Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryOctober 20, 2015

Last week in Tallahassee, we heard Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli say sort of a remarkable thing. Referring to the conflict between his House of Representatives and the Senate that has dominated Florida politics in 2015, he said it was a “extraordinary” that anything gets passed between the two bodies. The latest fissure between the House and […]

Mitch PerryOctober 20, 2015

When Charlie Crist announces later today in Childs Park that he is running for Congress in Florida’s 13th Congressional District in 2016, it will be his third major speech given in a St. Petersburg park declaring his candidacy in the last five-and-half-years, but the prospects are much sunnier than his last two attempts at higher office. In […]

Mitch PerryOctober 19, 2015

Donald Trump and Ben Carson continue to dominate in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of the GOP presidential race, while Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush continued to lag behind in third and fifth place, respectively. Trump is at 25 percent – 4 points up from September. Carson is second with 22 percent, a slight bump from the […]

Jac VerSteegOctober 19, 2015

In his recent entertaining column on Context Florida my former boss, Tom O’Hara, reported from The Associated Press Legislative Planning Session in Tallahassee that Gov. Rick Scott’s central message was: “It’s the year of the manufacturer.” I agree with Scott. But I am not attaching quite the same meaning to his words as the governor […]

Melissa RossOctober 19, 2015

A new poll shows Donald Trump still leads among Florida’s Republican primary voters, taking 21 percent of the vote if the election were held today, with Ben Carson closing in at 19 percent. The new University of North Florida statewide poll shows Marco Rubio coming in third with 14 percent and Jeb Bush at a […]

Mitch PerryOctober 19, 2015

It’s not surprising that Donald Trump has touched upon the third rail of post-9/11 politics by mentioning the inconvenient fact that George W. Bush was president when America was hit by its worst terrorist attack in the lower 48. No, what’s surprising is that Trump didn’t go there when the occasion came up during the […]

Associated PressOctober 19, 2015

Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are on course for a collision. There once was mutual public deference. But that has eroded as the Florida Republicans battling for the presidential nomination have come to see the other as the main threat to lofty ambitions: Bush claims the party establishment’s mantle, Rubio wants be the party’s fresh […]

Jac VerSteegOctober 18, 2015

In his recent entertaining column on Context Florida my former boss, Tom O’Hara, reported from The Associated Press Legislative Planning Session in Tallahassee that Gov. Rick Scott’s central message was: “It’s the year of the manufacturer.” I agree with Scott. But I am not attaching quite the same meaning to his words as the governor […]

Peter SchorschOctober 18, 2015

On one level – the level of the conniving campaign operative who will do anything to score a great headline during a news cycle – one has to admire the chutzpah and financial misdirection that Team Marco pulled off last week. Relying on the mad alchemy of misstatement and perfect timing, Rubio fed the press-inflated […]

Susan ClaryOctober 17, 2015

Ever since U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio denied the existence of climate change earlier this year, protesters have waved signs outside his office demanding he acknowledge science. But a climate change rally in Orlando this week had a different message – one that demanded people of color and low-income families have their voices heard in the […]

Mitch Perry Report for 10.20.15 -Friction begins immediately between House and Senate in special session

Charlie Crist poised to announce his candidacy for Congress

Jeb Bush in 5th place with 8% in latest NBC News-WSJ Poll

Jac VerSteeg: Manufacturing lies is keeping campaigns alive

UNF Poll: Donald Trump holds slight Florida lead

Mitch Perry Report for 10.19.15 – Jeb Bush tries nuclear option on Donald Trump

Cold war between 2016 GOP rivals Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio heating up

Jac VerSteeg: Manufacturing lies is keeping campaigns alive

Peter Schorsch: Team Marco conjures fundraising win via news release hocus-pocus

Orlando climate change rally seeks to give minorities voice in debate