Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Florence SnyderJune 27, 2016

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is not the worst offender in Florida’s never-ending War on Open Government. It just gets caught in the act more often than fellow offenders at the state, county and municipal levels. That’s because DCF is one of the few agencies left which ever has to contend with watchdog journalism. DCF chieftains, […]

Joe HendersonJune 23, 2016

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said Thursday she is “running on adrenaline” following her participation in an overnight sit-in at the House of Representatives in Washington. The Tampa congresswoman joined other Democrats in a protest against the refusal by House Speaker Paul Ryan to allow a vote on restricting access to military-style assault weapons in the […]

Larry GriffinJune 23, 2016

Forty-eight hours ago, the building at 507 Michigan St. was just an empty storage area. Now it has transformed into the new Family Assistance Center, intended to help survivors and others connected to the Pulse nightclub shooting. At a news conference Thursday morning, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs stood together […]

Mary Jo MeloneJune 23, 2016

Social etiquette requires that I not speak ill of the dead, but when the dead man was a U.S. Supreme Court Justice — namely, Antonin Scalia — speaking ill (civilly, although that is not in fashion) is an absolute necessity. Especially now. After Orlando. Scalia defended criminalizing gay sex because many people don’t like gays. […]

Brendan FarringtonJune 23, 2016

Florida’s Key West is one of the most gay-friendly places in the country. The Florida Panhandle – many locals call it the Redneck Riviera – is a different story. The massacre of 49 people in a gay nightclub happened between these extremes, forcing many Floridians to reconsider their assumptions about the state’s evolving culture. Key […]

Scott PowersJune 22, 2016

Most of Florida’s Democratic members of Congress are among 168 House of Representatives Democrats and 34 Senate Democrats staging a sit-in on the House Floor Wednesday, and U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson took the occasion to remind the others of Orlando’s Pulse nightclub massacre victims, by name. Besides Grayson, of Orlando, the protest includes his U.S. […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 22, 2016

As one of many Democrats participating in the Wednesday evening sit-in on the House floor, Rep. Corrine Brown urges a vote on what she called “commonsense gun legislation” before the House recesses. “Congress must not leave Washington, D.C. without voting on commonsense gun violence prevention legislation to save lives. Mass shootings have become unacceptably commonplace in our […]

Joe HendersonJune 22, 2016

The fact Marco Rubio reneged on his vow not to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate isn’t that big of a deal. Politicians change their minds all the time. A much bigger deal — and a reality Marco apologists choose to ignore — is the fact Rubio has done a spectacularly lousy job since elected to […]

Scott PowersJune 22, 2016

Orlando’s commuter rail service, SunRail, has its first executive director, Nicola Liquori, currently a Florida Turnpike Enterprise executive. Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold appointed Liquori to be executive director of SunRail, putting her in charge of keeping the trains running on time even as the operation expands its line to the south and […]

Mitch PerryJune 22, 2016

Our latest form of participatory democracy takes place in Tampa tonight, where scores of people will comment on whether or not the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization should include the Tampa Bay Express project in what is known as their Transportation Improvement Plan. If past is prologue, the majority of speakers will be against the project, and the MPO […]

Tag: Orlando

Florence Snyder: At Florida Department of Children & Families, the sun don’t shine

Kathy Castor ‘running on adrenaline’ after 26-hour sit-in House protest

To find ‘new normal’ after Pulse attack, city and county launch Family Assistance Center

Mary Jo Melone: What a guy — Antonin Scalia on hate, guns and gridlock

From Key West to Pensacola, Florida’s LGBT attitudes differ

Dem’s House sit-in includes most Florida Congress members; Alan Grayson reads Pulse victims’ names

Corrine Brown demands gun control legislation

Joe Henderson: It’s not that Marco Rubio reneged; it’s that he did a lousy job in Senate

Nicola Liquori named executive director of SunRail

Mitch Perry Report for 6.22.16 — TBX showdown tonight