a relatively light […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

Florida’s corporate tax rate of 5.5% is among the lowest in the U.S. But if it were solely up to Rick Scott, it would be completely eliminated. The governor campaigned in 2010 on eliminating the state’s corporate tax by the end of his second term in office. Although the Legislature has resisted such a tax cut so […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

Florida’s corporate tax rate of 5.5% is among the lowest in the U.S. But if it were solely up to Rick Scott, it would be completely eliminated. The governor campaigned in 2010 on eliminating the state’s corporate tax by the end of his second term in office. Although the Legislature has resisted such a tax cut so […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

It was a Young Republican of Tampa Bay-organized candidate forum at the Barrymore Hotel, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the first question asked of Tampa City Council hopefuls Tuesday night was where they could cut the city’s $876 million budget. But with the city finally in the black after years of budget cutting, not […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

Mise en Place was the place to be if you were a Tampa Democrat on Tuesday night, as the upscale establishment played host for the latest (and probably last) Ready for Hillary fundraiser in the Bay area. Hundreds crammed into the restaurant’s backroom, a destination for Democratic fundraisers over the years, each contributing the $20.16 requested to […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 25, 2015

Uh oh. He did it again. Keith Olbermann is on paid suspension for the rest of this week, after a few angry tweets to a Penn State supporter got him in hot water with his ESPN bosses. While the tweeter sent Olbermann a link about the university’s $13 million fundraising for pediatric cancer research, Keith […]

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Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Image via Visit Florida.

Jeff Brandes bill would reduce local choice of representation on Hillsborough County PTC

Mitch Perry Report for 2.26.15 — Is GOP divided on whether income inequality is a partisan issue?

On the eve of CPAC, American Bridge 21st Century has fun with GOP prez candidates

Tampa City Council candidates talk about favorite Cuban sandwiches & other crucial minutiae

Tampa City Council candidates talk about favorite Cuban sandwiches & other crucial minutiae

New report says Florida taxpayers subsidize state's biggest corporations

New report says Florida taxpayers subsidize state’s biggest corporations

Tampa City Council candidates not keen on cutting services in 2015

No primary challenger? No problem say attendees at Tampa Ready for Hillary event

Mitch Perry Report for 2.25.15 — Keith Olbermann and the golden age of MSNBC