Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Gary FineoutSeptember 28, 2014

When Gov. Rick Scott surprisingly entered the Republican primary four years ago, he took a strong tea party stand on most issues. He vowed to cut government spending and debt. The multimillionaire businessman promised to slash taxes to create jobs. He called for enacting a tough Arizona-styled immigration law and chided his primary opponent for […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 23, 2014

Each year, millions of tourists visit Florida. The revenue collected from the state’s thriving tourism-centered economy helps keep tax rates low for our full-time residents and businesses. The more visitors the state attracts, the more revenue is collected through sources like sales taxes and bed taxes. But the tourism industry does much more than pad […]

Peter SchorschSeptember 15, 2014

With five weeks left in Florida’s governor’s race, the contest is almost exactly where prognosticators expected it to be. The most recent numbers from Survey USA (ranked by data guru Nate Silver as the most reliable pollsters operating this cycle in the state) peg the race at Rick Scott 43 percent, Charlie Crist 42 percent. […]

Daniel TilsonSeptember 14, 2014

The failure of Gov. Rick Scott and Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Adam Putnam to develop and advance energy policies in the public’s best interests should give Floridians ample nonpartisan reason to vote them out of office. Within months of taking office in January 2011, Scott had eliminated the Energy and Climate Commission, turning its […]

Adam WeinsteinSeptember 11, 2014

Two years ago, a Florida state senator introduced a bill “to halt the revolving door between the Legislature and state universities” and bar lawmakers from running to jobs at colleges they fund. He explained to the Florida Times-Union that “even in cases where lawmakers are doing everything ethically,” such a relationship could raise “red flags,” adding: “It […]

Daniel TilsonSeptember 9, 2014

I’ve taken an unofficial follow-up poll in Florida’s big Election 2014 Rick Scott-Charlie Crist race. As in 2010, it was a one-person poll done face-to-face with my sometimes car mechanic. Call him Bobby. Four years ago it was accidental, a pre-repair test drive conversation that touched on the upcoming gubernatorial election, with Chief Financial Officer […]

Bob SparksSeptember 9, 2014

Campaigns begin long before Labor Day each year, but the attention span of millions of voters is short prior to September. What is said and done during the fall by incumbents and challengers runs a great risk of defining a candidate and his or her party. The results can be devastating. Republicans painfully remember Todd […]

Peter SchorschSeptember 8, 2014

Labor Day is at least a week into the rearview mirror, so the white pants should be closeted away until next June. The kids are back at school, football has returned to the tube, and, even in Florida, the temperature has dropped a degree or two. In other words, elections are less than two months away. […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 8, 2014

Judging by the ugly tone of the Rick Scott vs. Charlie Crist political campaign ads, this is shaping up to be the Scott Rothstein election. For those who may be living in a cave without wi-fi, Rothstein is the former South Florida attorney who was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for perpetrating a […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 7, 2014

In this election year, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is masquerading as the friend of the middle class. Who does he think he’s fooling? For going on 16 years, the Florida Republican Party has fiddled and belittled the middle class. It isn’t an act of God that’s destroying the American Dream; it’s petty, self-serving, greedy acts […]

Tag: Rick Scott

Rick Scott abandons tough talk from 2010 campaign

Jerry Parrish: Attracting 100 million tourists would create 121,000 jobs, report says

Gubernatorial race is a politician version of “The Hustler”

Daniel Tilson: Energy failures from Adam Putnam and Rick Scott

Adam Weinstein: Don’t let FSU become another Penn State

Daniel Tilson: An unofficial Crist-Scott poll — my mechanic is leaning to the right

Bob Sparks: Democratic candidates must overcome flaws of party leadership

Peter Schorsch: Five critical political questions leading up to November’s election

Andrew Skerritt: Con man will be factor in the Scott-Crist gubernatorial race

Stephen Goldstein: Wage gap between Florida men and women unchanged for 30 years