Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryFebruary 21, 2018

Rob Wallace, a Republican who served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002 representing Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, died on Monday, jumping from a Dale Mabry Highway overpass. Wallace was 65. At least one witness saw Wallace plunge 40 to 50 feet onto Gunn Highway, according to a Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s report. […]

Joe HendersonNovember 8, 2016

Democrat Pat Kemp defeated challenger Tim Schock for the Hillsborough County Commission District 6 seat. Kemp had 55 percent of the vote for a solid victory. Voters had two strong choices in this countywide race. Kemp, who narrowly lost to Republican Al Higginbotham in 2014, had transportation as her main issue. She has long been […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 1, 2016

I think I speak for a lot of Florida political observers in expressing my disappointment that, for whatever reason, Patrick Murphy never debated his Democratic Senate opponents, Pam Keith and Alan Grayson, during the just-concluded primary campaign. Murphy avoided debates organized by Florida Public Radio stations and Bay News 9/News 13 in Orlando well before […]

Mitch PerryAugust 31, 2016

Good morning, everyone. Florida’s primary election is history. So, where to begin? Patrick Murphy will face Marco Rubio in November. Murphy crushed Alan Grayson, 59 to 18 percent, with Pam Keith a close third at 15 percent. Rubio gets credit for honesty, saying that he can’t say for sure that he’ll fulfill all six years of his term if elected, […]

Tom JacksonAugust 30, 2016

The impression I get is people have the wrong idea about primary elections. To apply a sports analogy, people — I’d call them voters, except they’re plainly not — think of primaries as the exhibition season. This is not without solid foundation. I mean, they do sort of look like the preseason. Starry-eyed unknowns hoping […]

Joe HendersonAugust 28, 2016

I will be paying attention to a lot of things during Tuesday’s primary election. The weather, however, will not be high on the list. Even with storms in Tuesday’s forecast, it may not affect the turnout that much. As of Sunday, voters cast nearly 104,000 ballots in Hillsborough County for the primary election, either by […]

Mitch PerryAugust 25, 2016

Donald Trump was in Tampa yesterday, in case you didn’t hear about it — and he continued to “reach out” to minority communities in his speech. Of course, saying, “I say to the African-American parent, you have a right to walk down the street in the inner city, without having your child or yourself shot” may not […]

Mitch PerryAugust 22, 2016

Good morning, y’all. Welcome to the last full week of campaigning before your Aug. 30 primary election in the Sunshine State. Before we get into the news of the day, how was your weekend? I went and saw a couple of good, if somewhat overrated movies (“Come Hell or High Water,” “Don’t Think Twice”), and […]

Joe HendersonAugust 2, 2016

Since the start of his campaign for Hillsborough County Commission District 6, Jim Norman has understood he has a lot of explaining to do. Right off the bat, he tried to address his checkered political past during a meeting last year with The Tampa Tribune editorial board. As a metro columnist for that late, great […]

Mitch PerryAugust 2, 2016

Let’s stipulate at the top that the results in last night’s Hillsborough County Hob Nob hosted by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce isn’t indicative of much of anything, except what several hundred well-heeled folks who mostly live in Tampa think about the various races that will be on the ballot later this month and in November. It’s […]

Tag: Jim Norman

Former state lawmaker Rob Wallace commits suicide

Pat Kemp defeats Tim Schock in Hillsborough County District 6

Mitch Perry Report for 9.1.16 —The debate about the debates begins in Florida

Mitch Perry Report for 8.31.16 — Moving on to November

Tom Jackson: Maybe if we thought of primaries as playoffs …

Joe Henderson: Some pre-primary thoughts for Hillsborough County

Mitch Perry Report for 8.25.16 — Is Donald Trump reversing himself on his signature issue of immigration?

Mitch Perry Report for 8.22.16 — Who’s down with TPP?

Joe Henderson: Jim Norman’s climb to Hillsborough Commission steeper than he realized

Mitch Perry Report for 8.2.16 — Hob Nob vote indicative of Jim Norman’s vulnerabilities?