Former state Public Service Commissioner Nathan Skop lost a runoff election Tuesday for a spot on the Gainesville City Commission, after a race that that his opponent said was marked by negative attacks.
“Gainesville, you may now exhale,” the Gainesville Sun quoted winning candidate Lauren Poe as saying after the results came in.
Here is a link to the Sun story.
Both the House and Senate are in session today with the House taking up a fairly long special order calendar that includes measures allowing ads on school buses (HB 19) expanded non-school use of school property (HB 431) and a bill that makes it a felony for someone whose child is missing to lie to police (HB 37). In the Senate bills up for consideration could include a measure (SB 268) allowing corporate sponsorship of greenways and trails, a proposed constitutional amendment (SJR 408) raising the retirement age for judges and the controversial bill (SB 578) that would allow surplus lines insurers to remove policies from Citizens Property Insurance. Also on the calendar is a bill (SB 244) that says slower drivers need to move over to the right on the highway.
Nathan Skop served on the Florida Public Service Commission during a tumultuous time.
Now, he is spurring controversy as he runs for a seat on the Gainesville City Commission. The Gainesville Sun reports that a Skop mailer — about electric rates — is drawing criticism in advance of a Tuesday runoff election.
Here is a link to the Sun story.
Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner declared victory in the tumultuous race for the Senate presidency in 2014 even as one of his main rivals insisted it was far too early to call anything. “There’s been a lot of speculation, and I am confirming that I have secured enough signatures of the sitting members and the returning members for the Senate presidency in ’14,” said Gardiner, R-Orlando, after a Senate session that stretched late into Thursday evening. Gardiner, who has long been the front-runner for the position, proclaimed himself “humbled” by the results.
http://www.newsserviceflorida.com/cgi/as_web.exe?rev2012+D+2130176
Will Nan Rich run for governor?
http://capitaldatelineonline.com/
Florida Insider poll on Rubio – VP
And the two sides of Sen. Jim Norman:
The NBA’s All-Stars are in Orlando – and the politicians have followed. There was a $30,000-a-plate fundraiser for President Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee at the home of Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter. The Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets Blog has this look at NBA politics
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/02/nba.html
Scenarios for Tampa
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/02/the_republican_national_convention_will_not_be_a_brokered_convention_.html
Also in political news
NYT has a story on Vern Buchanan’s troubles
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/us/politics/gop-fund-raiser-faces-inquiries-into-his-races.html?_r=1&ref=us
Black elected officials in Broward sue in federal court over new local district lines
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/fl-broward-redistricting-lawsuit-20120223,0,4254193.story
MSNBC’S FIRST READ has a new battleground map
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/24/10496527-first-thoughts-nbcs-new-battleground-map
POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR WEDNESDAY
Top morning politics story:
Quietly, Gov. Rick Scott is raising money for his re-elect. He spent his own money last time. The AP’s Gary Fineout has a good story this morning:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20120221/politics/120229835
There’s bound to be lots of talk in the Capitol the next couple weeks on just what the state of the race for Senate president in 2014 is. There were all kinds of rumors yesterday about whether Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, might step aside in his quest for that position, which Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, is also interested in. The questions that arose haven’t really been answered, but the Tampa Bay Times talks about them
Also:
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/rubios-book-set-october-publication
League of Women Voters ready for rally, Villalobos talks about courts
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/league-women-voters-brings-opposition-legislature-capitol
http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/2012/feb/21/2/homestead-exemption-could-be-issue-for-mack-ar-361009/
Hastings and Frankel, once rivals, now on the same team
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/fl-hastings-frankel-congress-20120221,0,4906168.story
Former Buchanan partner settles with FEC
http://htpolitics.com/2012/02/21/former-buchanan-partner-sam-kazran-settles-with-fec/
And, an ethics report out of Miami-Dade County criticizes free ticketshttp://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/21/2653735/miami-dade-ethics-report-rips.html
TUESDAY POLITICS ROUNDUP
Alex Sink considering another go: Bousquet’s column:
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/steve-bousquet-column-regret-over-2010-defeat-alex-sink-considers-2014-rematch
CONGRESSIONAL RACES
CD 6: Jacksonville City Councilman Richard Clark is asking St. Johns County voters to send him to Congress.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/steve-patterson/2012-02-20/jacksonville-councilman-wants-seat-congress
Others in the race include former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller, a Republican, who dropped out of a U.S. Senate race to run for the seat and Jacksonville lawyer Ron DeSantis, also a Republican. GOP state Rep. Fred Costello, R-Ormond Beach, has been mentioned as a possible candidate.
