Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschJanuary 15, 2018

The Tampa Bay area will have three Senate seats and 14 House seats on the 2018 ballot; while most of the Pinellas and Hillsborough delegations will be the same when the 2019 Legislative Session rolls around, a few races are starting to heat up. First, the sure things. Tampa Republican Sen. Dana Young is still […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 6, 2018

Republican Todd Marks has to run for the District 1 seat on the Hillsborough County Commission. The attorney and small-business owner joins Aakash Patel in the race for the GOP nomination. Florida House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz, who is term-limited from running again, is the lone Democrat in the race. Marks runs Westchase Law, a Tampa-based law […]

Mitch PerryDecember 6, 2017

Janet Cruz came out Wednesday in support of fellow Hillsborough County Democrat Alma Gonzalez in Saturday’s election for Florida Democratic Party chair. “Alma’s experience and background will make her a strong voice for Florida’s working families, women, minorities and young people who feel threatened and uncertain by what they see coming out of Tallahassee and […]

Drew WilsonDecember 4, 2017

Hillsborough County Commission candidate Aakash Patel piled on another and a few thousand more for his campaign and committee last month, to give him $310,121 in total fundraising a year out from Election Day. Patel is running for the District 1 seat being vacated prematurely by Commissioner Sandy Murman next year. Murman intends to leave the […]

Staff ReportsNovember 27, 2017

Last week, more than 25 Democratic legislative leaders from Palm Beach County and the state announced endorsing state Rep. Lori Berman in her bid for Senate District 31. Among those lining up behind Berman, a Lantana Democrat who represents HD 90, are Congressman Ted Deutch of Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, former Congressmen Patrick Murphy and […]

Mitch PerryNovember 17, 2017

Janet Cruz was one of the first Democrats to respond on Friday to a POLITICO Florida report that Florida Democratic Party chairman Stephen Bittel has created a hostile workplace environment for women through constant inappropriate comments and suggestions. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Stephen Bittel. He’s always been kind and respectful to me,” the Democratic House Minority […]

Mitch PerryNovember 13, 2017

Janet Cruz has held what is now the House District 62 seat in Hillsborough County since winning a special election back in early 2010. Who will replace her in the overwhelmingly Democratic district a year from now is unknown. Three Democrats have filed to run in the race, the best known probably being John Rodriguez. […]

Mitch PerryNovember 10, 2017

In her just-concluded re-election bid to the St. Petersburg City Council District 2 seat, Darden Rice received the backing of the Suncoast Police Benevolent Association, an endorsement of which she’s very proud. She’s also the niece of former Pinellas County Sheriff Everett Rice. Rice mentioned those facts, among others, to an audience at Tampa’s Oxford Exchange […]

Mitch PerryNovember 7, 2017

She’s a Democrat, he’s a Republican, but Janet Cruz and retired U.S. Air Force Col. E.J. Otero are transcending the political divide to help the people of Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. With the vast majority of Puerto Ricans still without power and without all of the comforts that go with that […]

Mitch PerryNovember 6, 2017

Janet Cruz has no idea whether sensational sexual harassment charges leveled over the weekend against state Sen. Jack Latvala are true. But the House Democratic Leader from Tampa says some of the passages she read in the POLITICO Florida story made her skin crawl. “I was heartbroken when that girl just sat there and cried and then when (former […]

Tag: Janet Cruz
Image via AP.

Here’s where Tampa Bay legislative races stand heading into the 2018 Legislative Session

Republican Todd Marks takes aim at Hillsborough Commission District 1 seat

Janet Cruz backs Alma Gonzalez in race for Florida Democratic chair

Aakash Patel has raised more than $310K for Hillsborough Commission bid

Lori Berman nabs two dozen endorsements in SD 31 bid

Janet Cruz first to react to Stephen Bittel accusations

Slow going in race to succeed Janet Cruz in HD 62

Darden Rice, Yolie Capin talk regionalism during Cafe Con Tampa

Janet Cruz, E.J. Otero come together for Puerto Rico aid

Janet Cruz ‘horrified’ reading allegations of sexual harassment in capital