Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJanuary 5, 2017

We’ve heard from several Florida Democrats (such as Kathy Castor and Charlie Crist) that, when appropriate, they look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump once he takes office later this month. The question for them and other Democrats concerned about their own poll numbers as well as what’s good for the country is where and when they decide to go along with Trump […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 3, 2017

(UPDATE) Following the uproar Tuesday morning over a private vote by House Republicans to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, the GOP conference voted to restore rules that have been in existence for the past eight years. However, the PR damage has been substantial. A spokesperson for Polk County Republican Dennis Ross says the GOP Representative […]

Mitch PerryDecember 20, 2016

Tampa area Representative Kathy Castor is one of more than 100 Democratic members of the House of Representatives who have co-signed a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, calling on him to support the repeal of the Hyde Amendment. That’s the 1976 law named after former Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde which prevents federal funding for abortion. “Every person should be treated with dignity, compassion […]

Mitch PerryDecember 16, 2016

Good morning to you all on this, the last Friday MPR I’ll be filing in 2016 … Good news for those of us on the Affordable Care Act: While the GOP-led House of Representative promise to repeal the ACA within the first 100 days of the Trump administration, the date that the provisions of the […]

Mitch PerryDecember 15, 2016

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U.S. Senator Bill Nelson on Thursday called the Russian hacking into the Democratic National Committee’s email system an unprecedented outrage that is “closer and closer to an act of war.” Speaking to reporters at his Tampa district office, the Florida Democrat made his most outspoken comments about the continuing to evolve story, which a new level of attention last Friday, […]

Mitch PerryDecember 6, 2016

By just 65 votes, Luis Viera defeated Jim Davison in the Tampa City Council District 7 special run-off election, taking 50.64 percent to Davison’s 49.36 percent, a difference of only a single percentage point. Viera received 2,588 votes to Davison’s 2,523, just 65 votes out of 5,120 cast. The special election was held to succeed Lisa Montelione, who […]

Joe HendersonDecember 2, 2016

Eric Newman read news reports of the fight by incoming president Donald Trump to keep the Carrier air conditioning company from moving jobs to Mexico and thought, hey, why not us? Newman owns the J.C. Newman Cigar Company in Tampa and has been fighting the Food and Drug Administration over regulations that Newman says could […]

Mitch PerryNovember 28, 2016

Did President Obama’s latest executive actions regarding Cuba policy in October incite hardline exiles to vote for Donald Trump in large enough numbers to help him win Florida? That belief was pushed by some in the immediate days after the election, and is getting more life from a Hillary Clinton supporter who knows the Cuban exile community very well in the wake of Fidel […]

Mitch PerryNovember 26, 2016

There was no harsher a critic of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba than Ralph Fernandez. Yet the Tampa attorney who represented several former political prisoners in Cuba over the past several decades says that nobody ever challenged the U.S. government as the longtime Cuban leader, who died Friday at the age of 90. “The guy stood up to […]

Mitch PerryNovember 22, 2016

There’s no doubt Rudy Giuliani will get some meaty position in the upcoming Donald Trump administration, because the dude was loyal as hell to the president-elect throughout the past year. Chris Christie, on the other hand, may be looking at bupkes. The New Jersey governor was one of the first mainstream Republicans to endorse Trump, […]

Tag: Kathy Castor

Mitch Perry Report for 1.5.17 – Poll says voters want Dems like Bill Nelson to fight Donald Trump when necessary

Dennis Ross says he opposed original GOP vote to gut ethics office

Kathy Castor co-signs letter to Donald Trump calling on him to repeal the Hyde Amendment

Mitch Perry Report for 12.16.16 – Friday follies

In Tampa, Bill Nelson calls Russia hack on DNC email server “closer to an act of war”

By only 65 votes, Luis Viera defeats Jim Davison in Tampa District 7 run-off

Joe Henderson: Donald Trump ‘saves’ Indiana jobs; Eric Newman asks ‘why not us?’

Ralph Fernandez convinced Obama policy on Cuba a major factor in Florida going red

In Tampa, agreement that Fidel Castro was one of a kind

Mitch Perry Report for 11.22.16 — The sad story of Chris Christie