Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersAugust 3, 2016

In Donald Trump’s return to Central Florida after officially winning the Republican presidential nomination, his message and thunderous appeal are still all about the wall. They’re still about America’s diplomatic and trade deals destroying America, and “crooked Hillary,” and incompetent Washington leaders, and lying media, and his promises to fix everything. And they’re still about Megyn Kelly’s blood. In […]

Associated PressApril 18, 2016

A former Florida House speaker who stood up to Gov. Rick Scott is being pushed off the Florida State University board. Scott on Friday replaced Allan Bense on the FSU board of trustees with Max Alvarez, a Doral businessman and friend of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. He also reappointed two trustees including one, Joe Gruters, who […]

Mitch PerryMarch 16, 2016

We’ll save you our post-mortems about Marco Rubio‘s failed candidacy for the presidency, since you can find them all over the web this morning. We wrote last week how startled we were about the lack of support in his own state, and that was before Alex Leary‘s devastating portrayal in Sunday’s Tampa Bay Times. A notable […]

Mitch PerryMarch 15, 2016

Joe Gruters‘ association with the Donald Trump campaign is controversial, because, well, Donald Trump is controversial. Gruters became campaign chairman for Trump in Florida last fall. His other public duties include being vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, chairman of the Sarasota County Republican Executive Committee, and a member of Florida State University’s board […]

Brendan FarringtonMarch 13, 2016

Rubio-Trump-GOP-debate-03.12-1024x1024.jpg

Florida’s winner-take-all Republican presidential primary was supposed to help former Gov. Jeb Bush or Sen. Marco Rubio. That was the thinking when the GOP-dominated Legislature changed the state’s primary date to the third Tuesday in March, the earliest date it could hold an election that will award all 99 Republican delegates to one candidate. But […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 29, 2016

Although Donald Trump said Monday that he does disassociate himself from white supremacist David Duke, critics of the GOP presidential front-runner are seizing on his reluctance to do so in a CNN interview on Sunday. Among those critics are Florida State University students angry that Joe Gruters, Trump’s campaign manager in Florida, sits on the FSU Board […]

Associated PressFebruary 26, 2016

Donald Trump is a part-time Florida resident — and a full-time problem for the home-state senator running for president, Marco Rubio. Rubio is counting on Florida to reshape the Republican contest that Trump has dominated by winning three of the first four states to vote. A loss in Florida on March 15 could doom Rubio’s […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 15, 2016

Happy Presidents Day, y’all! Other than government folks, does anyone else have today off? Just wondering. Speaking of presidents, this is a crucial week in the 2016 election for both parties, but let’s focus on the Republican election in South Carolina on Saturday. All polls show Donald Trump with a very solid lead, but a […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 14, 2016

When Joe Gruters, the vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida, announced last fall that he was taking a role with the Donald Trump campaign in Florida, it raised eyebrows among some state Republicans as being a clear conflict of interest. If there’s been any criticism of those duel roles within the party ranks, however, […]

Melissa RossFebruary 14, 2016

The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) of Florida State University aren’t letting up in their opposition to Donald Trump. The SDS chapter of FSU will hold a “Dump Trump” rally on the Tallahassee campus Tuesday (as with past events, the proceedings will take place at the school’s “free speech zone.”) “The purpose of this […]

Tag: Joe Gruters
Peppa Pig Theme Park

Donald Trump blasts Iran money deal, defends comments on Megyn Kelly’s blood

Weekend round-up: Allan Bense booted, Gene Cryer dies, union prez sentenced

Mitch Perry Report for 3.16.16 – How does Bernie Sanders move on from here?

Joe Gruters confident GOP will come together to back Donald Trump

Florida’s winner-take-all primary could kill Marco Rubio’s chances

Students want Joe Gruters off FSU Board, plan protest on campus

Donald Trump looms as cloud in Marco Rubio’s Sunshine State

Mitch Perry Report 2.15.16 – Trump doubles down on Iraq comments about W

Florida GOP state committeeman calls on Joe Gruters to decide between Donald Trump or the RPOF

FSU students to hold “Dump Trump” rally