CD 22: Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs is running for Congress, setting up Democratic primary battle with Lois Frankel.
Sun-Sentinel’s Anthony Man writes, and has video: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2012/02/kristin_jacobs_announces_bid_f.html
To veteran Miami politicos the phrase “The Diaz de la Portillas are coming” now means something new: all three DLP brothers are hoping to run for the Legislature this year, the Miami Herald reported Monday. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla is already in the Senate and will run for re-election. Former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla is running for the House, according to paperwork filed last week. Renier Diaz de la Portilla, also a former state representative and current Miami-Dade School Board member, is running for a different House seat.
Start your week off with the NSF political roundup:
TOP POLITICAL STORIES THIS MORNING
Who is JD Alexander?
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/18/2648344/jd-alexander-respected-feared.html
Could the Tampa convention be more than a coronation?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73070.html
President’s re-elect staffing up
http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/2012/feb/19/obama-campaign-amassing-troops-in-florida-ar-360422/
US Senate candidates spoke Sunday evening in Tallahassee in a forum
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/pb-senate-forum-20120219,0,6903251.story
CONGRESSIONAL RACES
CD 6: Craig Miller has made some money hires. They’re so money, and they don’t even know it.
CD 16: A race is emerging for CD 16 – Buchanan has a fundraising edge, though, the Sarasota H-T reports
http://htpolitics.com/2012/02/19/buchanan-holds-fund-rasising-edge-in-emerging-district-16-race/
CD 17: Allen West hiring Chris LaCivita
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/after-once-decrying-swift-boat-tactics-u-s-2186114.html
CD 22: Adam Hasner late last week picked up Jeb Bush’s endorsement in his congressional bid
http://atr.rollcall.com/florida-hasner-picks-up-jeb-bush-endorsement/
From the weekend:
Questions raised about how lines came to move in Congressional District 7 – good for Sandy Adams, notes John Mica.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-redistricting-sandy-adams-20120216,0,3902423.story
From Politico on Florida’s digs in NC vs. Tampa
“The Democratic National Committee is putting Florida at the Marriott City Center this summer, a prime spot for delegates from the key swing state that’s close to the heart of convention activity. The Republicans haven’t announced their hotel sites yet, but the Florida delegation is likely to be in far less optimal digs at the convention they are hosting in Tampa. The delegation is being punished by the committee for holding their primary in January. Here’s the official link to the DNC hotel list: http://bit.ly/zNeBwn. The Charlotte Observer has an interactive map of all the DNC hotels: http://bit.ly/x5uKah. As a point of reference for what could happen to the RNC, this is what happened to Florida in 2008 at the Denver convention: http://bit.ly/ApxDoV.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Romney remains the main money man in Florida
Federal health officials this week rejected hitting beneficiaries with $10 monthly premiums and charges for some emergency-room visits. The federal Medicaid agency, in a letter dated Thursday, notified the state that the proposals violated federal requirements that are designed, at least in part, to shield poor people from additional costs. While controversial, the proposed charges were a relatively small part of Florida’s move to overhaul Medicaid. The key part of the overhaul would eventually shift almost all beneficiaries into managed-care plans — an idea that remains under federal review.
Democratic lawmakers and advocates for Medicaid beneficiaries blasted the proposals last year when the Republican-controlled Legislature included them in a massive plan to revamp Medicaid.
