Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschMay 21, 2016

Judging by the expression on her face, Lizbeth Benacquisto appeared genuinely surprised — and touched — by the standing ovation given to her by her colleagues in the Senate upon her return to the Florida Legislature. The date was April 23, 2014, and it was the day after Benacquisto finished second in the four-way Republican primary to […]

Jim RosicaApril 21, 2016

POLITICO, the primarily online political news outlet, has been granted $205,000 in tax credits to expand its California operation. And while one commentator lambasted the move, a trio of journalism ethicists applauded the company’s decision to apply. POLITICO, which already has a presence in California, has a five-person Tallahassee bureau and political writer Marc Caputo based in South Florida. (There […]

Jim RosicaApril 21, 2016

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Despite Congresswoman Gwen Graham‘s email telling supporters she wanted them to “hear it first” of her possible bid for governor, two other media outlets broke the news before she did. The admittedly inside-the-Tallahassee-bubble question is, who got the scoop: POLITICO Florida or the Tallahassee Democrat, Graham’s hometown newspaper? For the record, Graham’s own email announcing her […]

Bob SparksMarch 17, 2016

As Donald Trump marches closer to the Republican nomination for president, more prominent elected officials are endorsing him. Florida Gov. Rick Scott is the latest, giving his approval following Trump’s blowout victory in Florida on Tuesday. The day before the primary, Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsed Trump, the part-time resident of Palm Beach County. The […]

Peter SchorschMarch 2, 2016

Tuesday night, for maybe the first time in his political career, Rick Scott was sought after. National reporters were chasing after his spokeswoman. The talking heads were searching for his shiny head. The hashtag #WorstGovernorInFloridasModernHistory did not immediately appear next to @FLGovScott on Twitter. Last night, Rick Scott was a wanted man — and for all the […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 25, 2016

This post is about Marc Caputo, so I should probably begin with a couple of disclaimers. Caputo is a friend and one of the more talented journalists of his generation now covering Florida politics. He probably won’t admit it, but we regularly talk. Last year he moved to POLITICO Florida from the Miami Herald; a big […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 6, 2016

The inner workings of the Republican Party of Florida have been in the news this week after its Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer both exited the organization. POLITICO Florida’s Matt Dixon scored a major scoop over the weekend with news that Brad Herold was leaving his position as ED to manage Ron DeSantis‘ U.S. Senate campaign. FloridaPolitics.com advanced […]

Peter SchorschDecember 16, 2015

Counter to the POLITICO Caucus, but in agreement with The Washington Post‘s James Hohmann, I think Marco Rubio fared poorly in Tuesday’s GOP presidential candidate debate in Las Vegas, so much so that by week’s end it will be clear that he “lost.” I certainly don’t buy Mike Allen‘s argument that “Rubio is the Obama […]

Peter SchorschDecember 8, 2015

“They do this at 8 o’clock at night?” That was the first thing an exasperated Jim Rosica, one of our state Capitol reporters, said to me once I got him on the telephone after news of Gov. Rick Scott reaching a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida hit the Twitterverse. Rosica and the rest of the […]

Peter SchorschNovember 16, 2015

So much for Blaise’s Blunder … After a few hiccups and a barrage of negative attention from Florida’s political media, namely the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith and, to a lesser extent, POLITICO Florida’s Marc Caputo, the Florida GOP’s Sunshine Summit was a smashing success. Fourteen presidential candidates and four U.S. Senate candidates spoke to more than 2,500 attendees. Three […]

Tag: Marc Caputo
A nice warm evening in Tallahassee on a very busy street while taking this shot.

Curt Clawson is why we can’t have nice things

POLITICO granted tax credits to expand in California

On Gwen Graham announcement, who scooped whom?

Bob Sparks: Groups believe Pam Bondi’s endorsement of Donald Trump is somehow corrupt

How Gary Fineout and John Kennedy owned Fox News

Easy there, Marc Caputo

On Adam Smith and trees falling in forests

On Marco Rubio and the early states

Give credit to … for breaking the news about the Seminole Compact deal

With successful Sunshine Summit, Blaise Ingoglia makes critics eat crow