Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryApril 30, 2015

Two nights after Baltimore burned in anger at the death of Freddie Gray, the young black man who died in police custody there, mass demonstrations were held in cities like Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Denver; New York City; and Minneapolis on Wednesday night. No such protests occurred in the Tampa Bay area, but Baltimore was very […]

Mitch PerryApril 29, 2015

Longtime Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan says he’s considering a run for mayor of Tampa in 2019. “I’m encouraged every day to consider running for either mayor of Tampa or a constitutional seat,” Hagan said Tuesday. Having just been re-elected to his District 5 countywide commission seat last year, he admits he’s not in any […]

Mitch PerryApril 26, 2015

By any measure, Tampa has flourished since its citizens elected Bob Buckhorn as mayor in 2011. Saddled with budget deficits in his first couple of years in office, he put the city’s economy back on solid footing post-recession. There’s been a plethora of new parks and swimming pools built throughout the city, and an expanded Riverwalk has […]

Mitch PerryApril 24, 2015

Running for president means sometimes having to alter your brand, and sometimes your integrity. Case in point: Rand Paul. Nobody has been more prominent in U.S. politics being critical of drone strikes, particularly against American citizens, such as Anwar al-Awlaki, an Al Qaeda operative killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011. In […]

Mitch PerryApril 23, 2015

Tampa police Chief Jane Castor spoke to Tampa City Council Thursday morning for nearly an hour, discussing the issues concerning the disproportionate number of citations written against black city residents. An investigation by the Tampa Bay Times brought the situation to light in a story published this past weekend. The charges have prompted Castor and […]

Mitch PerryApril 22, 2015

During her 5 1/2 years as Tampa police chief, Jane Castor been given mostly positive reviews from the media and the community, although high-profile department misdoings have been reported. Nothing, though, has rocked the department more than the revelations published Sunday by the Tampa Bay Times. Reporters Alexandra Zayas and Kameel Stanley wrote that the […]

Mitch PerryApril 22, 2015

Three days after the Tampa Bay Times explosive story that blacks in Tampa are being racially profiled and over-policed by law enforcement, Mayor Bob Buckhorn has finally issued a response. The upshot is that he says the Tampa Police Department will implement a new tracking system to monitor “every traffic stop, ticket, and warning issued, […]

Mitch PerryApril 22, 2015

It is Earth Day on Wednesday, the 45th anniversary of the 1970 celebration, and President Barack Obama is marking the occasion by visiting the Sunshine State, down at the Everglades. In his weekly radio address broadcast Saturday, Obama discussed the threat of climate change in South Florida, saying that “rising sea levels are putting a national […]

Mitch PerryApril 21, 2015

The uproar over a Tampa Bay Times report over the weekend that the Tampa Police Department has been targeting low-income black bicyclists over the past decade continues to reverberate, with Chief Jane Castor facing the strongest criticism in her nearly five year tenure, just weeks before she steps down after a distinguished 30-year career with the department. […]

Mitch PerryMarch 28, 2015

Members of the GLBT community and their allies flocked to Ybor City under idyllic conditions on Saturday, as Tampa held its first gay pride event in more than a decade. In his public remarks, Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner referred to what he called one of the “darkest moments in this country’s history” — the June 15, […]

Tag: Jane Castor
Hall of Presidents (screenshot Scott Gustin)

Tampa town hall meeting on race reveals raw emotions

Ken Hagan looks at 2019 run for Tampa mayor

Bob Buckhorn faces first major test as Tampa mayor

Mitch Perry Report for 4.24.15 — The politics of convenience

Jane Castor strongly disputes biking-while-black story at Tampa City Council meeting

Tampa Police chief seeks federal review of black bicyclists’ citations, calls news story unfair

Bob Buckhorn responds to Tampa Bay Times story on TPD targeting black bicyclists

Mitch Perry Report for 4.22.15 — President talks climate change in Florida on Earth Day

“Biking while black” in Tampa story not going away

Activists at Tampa Pride urge celebrants to fight adoption bill