Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersMay 9, 2016

Democratic House District 49 candidate Carlos Guillermo Smith raised $13,755 in April, one of the biggest hauls in any Central Florida state House race. Smith attributed the impressive total, his biggest month since he announced his candidacy last June, to momentum from his work as an advocate in Tallahassee during the 2016 Legislative Session, and support […]

Ryan RayMay 9, 2016

Wilton Manors Democrat Ken Keechl may stand to gain from a negative “Donald Trump effect” against a Republican incumbent in deep-blue Broward, but apparently he isn’t taking any chances. Keechl is challenging third-term Pompano Beach state Rep. George Moraitis in moderate, coastal House District 93. Keechl took in $21,198 during the April reporting period while Moraitis raised just $3,700, […]

Steve SchaleMay 9, 2016

Six months before Election Day, now that the candidates and races are starting to develop, I wanted to take a look at my favorite of all subjects: state House races. For those of you who don’t know me well, I cut my teeth in the Florida House. State House races are my first political love, […]

Mitch PerryMay 9, 2016

Joseph “JB” Bensmihen hasn’t been in Pinellas County very long. In fact, he officially became a resident only within the last week. So while you might consider that fact alone makes him a decided underdog in the now wide-open Pinellas County state House District 68 seat, he doesn’t. And he has an impressive history of exceeding people’s […]

Mitch PerryApril 20, 2016

It was on May 8, 2008, after the returns from Democratic primary results from North Carolina and Indiana had come in, when the late Tim Russert told viewers that the intense battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was over. “We now know who the Democratic nominee’s going to be, and no one’s going to […]

Peter SchorschApril 19, 2016

Carlos Beruff’s first TV spot of his Senate campaign falls somewhat short of the mark, at least according to the political pros who make up FloridaPolitics.com’s Political Ad Watch club. In the 30-second “Forget Them,” that began airing statewide earlier this month, the Manatee County developer embraces his outsider position, an issue that has become […]

Steve SchaleMarch 23, 2016

It was one of those conversations that changed everything. Watching a hockey game from a luxury box in Tampa Bay in late 2014, I asked the two Pakistani guys from a group I was hosting a simple question: Why does it seem to guys like me that countries like yours seem to have a lax […]

Mitch PerryMarch 17, 2016

Rick Baker is still thinking about entering the CD 13 race. The former St. Petersburg Mayor said so last Saturday night at the Pinellas County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner in St. Pete. When asked what his timetable was, Baker replied, “It’s gotta be soon.” Conventional wisdom is that the newly configured district is no longer viable for […]

Mitch PerryMarch 17, 2016

Negative television advertising against Donald Trump meant nothing in Florida this week. Several Super PACs including American Future Fund, Club for Growth, and Our Principles PAC spent $7.4 million in anti-Trump ads, according to Vox. Meanwhile, native son Marco Rubio spent over $8 million, and got his clock cleaned by the Manhattan mogul. The Trump phenomenon is […]

Mitch PerryMarch 16, 2016

Florida Democratic Party strategist Steve Schale and (mostly) Republican media guru Adam Goodman both agreed at a Suncoast Tiger Bay luncheon in St. Petersburg on Wednesday that a Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump general election match-up will be a hotly contested encounter. Much has been made about the wide enthusiasm gap between Republican and Democratic […]

Tag: Steve Schale

Carlos Guillermo Smith raises more than $13K in April for his HD 49 race

Ken Keechl blows out George Moraitis in April HD 93 fundraising

Steve Schale: Florida state House rankings, May 2016

Pinellas newcomer Joseph ‘JB’ Bensmihen is convinced he will win the HD 68 seat this fall

Mitch Perry Report for 4.20.16 — Bernie’s chances may have just faded away, but how does Clinton handle him going forward?

Political Ad Watch Club unpacks Carlos Beruff’s first TV spot in Senate campaign

Steve Schale: Terrorism is a grim fact of life around the world

Rick Baker expected to announce soon whether he’s in or out in CD 13 contest

Mitch Perry Report for 3.17.16 — Can 2016 begin the decline of negative political advertising?

Strategists agree Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton race may be formidable