Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersApril 30, 2018

The still-up-and-functioning campaign fund of disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley sent a $2,000 check last month to the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, but Mast’s campaign refused to cash it. Friends of Mark Foley For Congress dates back to before Foley, of West Palm Beach, resigned in 2006 under allegations that he’d […]

Peter SchorschMarch 21, 2018

A decade-old interview with CNN is showing Adam Putnam’s past may be a little harder to shake in his bid for Florida Governor. The recently unearthed video shows then-Congressman Putnam defending his “friend and mentor” Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican House Speaker in history. At one time, Hastert was one of America’s most powerful politicians, […]

Peter SchorschMarch 17, 2018

Mark Foley is my friend. Let me be very clear about that. I knew him while he served in Congress. And I stayed in touch with him after he resigned after it was revealed that he sent sexually suggestive emails and instant messages to high school boys in the page program for years. And while many […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 1, 2018

An investigative report released by the Tampa Bay Times and 10News WTSP Wednesday showed more than 100 U.S. politicians are still doling out campaign cash on everything from payroll to iPads years after they left office. “Zombie Campaigns” found caches of questionable transactions in the campaign reports of former congressional candidates and office-holders across the […]

Peter SchorschAugust 25, 2016

Could Scott Fuhrman, challenging Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, be this year’s Tim Mahoney? And is there a path for Fuhrman to become 2016’s “accidental” member of Congress that doesn’t involve Ros-Lehtinen having a Mark Foley-like implosion? Increasingly, the answer to both questions keeps inching toward “yes.” The Cook Political Report recently […]

Associated PressOctober 18, 2015

No matter how they exited – a loss, a resignation, a retirement – former members of Congress can pretty much do whatever they want with leftover campaign cash as long as it’s political or charitable. Evan Bayh has kept $10 million in campaign contributions since leaving the Senate in 2011, raising plenty of questions about […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 22, 2015

Kirk Fordham is joining The Petrizzo Group, a PR and lobbying concern in Washington, as senior vice president, according to a news release. He was the long-time chief of staff to former GOP Congressman Mark Foley and served as finance director to Republican Mel Martinez’s successful U.S. Senate campaign. Fordham, who departs Gill Action in Colorado, “will work […]

Jac VerSteegJune 1, 2015

Mark Foley slowly has been returning to respectability. The former congressman from Palm Beach County resigned in 2006 after the public learned he had sent sexually-charged messages to male former congressional pages. Now, the emerging Dennis Hastert scandal is reminding Floridians of Foley’s misdeeds. After quitting Congress, Foley stayed out of sight for a while. […]

Ryan RayFebruary 20, 2015

Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals have opted to retain Ballard Partners to represent them in Tallahassee this Legislative Session as the club navigates a tricky land proposal requiring city, county and state cooperation. The Nats — along with the Houston Astros, who have also hired Ballard — are pursuing a delicate and process-intensive initiative that would re-designate a tract of […]

Tag: Mark Foley
Sen Rick Scott in Sarasota. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

Brian Mast says ‘no thanks’ to Mark Foley’s money

After Mark Foley tweet, unearthed video shows Adam Putnam’s Dennis Hastert ‘problem’ won’t go away

It’s not that Adam Putnam was photographed with Mark Foley …

‘Zombie Campaigns’ finds 7 Florida pols with dubious campaign spending

Will Scott Fuhrman become the ‘accidental congressman?’

Leftover campaign cash? Ex-lawmakers find plenty of uses

Kirk Fordham heading to Petrizzo Group

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Dennis Hastert scandal an unwelcome reminder of Mark Foley’s disgrace

Ballard Partners inks Washington Nationals amid West Palm Beach stadium land deal