Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Janelle Irwin TaylorSeptember 27, 2018

Voters in Charge, which is behind a ballot measure to require voter approval for new gambling, announced its Tampa Bay area leadership on Thursday. The list of notables includes those in law enforcement, religious leaders, community and business leaders and elected officials. “We are thrilled to have the support of so many pillars of the […]

Mitch PerryNovember 8, 2017

UPDATED Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Agency (HARTA) CEO Katharine Eagan is leaving the agency to become the CEO of the Port Authority for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She has agreed to a five-year contract at a salary of $230,000 a year and is scheduled to start in January. HART will select an interim CEO in December. “The […]

Mitch PerryOctober 20, 2017

While the Hillsborough County Democratic Party continues to recruit candidates to run against four GOP incumbent county commissioners running again in 2018, they have yet to find someone to challenge Ken Hagan in the District 2 race. The challenge is seemingly formidable. The Carrollwood Republican is the longest-serving member of the Hillsborough Commission, with nearly […]

Mitch PerryDecember 1, 2016

The White House announced on Thursday that the Tampa Bay area has become one of 20 of the latest communities (and four in Florida) named to participate in its “TechHire” initiative that aims to equip Americans with the skills they need to land jobs in the tech industry. The announcement was made via the White House at 11 […]

Drew WilsonJune 13, 2016

A weekend “hackathon” that tasked coders with designing solutions to help the bay area homeless produced a trio of apps, the Tampa Innovation Alliance announced Monday. “We have made magnificent progress with the work that the volunteer coders did at this year’s hackathon,” said Tampa Innovation Alliance Executive Director Mark Sharpe. “This new tech is […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 21, 2016

A GOP presidential poll released Wednesday by Florida Atlantic University shows Donald Trump leading in Florida in the March 15 presidential primary, with a stunning 48 percent share of the vote. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are well behind at 11 and 10 percent, putting them in third and fourth places, respectively (Ted Cruz is […]

Mitch PerryAugust 20, 2015

The news that the Go Hillsborough campaign has re-introduced the prospect of the Hillsborough transportation tax going from a half-cent to a full penny apparently alienated a few county commissioners who didn’t get a heads-up that County Administrator Mike Merrill was about to do that Monday. Now that they’ve got that out of their system, […]

Mitch PerryJuly 1, 2015

Envy is considered one of the seven deadly sins in Christianity. It’s something that would be ideal if we didn’t occasionally suffer from, but it’s all too human for us to do so. I don’t know if it’s something I read or heard years ago, but when it comes to money (like sex), I always […]

Mitch PerryJune 30, 2015

Among the many local projects that didn’t escape Rick Scott’s veto pen last week was $2 million earmarked for the Tampa Innovation Alliance, the nascent public-private agency charged with redeveloping the University area of North Tampa. But Mark Sharpe, the agency’s Executive Director, insists that it’s not a big deal. He says the organization never envisioned receiving […]

Mitch PerryJune 12, 2015

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Former Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern says she’s “investigating” running for political office in 2016, and that includes the possibility of moving to Pinellas County this summer to compete for the District 13 Congressional seat held by Republican David Jolly. “I’ve been crunching numbers for months, and networking, and talking to people at all levels […]

Tag: Mark Sharpe

Will Weatherford headlines regional names behind gambling amendment

HART CEO Katharine Eagan to leave for transit position in Pittsburgh

Ken Hagan draws GOP challenger in Hillsborough re-election bid

Tampa and 3 other Florida areas selected by the White House as “Tech Hire” Communities

Tampa ‘hackathon’ creates 3 apps in fight against homelessness

Mitch Perry Report for 1.21.16 — New Florida Senate poll is interesting

Mitch Perry Report for 8.20.15 — The 1% solution for a Hillsborough County transportation tax

Mitch Perry Report for 7.1.15 – The politics of envy and being relatable

Despite Rick Scott rejection, Mark Sharpe says Tampa Innovation Alliance is right on course

Mary Mulhern “investigating” run for Pinellas County CD 13 seat