Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Joe HendersonOctober 25, 2017

RAYS MOVING TO TAMPA! Um, not so fast. I was getting ready for dinner Tuesday when WFLA, Channel 8, opened its 6 p.m. newscast with what seemed like a blockbuster. The station was reporting that the Tampa Bay Rays had settled on a site near Tampa’s Ybor City for a proposed new stadium. On air […]

Drew WilsonOctober 12, 2017

The race for St. Pete mayor has already gone down as the costliest election in city history, and new campaign finance reports show no lulls in the arms race between incumbent Rick Kriseman and former two-term Mayor Rick Baker. Kriseman, who won the Aug. 29 primary election by 69 votes, jutted ahead of his competition […]

Jim RosicaOctober 11, 2017

House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz of Tampa is traveling to Puerto Rico Wednesday “to deliver 30,000 pounds of much-needed relief supplies, including food, water, and medical necessities,” her spokesman said. Cruz is working with “Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Moffitt Cancer Center,” according to Anders Croy, communications director for the House Democratic Office. […]

Mitch PerryOctober 11, 2017

As the St. Petersburg mayoral race enters its final month, the Rick Baker campaign is making a case that Rick Kriseman is bad at managing the city’s budget. In a series of emails and tweets, Baker campaign manager Nick Hansen blasted Kriseman for dipping into reserves while the city takes in record levels of revenue. And […]

Mitch PerryOctober 10, 2017

The poverty rate for blacks has never been lower in St. Petersburg, with the decline four times greater than the black poverty rate across Florida. That’s according to advocates working on that vexing issue, citing the latest U.S. Census data. Officials with the Agenda 2020 plan say that the black poverty rate has dropped 17.3 […]

Joe HendersonSeptember 20, 2017

I always suspected Joe Maddon, a smart man, wanted the chance to say out loud that the Tampa Bay Rays new stadium should be built in Tampa. Well, he got his chance Tuesday when he came to St. Pete as manager of the Chicago Cubs. He didn’t hold back. The Tampa Bay Times reported Maddon […]

Mitch PerryMarch 30, 2017

This week, St. Petersburg residents start receiving ballots for the May 2 referendum asking to give the Tampa Bay Rowdies a 25-year lease for Al Lang Field. St. Pete Entrepreneur Bill Edwards is advocating — and paying for — the measure. However, considering the questions fielded in public forums by Edwards’ spokesperson Rick Baker, the referendum […]

Mitch PerryMarch 28, 2017

John Johnson, a research administrator at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, is the latest candidate to file in the crowded St. Petersburg City Council District 6 contest. The 46-year-old native Ohio resident calls himself a policy wonk, not a politician. “My background is education, so I’m a strong believer in education, and what it can do at […]

Joe HendersonMarch 16, 2017

It is not unusual when a Major League Baseball team signs a Cuban defector. There is a lengthy list of players who fled that island nation so they could barter their skills for the considerable cash that comes with playing in the United States. Usually, those stories have been treated as valiant escapes from a […]

Joe HendersonMarch 1, 2017

If all issues before the St. Petersburg City Council were as easy as the once members will consider Thursday morning, anyone could do the job. The Council has a vote scheduled to set a referendum on a plan to privately renovate Al Lang Stadium. That’s so a bid by Tampa Bay Rowdies’ owner Bill Edwards […]

Joe Henderson: Rays moving to Tampa? Not so fast

September brings Rick Kriseman $215K, Rick Baker $185K

Janet Cruz heads to Puerto Rico on aid trip

The two Ricks argue about city spending during latest St. Pete mayoral forum

Advocates cite statistics to say poverty is being reduced in South St. Pete

Joe Henderson: Maddon is right; build Rays stadium in Tampa

Rowdies, Al Lang referendum an easy sale for Rick Baker

‘Policy wonk’ John Johnson plans listening tour for St. Pete City Council bid

Joe Henderson: Miami trial shines light on smuggling Cuban baseball players to U.S.

Easy call: St. Pete Cty Council to set Al Lang referendum