Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschJanuary 21, 2015

One thing that became clear after news of the Tuesday Night Massacre broke is this: If Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, or for that matter Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, wants to win higher office in 2018, whether it be U.S. senator or governor, he must stand up to Gov. Rick Scott now. On Tuesday, Atwater challenged […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 20, 2015

Fifty years after the passage of the federal Voting Right Act, speakers at today’s 35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Breakfast in Tampa said it’s time to allow the hundreds of thousands of ex-felons in Florida get their right to vote restored. “This modern-day disenfranchisement and discrimination is our modern-day challenge,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 16, 2015

For reasons that no one on hand could guess, mariachi music flooded Hemming Plaza, across from City Hall, in the minutes before the joint press conference of Sheriff John Rutherford and Republican Mayoral Candidate Lenny Curry. One reporter on hand suggested that it sounded the soundtrack of a fight scene in a western movie. And […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 15, 2015

A new scandal exploded across Tallahassee on Tuesday afternoon after Gov. Rick Scott admitted that Gerald Bailey did not voluntarily resign as commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, but was forced out against his will. Under Florida law, the governor cannot fire the head of FDLE without the support of at least one other member […]

Adam WeinsteinJanuary 15, 2015

Be proud, Floridians! With just a tad under 700 days left until the next presidential election, our state is already the clear winner. The Beltway media have all but elected Miamian Jeb Bush, whose campaign boils down to three words: “Not Mitt Romney.” But even if Jeb falters, the Sunshine State boasts plenty of […]

Phil AmmannJanuary 15, 2015

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is reportedly on the chopping block as the Rick Scott administration continues to attempt to put its new team on the field as it enters a second term. McCarty’s alleged transgression? Actually having the audacity to protect Florida’s insurance-buying public by not rubberstamping every self-serving scheme insurance lobbyists try to […]

Daniel TilsonJanuary 13, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott’s mishandling of Florida’s deadly prison system dysfunction continues. The latest example came early this week, when Gov. Scott announced appointment by the Cabinet of Florida (him, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam) of Rick Swearington as new Commissioner of Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 6, 2015

At approximately 12:11 p.m. today, Hillsborough County Clerk of the Courts Pat Frank wound down her official duties in officiating over the mass same-sex marriage ceremony in downtown Tampa’s Joe Chillura Park. “By virtue of the authority invested in me, under the laws of the state of Florida, I now pronounce you joined in matrimony,” she […]

Peter SchorschDecember 21, 2014

As much as we would like to think otherwise, in politics not everyone can be a winner. To put it another way, as Judge Smails did in the eminently quotable Caddyshack: “The world needs ditch diggers, too.” Few will disagree that 2014 was a particularly fertile political year, one that produced a bumper crop of political winners – […]

Peter SchorschDecember 21, 2014

As much as we would like to think otherwise, in politics not everyone can be a winner. To put it another way, as Judge Smails did in the eminently quotable Caddyshack: “The world needs ditch diggers, too.” Few will disagree that 2014 was a particularly fertile political year, one that produced a bumper crop of political winners – […]

Tag: Pam bondi
Aerial photo courtesy Jesse Biter.

P.S. … If Jeff Atwater wants to win in 2018, he needs to stand up to Rick Scott in 2015

Restoring voting rights for ex-felons major theme at Tampa MLK breakfast

Too little, too Llate: Lenny Curry and Sheriff Rutherford hold anti-Alvin presser

Peter Schorsch: What’s the Scott administration going to do about Bailey’s firing?

Adam Weinstein: America's next president may be the Floridian you don't expect

Does the Scott administration really have Kevin McCarty on the chopping block?

Daniel Tilson: Fixing Florida's prison system once and for all

Over a hundred same-sex couples get married in downtown Tampa

Peter Schorsch: Florida’s political ditch diggers of 2014

The 5 most disappointing Florida politicians of 2014